MedSpin

Medical Tourism: Globalization of Healthcare

2008-08-15T00:50:00.005+05:30

Two good articles about Medical tourism, "Importing Competition" and "Operating Profit" have been printed in the latest Economist magazine.

The the short introductory article, "Importing Competition" has the following line:

"At the same time the best hospitals in Asia and Latin America now rival or surpass many hospitals in the rich world for safety and quality."

As I have said before, the biggest hurdle that is impeding medical tourism is the lack of confidence of foreigners in the competence of Indian doctors in the Indian health care setting to provide safe and effective treatment.

People promoting medical tourism should emphasize the quality of care and the safety record of the hospitals. More soundbites on this issue and a little less on the cost savings involved will allay a lot of fears in prospective patients.

The second article, "Operating Profit", tackles many of the issues raised by critics of medical tourism.

Unlike the dozens of articles written about medical tourism everyday, this article breaks away from the routine format and goes deeper into the issues and shows how it will impact the health care systems of the countries involved.

All in all, two good articles. As they say, read the whole thing.

Related Articles on Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism in India Ads being streamed on YouTube

Promoting Medical Tourism in India

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Profit Making Medical Colleges to Be Opened in India

2008-08-08T02:58:00.006+05:30

Oh, finally the Govt may loosen its grip on medical colleges!

The Govt may allow medical colleges to be set up as profit making institutions.

Will this mean higher fees for medical students ?

Only people whose IQ is equal to their shoe size would believe that the existing medical colleges are really being run as non profit enterprises. The term 'profit making medical college' is redundant as even now all private medical colleges are making profits, albeit off the records.

All that the present rule does is to keep away people who would like to open a medical college but are not willing to take the risk of making profits off the record. (Ethics/Not worth the risk etc. )

Allowing medical colleges to legitimately make a profit will attract more people to open medical colleges. Even though the initial fees in these colleges might be on the higher side, each additional college will offer more competition to the existing ones and eventually drive down the fees.

If only a few colleges are opened, we will get ripped.

So more the medical colleges, merrier the students :-)

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Medical Tourism in India Ads being streamed on YouTube

2008-08-08T02:33:00.011+05:30

A couple of videos on YouTube about patients who did not have health insurance in US and had surgeries in India.

This is about a US patient who had a liver transplant at Apollo Hospital. It also features a couple of US doctors expressing their opinion.

And this one is about Wockhardt Hospital, Bangalore.

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With Digital Pathology, No More Squinting and Peering at the Microscope and Glass Slide

2008-07-19T00:31:00.009+05:30

A significant part of pathology consists of squinting your eyes and peering over microscopes, trying hard to make out patterns in the slide.

Digitizing pathology slides and displaying them on large computer screen would make the process of observing slides very convenient. Beyond convenience, there are many other advantages and applications of digitizing pathology slides.

The developments till now in the emerging filed of Digital Pathology are summed up in this talk titled "The Evolution of Digital Pathology" by the founder of Aperio.

Probably the most heartening line in the article is

" I think it’s fair to say that pathologists today acknowledge that the quality of digital slides is more than adequate for most needs."

For a fee, Aperio scans and converts glass slides into digital slides which can be viewed on the Internet. At charges ranging from $30 to $150 per slide, this service is hardly affordable for most hospitals, especially in countries like India.

But as with all things digital, the cost of this service is expected to fall steeply every few months. (Like the cost of sequencing a human genome )

A couple of weeks ago, GE Healthcare formed an independent company, 'Omnyx', to develop the technologies needed to take digital pathology mainstream.

The ensuing competition will drive the prices down to affordable levels.

Till then, keep peering at the slide under the microscope.

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For Indian Doctors, Post Graduation to be 4 Years from next year

2008-07-10T11:23:00.009+05:30

A news article in Economic Times titled

"For doctors, post graduation now a long & rustic journey"

All postgraduates (private and govt colleges), all over India will have to work for one year in rural area as part of Post graduation, which will now be extended to 4 years.

Every few months the health minister comes up with a crazy idea to make our life miserable, and people in the newspapers keep wondering why doctors emigrate to other countries.

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Teleradiology and Netter's Atlas on New iPhone 3G

2008-06-16T15:02:00.007+05:30

At the launch of the second generation of iPhone, called iPhone 3G, two new medical applications were demoed.

Modality is targeted at medical students who can now browse through Netter's atlas on the iPhone.

Mimvista is for radiologist who can review X-rays, CAT scans on their iPhone.

