Today I gave a presentation to the ENT PGs (as residents are called here). There about twenty five doctors, about half staff and half PGs. I talked about Allergies of ENT. The talk went very well. The faculty members asked several questions and the PGs none. Then the chief and a few senior faculty left and I talked to the PGs. They were very interested in doing allergy testing and learning more. I had earlier thought that they were not showing any interest because they do not see allergy patients or they are missing the diagnosis. But the PGs told me that they see hundreds of allergy patients every week. But they do not have any way of testing for allergies or giving any allergy shots. In the present situation the allergies take a low priority. Anyway I told them that if they get their Department Chief’s permission and they get some patients together, I will show them allergy testing.
It was nice to see that young doctors are interested in learning. I am finding the same on medical floor. I have been a little more vocal about the medical problems and they appreciate the information.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
An Atheist Who Prays Every Morning and other random observations
ATHEIST: I am an atheist but it does not stop me from praying every morning. In New Delhi, there are Mosques, Temples and Gurudwaras behind my room. They are pretty far but every morning at 5:30 AM, I wake up to the sounds of prayers. So I join them. Here is my prayer:
“Oh God, bless all of them, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. They are all fine people. Please, please bless them and tell them not to use loudspeakers since your hearing is not impaired.”
DELHIWALLA: There is certain charm in the hustle-bustle of Delhi. I could live here if I had a good, meaningful job. There is never a dull moment if you go on the road. There are people walking, riding bicycles, rickshaws, sometimes riding horses or camels, motorcycles, tuk-tuks, small cars, imported luxury Mercedes cars, and screeching past them are the huge buses and trucks. They all used to belch thick heavy smoke trails, the men puffing cigarettes and the machines giving out diesel smoke. Now no one smokes and all buses, tuk-tuks and a lot of the cars run on CNG, so there is no smoke trail.
TERRORIST: I traveled on the Metro yesterday and my train went past a school. It was a spacious school with children playing soccer on a neatly groomed, large playground. It reminded me of the Delhi Public School -- one of the most expensive and prestigious schools in Delhi. The DPS was here when I used to go to a government school in Delhi. My school had few teachers, let alone a playground.
I used to walk past an officer’s club. They had beautiful grounds and even a swimming pool. My father was a private, so we were not allowed in there. I could not understand why the government would spend so much money on them and not on us. They were already getting paid enough. They could afford to pay for their own recreation. Privates' salaries were low so I thought the government should pay for them to belong to a club.
Social injustice was as rampant then as it is now. I could feel it even when I was ten or eleven years old. I remember during Junior High, one of my fervent desires was to have a few nuclear bombs. Then I could detonate them over India. I believed that only after the whole damn place was destroyed could a new India be born, an India with social justice for all. I am sure with some encouragement and proper, or improper, depending upon your point of view, guidance I could have been groomed into a suicidal terrorist.
Looking at that school brought back those memories from forty five years ago. I guess there may be a “sleeper terrorist” some place inside me! But that person is happily in deep, deep sleep :)
“Oh God, bless all of them, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. They are all fine people. Please, please bless them and tell them not to use loudspeakers since your hearing is not impaired.”
DELHIWALLA: There is certain charm in the hustle-bustle of Delhi. I could live here if I had a good, meaningful job. There is never a dull moment if you go on the road. There are people walking, riding bicycles, rickshaws, sometimes riding horses or camels, motorcycles, tuk-tuks, small cars, imported luxury Mercedes cars, and screeching past them are the huge buses and trucks. They all used to belch thick heavy smoke trails, the men puffing cigarettes and the machines giving out diesel smoke. Now no one smokes and all buses, tuk-tuks and a lot of the cars run on CNG, so there is no smoke trail.
TERRORIST: I traveled on the Metro yesterday and my train went past a school. It was a spacious school with children playing soccer on a neatly groomed, large playground. It reminded me of the Delhi Public School -- one of the most expensive and prestigious schools in Delhi. The DPS was here when I used to go to a government school in Delhi. My school had few teachers, let alone a playground.
I used to walk past an officer’s club. They had beautiful grounds and even a swimming pool. My father was a private, so we were not allowed in there. I could not understand why the government would spend so much money on them and not on us. They were already getting paid enough. They could afford to pay for their own recreation. Privates' salaries were low so I thought the government should pay for them to belong to a club.
Social injustice was as rampant then as it is now. I could feel it even when I was ten or eleven years old. I remember during Junior High, one of my fervent desires was to have a few nuclear bombs. Then I could detonate them over India. I believed that only after the whole damn place was destroyed could a new India be born, an India with social justice for all. I am sure with some encouragement and proper, or improper, depending upon your point of view, guidance I could have been groomed into a suicidal terrorist.
Looking at that school brought back those memories from forty five years ago. I guess there may be a “sleeper terrorist” some place inside me! But that person is happily in deep, deep sleep :)
Retirement Home for Cows
Today I visited a “Retirement Home for Cows”. It is about 25 miles from Delhi. There are several of these around Delhi. They are run by Non-Profit Organizations. People respect cows and donate money to take care of them until they die of old age. Most of these cows were abandoned by their owners when they were no longer useful. As you might know, cows cannot be killed in India. They are considered holy. My cousin Amar Nath donates money to this place so we went there to donate the money and take a look.
The volunteer managers and their 22 employees take good care of the cows. Both the facilities and most of the cows are washed twice a day. There is plenty of space for them to roam around. There is a big farm in the back to grow cow feed. The workers are all from Bihar. The whole of Delhi and neighboring area depends on migrant workers from Bihar to keep going. The Biharis are to Delhi what illegal Mexicans are to USA.
