By Rinky Kumar
Medical practitioners from rural areas in Maharashtra can now update their knowledge on the latest developments in the field.
Srimati Sushilaben R. Mehta and Sir Kikabhai Premchand Cardiac Institute or S. K. Mehta Institute, located in a bylane off Gandhi market at Sion, is the only institute in Mumbai to conduct free monthly training sessions for doctors from the interior regions of the state.
Each batch consists of seven doctors from areas like Nanded, Satara, Aurangabad and Solapur. The doctors get hands-on training to handle emergencies, to read electrocardiograms better, to treat acute heart attacks and hypertension.
They are also trained to think of new modalities and to identify when patients should be sent to big hospitals for further treatment.
The cardiac institute bears the lodging and boarding expenses of the doctors who come for the training. Dr Govind Bhattad, a consulting physician who runs an intensive cardiac care unit in Nanded and is currently attending the training session said, "I became a doctor in the 90s. Before attending the session, I was unaware of the latest developments. As a result, I could not implement new techniques when treating my patients."
He said there are inadequate resources to learn about new medical developments in Nanded. He added, "There are only primary level facilities in Nanded. We do not have facilities even to conduct an angiography. If we apply our newly acquired knowledge, then there are chances of 80 per cent of the patients surviving, whereas earlier only 50 per cent patients survived.
He has planned to install new cheaper instruments in his clinic, which he learnt of from the course. It is mandatory for doctors in the United States to give an exam every year in order to review their licence and their knowledge about the latest developments in medicine.
But such kind of practice is non-existent in India. Dr Bhattad said, "This training not only enables us to evaluate our knowledge on medical innovations but also enhances it."
Dr Priti Araujo from Goa, a chief consultant at Apollo Hospital who is attending the training session said, "This is a practical way to learn about pacemakers and ventilators."
Dr Jagdish Parikh, an interventional cardiologist who conducts the training session, took the initiative to educate doctors only from those areas where continued medical education is not available.
He said, "Expertise on minor techniques will enable doctors to provide quality treatment to patients. Such kind of knowledge cannot be imparted to doctors in the course of a seminar or a public lecture. They need to absorb and practise what they have learnt."
July, 3, 2004 Mid-Day