Expect a ton of such features within the next few months.

Related Articles

With Digital Pathology, No More Squinting and Peering at the Microscope and Glass Slide

$1000 Human Genome: Anticipating the Arrival of Personal Genomics

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$1000 Human Genome: Anticipating the Arrival of Personal Genomics

2008-05-02T23:29:00.009+05:30

Here is a fun graph to keep track of the rapid fall in the costs of sequencing a human genome.

Most experts consider a price of $1000 (Rs 40,000 at present rates) to be the tipping point at which most people will start getting their genomes sequenced routinely. May be as part of screening a child at birth.

But for India the tipping point is closer to $100. We may have to for a year or two for technology to make it affordable.

Note that the Y axis is logarithmic.

I have used the following data points for this graph.

Point Zero:( Not on the graph) Human Genome Project(HGP)

In 1990, an international consortium of scientists set out to sequence the first human genome. It took 13 years and cost approximately $3 Billion (That is $3,00,000,000.)
Only one set of chromosomes, 23 out of 46, were sequenced (Haploid only)

It was a mosaic of DNA obtained from many people.

Point 1: The Celera HGP

In 1998, a private company called Celera sequenced the human genome. It took about 5 years and cost about $100 Million ($100,000,000)
Only one set of chromosomes, 23 out of 46, were sequenced (Haploid only)

It was a mosaic of DNA from 5 people, Craig Venter being the main contributor.

Point 2: Genome of Craig Venter

Around 2003, the sequencing of the genome of one individual (Craig Venter) was begun.
It took around 4 years and about $70 million.

All 46 chromosomes were sequenced (Diploid)

Point 3: Genome of James Watson

In 2007, the genome of James Watson was sequenced by '454 Life Sciences' to demonstrate its new technology.

It cost about $1.5 million (15,00,000) and took around two months to sequence.

Point 4: Launch of Knome

In Nov of 2007, Knome offers to sequence whole genomes of individuals for $3,50,000.

The price also includes consultation with genetic counselors and other benefits.

Point 5: Illumina and Applied Biosystems

In Feb 2008, researchers at Illumina, claimed that they could sequence a human genome for $1,00,000

In March 2008, researchers at a company called Applied Biosystems claim that they can sequence a human genome for about $60,000.

And many more people attempt to bring the price a few steps closer to $1000.

A few articles about sequencing the Human Genome

$350,000 Genome

Mapping the individual - cheaply

6 Billion Bits of Data About Me, Me, Me!

Illumina, Gene-Sequencing Warrior

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How (Not) to Cure a Country of Obesity

2008-04-23T14:41:00.003+05:30

This reminds me that staying healthy is means to an end, not an end in itself.

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Ipsi- Tipsy

2008-04-22T05:26:00.002+05:30

Q: What do you call being drunk on the same side of your body?

A: Tipsi-lateral

(Anonymous)

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Promoting Medical Tourism in India

2008-04-21T13:06:00.005+05:30

Dr. Aniruddha Malpani at The Patient's Doctor asks the question

"What can the Indian Government do to promote medical tourism?"

My answer, the short version is, "Stay out of the way".

The long version is

1. Stay out of regulating who can set up a medical college and how to run a medical college.

2. Stay out of regulating who can join and how much fees is to be paid and what is to be taught.

I understand that the Government of India has a strong urge to do something to promote medical tourism. So I would suggest:

3 Negotiate with governments of foreign countries to simplify the process of recognition of Indian Medical degrees by foreign countries.
We as citizens of India cant do this easily. We can handle the rest of the things. Thank you.

Confidence in Indian Doctors

Right now, the biggest hurdle that is impeding medical tourism is the lack of confidence of foreigners in the competence of Indian doctors in the Indian health care setting to provide safe and effective treatment.

Foreign patients are not anxious about the competence of the significant number of Indian doctors who are working in UK, US and recently Australia as these Indian doctors have been certified by the respective foreign countries.

But getting this certification is costly in terms of money and time. For example a surgeon from India will have to repeat at least 3 years training in US, spend about a million rupees to be certified to treat patients from US. If this process is simplified, there will be more foreign certified Indian doctors in Indian hospitals. Foreign patients can then more easily rely on Indian hospitals. This is one way of solving this.

India doctors are not the only ones facing this and doctors of other third world countries offering medical tourism are also facing this hurdle. Whichever country in able to solve this problem first will take a lead in medical tourism.

