Science, Stories and Sevagram: A Physician-Teacher's Reflections
Reading Time: 5 minutesBorn on June 2, 1934, Dr. Balswarup Chaubey—who preferred his initials, BS, to his first name, Balswarup—was the son of Bal Mukund Chaubey, a superintendent of police. He studied at New English High School in Nagpur before pursuing his medical education at Government Medical College (GMC), Nagpur, where he later earned his MD in Medicine. … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesShe lay on the hospital bed, grateful to the doctors for successfully fixing her broken bone. Just wheeled from the operating room to the ward, she looked forward to going home the next day. Her post-op orders were simple: nil by mouth for two hours and two liters of intravenous fluids. The surgeon also instructed … Read more
Reading Time: 2 minutesMGIMS students, interns, residents, lab technicians, healthcare workers, teachers- yesterday night they all teamed seamlessly to deliver more than the musical night had promised- entertaining and enthralling the audience with super-hit Hindi filmy sangeet. Little wonder that they kept the audience- all ears to the musical melodies- spellbound for full three hours. So, when the singers kept … Read more
Reading Time: 6 minutesAccreditation. Never before on MGIMS campus, did this word buzz as much as it did in the last week of April. Accreditation, for dummies, is a peer-review process that assures the quality of the education students receive. MGIMS believes that accreditation is an important mechanism to assess, evaluate, and improve the quality of the programs … Read more
Reading Time: 4 minutesSatyamev Jayate Even before the first ball of the World cup final was bowled, the entire world witnessed a bizarre happening. Dhoni flipped the coin in the air for Sangakkara to call. Sangakkara mumbled his call, and had apparently lost the toss but the toss ended up being disputed – the first time such an … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesDhoni winning the toss Chasing 250+ in a World Cup semi-final is not an easy task. The Mohali pitch was not ugly, but contrary to what most Pundits – Saurabh dada included- had predicted, it not a batting beauty either. As the inning progressed, the pitch turned slow, the balls stopped, and the batsmen found … Read more
Reading Time: 3 minutesI simply cannot understand why Binayak Sen is back behind the brutal bars again. Yesterday afternoon a session court at Raipur found him guilty of sedition and treason and sentenced him to life in prison. Those who love and admire Binayak were shocked to know that such a distinguished ethicist, pediatrician, human right activist and … Read more
Reading Time: 5 minutesEvery Wednesday morning, physicians and medical residents in my department gather in the seminar room to discuss morbidity and mortality data of the previous week. Our residents tell us how many patients were admitted to our wards, how long did they stay, how many went home and how many couldn’t. A resident tells a story … Read more
Reading Time: 5 minutesVery soon, our teaching hospital, located in a village in central India, shall use a new computed tomography (CT) equipment for obtaining high-quality radiologic images. The previous CT scanner- it had served us well for 10 years – was living a borrowed life. The hospital, therefore decided to invest into a new CT scanner. The … Read more
Reading Time: 2 minutesParsimonious. My teachers taught me this principle at the bedside during my residency. A single diagnosis should explain all symptoms and signs whenever possible. That was in 1980. Physicians relied on their brains and stethoscopes. They took detailed histories, examined patients thoroughly, ordered few tests, discussed differentials, and took pride in getting the diagnosis right. … Read more