The home has about 1420 cows. Only about 12 of them produce milk -- the others are non-productive. Cows live about 20 to 25 years. They give milk for about nine months after delivering a baby calf. One of the keepers told me these facts. He said a cow may get “married” about 10 to 15 times during her life and after giving birth to calf can give milk for nine months each time. Unlike American farmers, they do not use any hormones to keep the cows lactating. Most milk in India is produced not by cows but by water buffaloes. The milk of a water buffalo is higher in fat and the milk output per water buffalo is much higher than from an Indian cow.
The volunteer managers and their 22 employees take good care of the cows. Both the facilities and most of the cows are washed twice a day. There is plenty of space for them to roam around. There is a big farm in the back to grow cow feed. The workers are all from Bihar. The whole of Delhi and neighboring area depends on migrant workers from Bihar to keep going. The Biharis are to Delhi what illegal Mexicans are to USA.
This very holy blind cow has the OHM symbol on his back near his tail (looks sort of like a backwards E).
Comments:
Daniel: Are all the cows considered sacred or just the Indian cows? PETA must be doing very well in India.
Satish: PETA is doing very well. I am afraid PATHA is not doing so well!
(People for Ethical Treatment of Homo-sapiens Animals)
Friday, December 3, 2010
Teaching the Medical Residents
I have given up on teaching the medical students. They told me that their main interest is to pass their examinations. After passing the M.B.,B.S. (as the MD degree is called in India), they become interns and then they have to study even harder to get good grades in their Pre-Entrance Examinations for post-graduate slots. All the examinations are based on your ability to memorize and regurgitate. There are no meaningful clinical examinations. So unless the method of entrance to post-graduate courses change, there is not going to be any interest to learn something that is not going to be on the exam. They are absolutely right. Until and unless medical ethics and law become part of the examination they are not going to show any interest in it.
So I have decided to go ahead and concentrate on the post-graduate doctors, as they are called here. In USA we call them interns and residents. I gave a ten minute talk on Monday and one on Thursday. The Monday talk was on the importance of getting patient consent and how to get it. The Thursday talk was about the need to keep proper medical records and I added a five minute lecture on the need to follow the rules and regulations, like wearing white coats and carrying medical diagnostic equipment with them. The second part did not go over very well with some of them. Next day I got an earful of how bad the working conditions are and here I was insisting on them wearing white coats!
I am thinking of giving a talk on communication next week! Kristina will say, “and what do you know about it?” The basic things that we take for granted in USA are missing here. So I do not have to be an expert. All I have to do is talk about some very basic needs of a hospital. We will see how it goes.
So I have decided to go ahead and concentrate on the post-graduate doctors, as they are called here. In USA we call them interns and residents. I gave a ten minute talk on Monday and one on Thursday. The Monday talk was on the importance of getting patient consent and how to get it. The Thursday talk was about the need to keep proper medical records and I added a five minute lecture on the need to follow the rules and regulations, like wearing white coats and carrying medical diagnostic equipment with them. The second part did not go over very well with some of them. Next day I got an earful of how bad the working conditions are and here I was insisting on them wearing white coats!
I am thinking of giving a talk on communication next week! Kristina will say, “and what do you know about it?” The basic things that we take for granted in USA are missing here. So I do not have to be an expert. All I have to do is talk about some very basic needs of a hospital. We will see how it goes.
Fine for Loitering
A sign in the Hospital
I am glad no guard fined me for committing offense number six!
Comment:
Kristina: You should be glad they do not have one for trespassing!
Suneeta and Mahesh
Suneeta is the daughter of my late sister Kanta. Suneeta lives about a mile from my place in Delhi. I walk to her home from time to time. At other times I take a rickshaw. Suneeta calls me every day about seven o’clock in the evening to invite me for dinner. She does not take no for an answer! Her cooking is adding to my waistline. Her household consists of her husband and her son. Her daughter is in Dallas studying computer science. Her husband, Mahesh, is a charming man who keeps the conversation going. Both of them have a great sense of humor and I feel completely at home there.
Mahesh has a degree in auto engineering. He is working as an independent auto claims adjustor. He is very busy working almost seven days a week. Suneeta runs a pre-school for kids for four hours every morning. Their son has finished high school and is applying for admission and hopefully a scholarship some place in the USA.
They live in not too far from the Red Fort of Delhi. This area was first inhabited at least a thousand years ago. It has been in continuous use since then. The streets are not wide enough for autos. Mahesh has to park his car about half a mile away.
My sister had a sad and tragic life and died of cancer at the very young age of about 55. When she was born there was some problem. I am not sure what happened but it caused her to have borderline mental retardation. She could not walk until she was three years old. Then she could not read and write no matter how hard she tried. At the age of eighteen she was married. Naturally she could not fulfill her duties competently. She was expected to cook, clean, take care of her in-laws, husband and children. Here she could hardly take care of herself. It was very tragic for her husband too. There was no divorce in India at that time. Kanta had four daughters and one son. They are all married and are well settled. Her grandchildren are going to graduate and post-graduate schools. Kanta would have been so proud and happy.
Sweet sweets :)
I love Indian desserts. After spicy food, a sweet dessert dish is the perfect way to end the meal. I found this place called Haldiram. They have dozens of varieties of desserts. I have tried about 15 different ones, so far. They are all good, some better than others. Between the desserts and Suneeta’s cooking, I have put on ten pounds! My pants do not need a belt to stay on me, any longer!
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