Price Tag of Indian Hospitals

Dr. Aniruddha Malpani has suggested that the government should provide tax exemptions to hospitals that are involved in earning foreign exchange. To its credit, the Government of India has provided 5 year tax exemptions to hospitals in Tier II and III cities in the budget of 2008.

But Indian hospitals are so cost competitive, as compared to western hospitals and competing countries in medical tourism that even after paying tax, the price tag of Indian hospitals will be lower than the nearest competitor.

Price is not the issue. Confidence is.

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After MBBS: Karnataka Medical PGCET 08 Seat Selection

2008-04-02T13:18:00.007+05:30

Medical Rank 1 to 250 in the Karnataka PGET 08 will be attending seat selection round today.

All the PG seats in the four Government Medical Colleges and 33 percent of the PG seats in each private medical college in COMEDK will be offered for selection through this round.

In Karnataka PGET 07, there were a total of 178 MD seats and 126 diploma seats(clinical, para/pre clinical from Govt and private colleges) for people who had written Karnataka PGET 07. This was then further divided into general merit and other categories.

This year the number of seats is likely to be less than last year as a few of the private colleges have been granted deemed university status and will be admitting students through their own entrance exams.

Students taking up a seat in a private medical college through Karnataka PGET will get a subsidy of 33% from the Government of Karnataka.

In turn all students taking up seats, in private and government medical colleges, have to sign a bond that they are willing to work in Government hospitals for a period of 3 years(MD)/2 years(diploma) if the government so desires.

The fees for a seat in private college is

Course	Total Fee (100%)	Fee after reduction of 33%
1. Medical
a) Degree
- Clinical	Rs. 4,56,000/-	Rs. 3,05,000/-
- Para Clinical	Rs. 1,14,000/-	Rs. 76,000/-
- Pre Clinical	Rs. 57,000/-	Rs. 38,190/-
b) Diploma
- Clinical	Rs. 3,42,000/-	Rs. 2,29,000/-
- Para Clinical	Rs. 1,14,000/-	Rs. 76,000/-
2. Dental Degree
- Clinical	Rs. 2,34,000/-	Rs. 1,56,000/-
- Para Clinical	Rs. 78,000/-	Rs. 52,260/-

The fees for a seat in government college is

Course	Total Fee
1. Medical
a) Degree
- Clinical	Rs. 20,000/-
- Para Clinical	Rs. 10,000/-
- Pre Clinical	Rs. 5,000/-
b) Diploma
- Clinical	Rs. 20,000/-
- Para Clinical	Rs. 10,000/-
2. Dental Degree
- Clinical	Rs. 20,000/-
- Para Clinical	Rs. 5,000/-

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Genetics: Naming Genes

2008-03-23T17:25:00.002+05:30

"...a misleading way of talking about genetics that involves tagging genes with the problem that accompanies their dysfunction - genes "for" obesity, aggression, dyslexia, and addiction, and their more obviously medical cousins, the genes "for" cancer, Alzheimer's, and high cholesterol - and you get a world where people begin to think that their genes hold road plans for their lives. That their nature controls them"

Names do matter

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Medical Advances Vs Health Insurance

2008-03-17T05:58:00.007+05:30

"Since insurance depends on mutual ignorance, then any advance in medical science, which pushes back the boundaries of ignorance—whether for the insurers, the insured, or both, will weaken the basis of insurance. The more we know, the less we can insure."

This is from New York Times bestseller "The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford.

A major part of the chapter "The Inside Story" is about the shortcomings of the US and UK health care systems. The health care system of Singapore, with out of pocket spending for regular doctor visits and health insurance covering catastrophic expenses, is held as the solution.

If you are a econo junkie like me then put this book on your must-read list.

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Patient Care: Protocol Vs Clinical Judgement

2008-03-14T07:35:00.004+05:30

Commenting on the procedure to be followed by physicians in treating any patient in Columbia Hospital in Bangalore.

"It is devising an “integrated critical care pathway, a specific flow of events which needs to be followed by every physician for the treatment of a given symptom.”

If a doctor deviates from this standard for whatever reason, he has to document the reason for doing so"

This might be the sweet spot that we are looking for between the so called impersonal, rigid, inhumane, medicine-as-a-system type of standardized, protocol based management of the patients and the each-patient-is-unique type of care.

This allows for standardized and efficient management of the patient based on a protocol while allowing lee way to the physician, based on his clinical judgment, to tailor the treatment to the needs of a particular patient.

Trying to have the best of both worlds.

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Medical PG KCET 2007 Rank Cut off

2008-03-11T13:34:00.005+05:30

Getting a ~~good~~ rank in any entrance exam is half the battle.

Making sense of what the rank means and what seats will be available for that rank is the other half of the battle which only the ~~fortunate~~ deserving few will get to fight.

On the RGUHS website, at this page

http://www.rguhs.ac.in/student/newcollegelist.php?fcode=01

you can find the number of seats alloted to each college , classified into subdivisions to be filled up though KCET, COMEDK, Management quota, NRI quota, All India Quota.

But the best part is that there in also information about the name of the person who took up a particular seat in 2007, his rank, the category (GM, cat II/III, SC, ST) and other details.

So you can sort of compile a list of the seats chosen by the first 100 or 200 rank holders in KCET 2007. But the list wont be complete as a few of the colleges have not put up this information (?yet). You can know the general pattern in which seats of different specialties and colleges are taken up in each round and what the likely choices that you will face during counseling.

It is cumbersome, but it can be done.

Others who are preparing for the next KCET exam can do this to get an idea about the ruthless competition that is out there to get you.

What rank do you need, to get into the seat that you want ?

Postscript: If any of you have such lists for previous entrance exams (All India, KCET) about which seat will be available for what rank under which category, please mail it to netmedico@gmail.com

Read the other posts on this blog

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Part 1: How to study ENT ?

2008-03-10T05:37:00.006+05:30

Recently one of the readers of this blog asked me "How to retain what is read in ENT?".

One easy way to understand any subject and retain it is to visualize what is being read.

Knowing the anatomy and functioning of the ear is essential.

Here are few videos that might be of help.

This is a short animation to know the basics of Ear anatomy.

This is a 5 minute didactic video of ear anatomy.

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Funny Condom Song from India

2008-03-09T23:01:00.001+05:30

Fake US Medical School

2008-03-07T22:25:00.003+05:30

This is the weirdest this I have come across in a while.

A fake medical school in US is trying to lure students.

I had heard of fake doctors. But a whole medical college ?

Cost of Creating a Doctor in a Private College

2008-03-06T13:22:00.020+05:30

Let us see how much it costs a young person in time and money to become a fully minted doctor from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, one of the best medical colleges in India. This is a private autonomous college and the full cost is borne by the student. (i.e no subsidy by the government)

This is the college fees for a General Category student in the year 2008 .
( Does not include accommodation, food and other expenses.)
( Foreign national/NRIs/Management students have to pay more)

MBBS Degree ( Under Graduate)

First Year --- 1 year -- Rs 4,00,500

Second Year --- 1.5 years -- Rs 4,06,000

Third Year ----1 year -- Rs 4,30,000

Fourth Year ---- 1 year -- Rs 4,56,000

Internship ---- 1 Year -- Rs 2,42,000

Total Time : 5.5 Years College Fees: Rs 19,34,500

After spending 5.5 years and paying Rs 19, 34,500 you are awarded a MBBS degree. If you join a top end corporate hospital you can expect a salary between Rs 15,000 to Rs 20, 000 a month. (Roughly 8 to 11 years to earn the 19 odd lakhs paid as college fees).

But most people view a MBBS degree as inadequate to set up a private practice and treat in as a ticket to pursue specialization in some field of their interest by taking up a post graduate course.

MS/MD ( Post Graduate Degree)

A top rank in a competitive exam will grant you an entrance into any of these courses.

This is a three year course and the fees varies depending on the subject chosen.

MD Radiology (X ray, CAT Scan)-- 3 year course -- college fees: Rs 22,45,500

MD Pediatrics (Child Specialist) -- 3 year course -- college fees: Rs 18,31,500
MS Orthopedics(Bone Specialist)

MD General Medicine --- 3 year course-- college fees: Rs 16,09,500
MS General Surgery
MS Obstetrics & Gynecology (Ladies Specialist)

After spending 8.5 years, assuming you get a Post graduate seat in your first attempt, and spending a total of Rs 35,44,000 - Rs 41,80,000 you are certified as a specialist in your field and you can start a private practice and/or join a uni/multi specialty hospital.

Most people settle down at this level of specialization. But this may change in the future due to increasing competition and the demand for super specialists by patients in corporate hospitals.

The pressure to super specialize is already present to some extent in General Medicine and General Surgery.

Super Specialty Courses
Again , a top rank in a competitive exam will grant you an entrance into any of these courses.

If you want to be a Cardiologist(heart), Nephrologist (kidney), Neurologist (nerve), you have to complete a 3 year course after MD General Medicine or MD Pediatrics

Similarly if you want to become a Cardio-thoracic Surgeon, Neurosurgeon , Urologist, you have to complete a 3 year course after MS General Surgery or MD Pediatrics.

Duration: 3 years Course Fee: Rs 22,45,500

So after spending a total of 11.5 years, Rs 57,89,500 and countless exams, you are a super - specialist in your chosen field from one of the best medical colleges in India.

To put this in another way, a 18 year old student entering this end of the tunnel in 2008 will come out of the other end as 30 year old super - specialist in the year 2020.

Post Script: For the sake of simplicity, I have willfully turned a blind eye to the trend of exponentially increasing college fees. I have assumed that college fees will be frozen at the 2008 level till 2020.

I have also assumed that you will get your desired seat in the various entrance exams in your first attempt.

You will have to throw in a few more lakhs for the hostel facility based on the creature comforts you cant live without.

I have not considered Non clinical branches like Pathology, Anatomy, Biochemistry and 2 year diploma courses.

Eradicating Waves of Malaria

2008-03-04T18:46:00.007+05:30

Commenting on the undulating nature of Malaria

"The best-known example of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory is Sri Lanka, which went from one million malaria cases in 1955 to a mere 18 in 1963. Spraying was cut back, and cases surged to 537,000 by 1969. By 2005, the country was again down to 1,640 cases.

The civil war’s cease-fire of 2001 has broken down, and the disease could surge again."

Bill Gates has called for the eradication of malaria. He has been investing a lot of money on this through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Just to place this audacious goal in perspective consider this.

A vaccine, considered an essential weapon for eradication of any disease, for polio was developed more than 50 years ago.

Efforts to eradicate polio have been going on since 1985.

There were less than 800 cases of polio in the whole world in 2003.

Yet we are years away from wiping out polio from the face of earth.

In contrast, there are around 500 million malarial infections every year, spread across 107 countries.

And a vaccine for malaria is nowhere in sight.

Can we or should we even aim to eradicate malaria in the near future ?

New Indian Law: Re-registration of Doctors Every Five Years

2008-02-28T15:14:00.002+05:30

Tucked away at the end of this article is this paragraph..

" The commission has also recommended converting the Medical Council of India, Nursing Council of India and Rehabilitation Council of India into a professional association with the power to conduct nationwide examinations, minister of state for health and family welfare Panabaka Lakshmi said.

The new body would also regulate the fee structure in private medical colleges and revamp continuing medical education (CME) and re-registration of doctors every five years based on evaluation of credit earned through CME."

Exams are a necessary evil..

SC/ST Quota in MBBS and BDS for All India Seats

2008-02-27T10:13:00.003+05:30

Latest News

" Seats in government medical and dental colleges across the country that are under the all India quota are filled up on the basis of the all India entrance examination....

Health Ministry has issued directions to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to implement 15 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes and 7.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribes in the exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)."

Prepare to work harder..

Visible Body: Online 3D Human Anatomy Model

2008-02-24T10:34:00.003+05:30

The Visible Body is the best website that I have come across to learn human anatomy by interacting with a three dimensional human model.

After the free registration, the model has to be downloaded. This is a one off thing and will take quite a while depending on your internet speed. Only Internet Explorer is supported right now.

Once the model has been loaded, you can rotate it in any direction, zoom in/ zoom out, isolate required structures, make structures transparent/invisible. You can also add or remove entire systems.

Overall a very good resource for those who are simply just not satisfied with the line diagrams in Chaurasia and need to play around to make sense of it.

Unhappy Doctors and The Great Lie

2008-02-23T19:58:00.007+05:30

This is from a ongoing discussion in med blogs.

Edwin Leap, starts the discussion with the post titled "Why are doctors so unhappy?".

He says

"I believe physicians are unhappy because they believed the great lie.

.. The lie was this: ‘if you become a doctor, your profession of medicine will be all you need for happiness and fulfillment.’ In short, physicians learned to validate themselves by way of a profession.

The problem is, that will always fail. Medicine is a wonderful profession; and also a job. No job should have, or can have, the power to be everything to any of us."

He goes on to say that doctors need validation somewhere besides medicine. He says he has found it in his religion.

And Graham, a medical student, responds

"I believe my generation of physicians never grew up with a great lie.

.....We want to have free time outside of our careers. We want to have families and relationships. Sure, we’re ready to make sacrifices, but we weren’t told a lie–or maybe we just never believed it."

Did you believe ?

Rank List of Karnataka PGET - 2008 (Medical PG)

2008-02-17T01:16:00.010+05:30

Today the Provisional marks list of Karnataka PGET - 2008 (Medical PG) was released. I copied the page to a spreadsheet and messed around till I got the rank list. Since these marks are provisional, the list is tentative. When two or more students score the same marks, the rank is assigned depending upon several factors like number of attempts in UG exams, marks scored in UG exams. Since I do not have these data about individual students, I have given the ranks as a interval.

Marks Scored Rank (Starts from - Ends at)

172 (Highest) 001 and 002
170-- 003 and 004
169-- 005 to 008
168-- 009 to 015
167-- 016 to 023
166-- 024 to 033
165-- 034 to 047
164-- 048 to 060
163-- 061 to 074
162-- 075 to 089
161-- 090 to 110
160-- 111 to 152
159-- 153 to 183
158-- 184 to 217
157-- 218 to 257
156-- 258 to 304
155-- 305 to 345
154-- 346 to 397
153-- 398 to 461
152-- 462 to 517
151-- 518 to 581
150-- 582 to 659

I have the whole rank list sorted till the last rank. I will upload the rest if I find the time.

ನಿದ್ದೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು.

Update: Click on the link below to download the whole list. It is a tentative. People who have scored the same marks has been arranged alphabetically for convenience. But in the actual official rank list it will be arranged based on the number of attempts and aggregate marks in UG Exams.

Rank List PGET - 2...

Hosted by eSnips

Quote: Medical School and Public Toilets

2008-01-21T17:33:00.002+05:30

"Medical school is like a public toilet, those who are outside desperately want to get in while those inside desperately want to get out" - Unknown

Amazing X Ray: Indian Girl With Eight Limbs

2007-11-06T23:56:00.000+05:30

Amazing x ray...

A two year old girl in Orissa , was born with four arms and four legs. She will be operated today to separate the parasitic limbs.

(Via India Uncut )

An Interesting World Map of Inhabitants per Doctor

2007-10-18T23:52:00.000+05:30

This is a map of the world with Population: Doctor ratio figures written all over it.

Click the map for a bigger view.

According to the latest available statistics from World Health Organization, there were 0.60 doctors in India for 1000 persons in 2004. That converts to 1666 persons for 1 doctor in India.

I wont comment on this now. I will place this information in perspective in the coming days.

Got this map from this site

Famous Non - Doctor : Che Guevara

2007-10-14T07:40:00.000+05:30

I found this line in an article in today's Times of India about Che Guevara

"There is no shortage of motorcycles or well-to-do doctors in India but it takes more than diesel to start a fire."

This line is in context of doctors, and youngsters in general, fighting for causes like reservation and not, according to the author, for 'real' causes.

While I am not sure I agree with the methods Che Guevara believed in, about whom the article is about, that does not stop me from admiring his zeal to make a difference to lives of less fortunate.

I don't think it is right to hold Che Guevara as the standard against which today's doctors are evaluated.
He was a revolutionary who was also a doctor, and not the other way round. And an icon of Pop culture.

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

Blood and Blood Products in Davangere

2007-10-13T21:06:00.000+05:30

If you are a Intern or a Postgraduate in Davangere, you might find this info handy

SS Institute of Medical Sciences:

Contact Phone Number: ( 08 192 ) 266 016 - Connects directly to blood bank.

- Open 24 hours a day.

- Accepts Blood requisition forms from all blood banks.

Products available

1. Packed RBC ( Preferred over whole blood in all anemia, except due to blood loss)

Price : Rs 400 per pack

Quantity : 250ml

Donor : Needed

Time : If available, Packed RBCs of required group will be given immediately after donation of 1 unit blood of any group.
If the required blood group is not available, it takes about 6 hours to separate RBCs from donated blood. Usually Rh positive groups are available. Usually Rh Negative blood has to be processed, and hence available 6 hours after donation.

2. Whole Blood ( Prefer Packed RBC instead of Whole blood in all anemia, except due to blood loss )

Price : Rs 400 per pack ( Same as Packed RBC)

Quantity : 450ml

Donor : Needed. (Of any group for Rh +ve blood, for Rh -ve blood depends on availability)

Time : If available, blood of required group will be given immediately after donation of 1 unit blood of any group. Usually Rh negative blood require same group donors. Rh positive blood is usually available.

3. Platelets

Price : Rs 600 per pack

Quantity : 250ml ( Separated from 450ml of blood)

Donor : Needed ( Of any ABO group, Rh +ve or -ve has to be same)

Time : If available, platelets will be given immediately after donation of 1 unit blood of any group.If unavailable, it takes about 6 hours to separate platelets from donated blood.

4. Human Plasma

Price : Rs 200 per pack

Quantity : 250ml ( Separated from 450ml of blood)

Donor : Not Needed

Time : Given immediately on request.

Photo Courtesy : Every stock photo

Quack Quack Quack

2007-09-10T13:58:00.001+05:30

--------------
There was this city doctor who started a practice in the countryside. He once had to go to a farm to attend to a sick farmer who lived there.

After a few house calls the doctor stopped coming to the farm.

The puzzled farmer finally phoned him to ask whats the matter, didn't he like him or somethin'.

The doctor said, "No, its your ducks at the entrance...every time I enter the farm, they verbally insult me!"
----------------

I found this good one over here. If you didn't get it, read the title of this post and the punch line.

Overseas medical degrees to be recognised

2007-08-31T15:27:00.000+05:30

Here is a quick post to alert you to this article from The Hindu.

While this decision is in the right direction, the deal would have been sweeter had the agreement been mutual.

Overseas medical degrees to be recognised

"India will recognise postgraduate medical degrees offered by universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore soon.
“In three months’ time, doctors from these English-speaking countries will be recognised here, enabling them to work in Indian hospitals. At the moment, only unilateral recognition has been accorded. We are talking with these countries to urge them to grant bilateral recognition to enable Indian medical degrees to be recognised abroad,”

Hope to see the English speaking countries reciprocate this gesture.

Ignorants Treating the Innocents

2007-08-27T20:04:00.000+05:30

"Mission impossible: Docs won’t go rural"

This is the title of a news article in today's DNA paper.

The article begins thus:

"The Maharashtra Rural Health Mission is a non-starter, with MBBS doctors from cities and towns refusing to go to rural areas."

I wonder if the Government has spent a moment wondering why doctors don't exactly jump to grab this opportunity to work in rural areas.

Instead it comes up with a brilliant plan that solve the problem in one swell swoop.

"As a result, the government is forced to recruit 2,000 ayurvedic and unani practitioners to participate in the mission, which is actually an allopathic-based health scheme."

and

"Owing to the desperate situation, the mission has recruited 2,000 alternative health doctors to treat people in rural areas, irrespective of the fact that they are not trained in administration of allopathic drugs."

I will leave the discussion about the effectiveness of Alternative Medicine per se(Unani, Ayurveda and others) to another day. This is not about Allopathy Vs Others.

But consider what kind of treatment a doctor, from allopathic or alternative system, will give if he has no idea about the drug that he is prescribing to a patient. If a doctor in his private clinic, again allopathic or alternative, had prescribed drugs about which he had no idea , he would be considered a quack and would be sued. But if the same is done by our mai - baap Govt, it is not only legal but a perfectly reasonable response to the situation.

Considering the quality of the care that patients receive under these doctors, it is no wonder that the government is considering paying the patients to get treated by these doctors. Yes, you read it right. The government pays (the taxpayers, of course) money to the patients to get treated.

"The mission also thought of luring villagers into the scheme by rewarding them with money."

This news item should have been filed under the Wacky/ Bizarre news section as "Govt pays patients to get treated by quacks", were it not for the tragic outcomes that the patients have to bear.

I admire the government which, in its infinite wisdom and benevolence, has made it possible for the ignorants to treat the innocents. Don't you ?

A TV Channel for Medical Students

2007-08-20T13:36:00.001+05:30

From the Policy Wise Blog:

"Doordarshan, India’s national broadcaster has plans to launch a health channel. It is ostensibly meant to help medical students in India. The annual cost: 180 crores. The government will amend the Cable Television Netowrks(regulation) Act of 1995 to make it compulsory for cable operators to carry the channel."

Download Question Papers Of RGUHS

2007-08-17T06:08:00.002+05:30

Hi,

I am an intern in JJM Medical college, Davangere.

On this blog I usually write about things related to medical education, good websites for medical students, medical news, . You can read the latest posts here.

You can download the question papers by clicking on the links below and then choosing which particular subject paper you want.

You can keep track of new question papers and posts added to this site by using email or through Google reader.

	2007 August Final Year Question Papers
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	2007 Feb Final Year RGUHS Question Papers
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	2007 Feb Third Year Question Papers
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	2007 Feb Second Year Question Papers
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	2007 Feb First Year RGUHS Question Papers
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Older question papers can viewed on Netmedico

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Return to Homepage of Netmedico

Dr. Goolge, MBBS !!

2007-08-15T06:31:00.000+05:30

Google is preparing to enter health care in a big way with Google Health. Google Health seems to be a Electronic medical record, among other things, with a strong focus on the patient.

The first screenshots of Google Health have been posted at Google Blogoscoped blog.

As a fan of all things google, I am very happy that our case sheets and prescription will be better organized. If google makes a few bucks along the way, I don't mind.

More on Electronic medical records and case sheets later.

Update : The New York Times has has an article about Google health.

Anatomy Lecture 01: Organization of Body

2007-08-11T00:27:00.000+05:30

Here is the first lecture from the University of California, Berkeley. As I had mentioned in the introductory post, these are the live video recordings of real anatomy classes in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Watch the Second Video in this series

Anatomy Classes from University of California, Berkeley

2007-08-10T13:41:00.000+05:30

University of California, Berkeley is offering about 40 hours of Anatomy classes online for free to whoever is interested.These are the live video recordings of real anatomy classes in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley.

The website of University of California, Berkeley has this amazing sentence:

" Berkeley's academic departments consistently rank among the top five in the country. The faculty, renowned for both teaching and scholarship, currently includes seven Nobel Laureates"

The institution also has twenty four Nobel Laureates among its alumni.

The above two sentences leave no doubt about the 'renown-ness' of the institution.

India can lay claim on Nine Nobel laureates in 106 years. The list of 9 includes every Nobel prize winner who can somehow be associated with India; those born India and worked abroad, those born abroad and who worked in India.

At this rate India needs roughly 275 years to match the output of one US university. The stated time is on the assumption that that University of California, Berkeley does not produce a single Nobel prize winner in that period, which is as likely as pigs growing wings and starting to fly.

All this suggests to me that the educational system is deeply dysfunctional.

You don't think so ? You want to remind me something ?
Yeah, I know about the IITs and IIMs , and I remember 'Mera Bharath Mahan'. Thanks.

Anyway, enough about the depressing state of Indian educational system.

Here is what you can do sitting in India or studying in any good/bad/wicked medical college in India. If you have a fast internet connection, you can watch the whole anatomy course as conducted in University of California, paying absolutely nothing to anybody.

Whats more, you can even download it and watch it on your comp whenever you like.
What more could you ask for ? Lap it up.

If you have not realized it yet, you no longer have a valid reason to complain about the crappy Anatomy classes in your college.

Join Medspin

2007-08-06T18:43:00.004+05:30

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On Horses and Zebras.

2007-08-05T11:30:00.000+05:30

"When You Hear Hoof beats, Think Horses, Not Zebras"

This is often quoted to remind medical students that when they come across a physical finding, it is prudent to attribute the finding to a common disease, the 'Horses', rather than to a rare disease, the 'Zebras'.

White with Black Stripes or Black with White Stripes ?

But recently, while working as an intern in the surgery department of a government hospital, I realized that a few of the diseases which looked like Zebras while I studied them in the textbook are actually Horses in real life.

While studying, the disease Tetanus was described in textbooks as disease on the retreat. It seemed that Tetanus had been all but conquered. All that remained to wipe it away from the face of earth was to choke off the dwindling cases of Tetanus in the newborn. Tetanus in adults got a cursory mention. In short, Tetanus looked like a Zebra, complete with stripes and hoofs.

But when I started my two month rotation in surgery, I started sighting Tetanus in adults on a regular basis. Not everyday but one or two cases every two weeks. Enough to make me reclassify Tetanus in adults as a Horse.

Photo Courtesy Kirk

On Rats and Drugs

2007-05-18T23:56:00.002+05:30

"A drug is that substance which, when injected into a rat, will produce a scientific report."

First Post

2007-05-18T19:33:00.000+05:30

I am Bhargava. I finished my final year MBBS and am working as an intern in the Internal Medicine department in a private hospital in Davangere, Karnataka, India.

On this blog I intend to post mostly (non academic) medical and occasional non medical stuff.

Even though posts will be about health and health care, it will be non academic.

Comments and civil discussions are welcome. Anonymous comments are allowed.

Off topic or abusive comments are not. Start your own blog for such things.

I ask you to bear and correct any of my (occasional, I hope) mistakes in spelling , grammar and thinking (also known commonly as plain stupidity). I wont let these stop me from blogging.

You can contact me at netmedico@gmail.com