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The Psychology of Alternative Medicine: An Interesting Observation – Guest Blogger Dr. Pragnesh Vachharajani

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I am sure we all see this day in and day out as doctors. The society is full of socio-medical advisors; I at times will call them Super doctors. For any chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, obesity etc. whenever you prescribe something the patients and relatives read it...  Read more »

Should Family Physician Visits Be Made Compulsory for Patients in India, Before They Visit a Specialist for Routine Symptoms? – Guest Blogger Dr. Pragnesh Vachharajani

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In India today, there is an increasing trend of patients consulting a medical specialist instead of seeing their family physician first. This trend is especially being seen in the major cities. With about 70% outdoor patients (adults and kids) consulting specialists directly for common aliments like fever, cough, and cold...  Read more »

Surgical Camp with SEESHA in Northeast India: Guest Blogger Dr. Ayodele Awojobi

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The first time I came to India was in the year 2012, when I came along with my dad, the late Dr. Oleyombo Awojobi, for the conference of the Association of Rural Surgeons of India (ARSI) in Ratlam. A live surgery workshop was arranged during the conference, and that was where I first saw... Read more »

Innovations in Surgical Care for the Poor: Presented at the Canadian Conference on Global Health 2014

Objective Advanced surgical care is not available to most people in rural areas because of reasons related to “Accessibility, Availability and Affordability.” We describe how the Surgical Services Initiative helped to address these problems and make advanced surgical care available to the poor and the needy over three decades, in...  Read more »

21st Canadian Conference on Global Health: A Report

The 21st Canadian Conference on Global Health was held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Canada, from November 2-4, 2014. The theme of the conference was “Partnerships for Global Health.” About 143 papers were presented in various forms – papers, posters, symposiums, etc. – to approximately 441 participants from 28...  Read more »

The 8th Conference of Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI) is Just Round the Corner!

The 8th Conference of Asia Pacific Association for medical informatics is round the corner and we have some renowned international and national speakers and delegates. Mobile health, by bringing in the patient, is the catalyst which will ignite the much awaited change in medical informatics uptake in India. Feature phones,...  Read more »

Part 2 – Here is $100,000. How Much of Your Company do I get?

By this point, you should have a handle on the general timing of your milestones, your five year sales forecasts, and comparable M&A activity. If you are missing any of these, check the last two columns, as they are germane to this discussion, today. As a general rule of thumb,...  Read more »

NABH Pre-Accreditation Entry-Level Standards: Using Software for Help

The National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Health Care Providers (NABH) has now given standards that need to be followed before applying for accreditation. The Indian Medical Association recommends these standards too. The standards might become mandatory for insurance companies for empanelling, and the state Governments might eventually make them...  Read more »

Here is $100,000 – How Much of Your Company do I get?

It is a valid question. Your medical innovation is going to require money in order to advance from development to commercial launch. Whether your total capital needs are $3 million or $30 million, the needed money can trickle in via smaller increments or in tranches of millions of dollars—depending on...  Read more »

Road Traffic Accidents – A Serious Concern

An accident or a mishap is an “unforeseen and unplanned event or circumstance, often with lack of intention or necessity.” (1) Accidents are a major cause of preventable morbidity, mortality and disability. In 2002, out of all deaths, about eight percent were due to accidents. (2) In the classification of...  Read more »

Medical Camps in India Held by Physicians from other Countries: Guest Blogger P. Lal Arora, MD

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Do these camps offer value? Experience of a Physician. Background I am a practicing physician, an internist and a geriatrician in the State of Ohio in the United States. I live and practice near Cleveland. Under the auspices of a local physician non-profit organization, I have participated in a number...  Read more »

Make Your Medical Product Ideas Come to Life: Timelines, Milestones & Reducing Risk

With your task and timeline now fundamentally constructed, you should have a grasp on what tasks lie ahead and how much money you will need to accomplish them. This is key information for an important reason. As you progress down your timeline, accomplishing the tasks that you and your team...  Read more »

Medical Negligence in India: Guest Blogger Dr. Dheeraj V. Mulchandani

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A fair amount of material has been written about medical negligence in the past, and it is a topic guaranteed to continue in writing in the future. Purely from the Indian perspective (since each country has its own laws), negligence is often declared via the various forms of media. Such...  Read more »

E-Waste – A New Challenge to the Ecosystem and Public Health: Guest Blogger Dr. Mohan Lal Jangwal

Various types of waste have been polluting our natural resources over many years. Out of those present in the environment, a newcomer called e-waste, which is generated from different electronic devices, has come along. This has now become a significant contributor to the total environmental waste, and even in developing...  Read more »

Make Your Medical Product Ideas Come to Life: A Development Path

An embryo seems to miraculously mature through layers of development. Cellular differentiation, a forming spinal column, organ development, and more, are all necessary for a healthy, vital birth. Just as the developing fetus goes through a myriad of maturation steps, your medical innovation and your company must proceed methodically through...  Read more »

Mountainous Microbes: Guest Blogger Dr. Kiran Kumbhar

Mountains: huge, gargantuan structures they are. They remind us through their mere presence and through occasional bouts of fury like mudslides, that Earth is not at all a quiet planet but highly dynamic and unstable. When you are on a mountain, a small mistake or a small misstep can send...  Read more »

Make Your Medical Product Ideas Come to Life: The User’s Needs and Your Product

Based on our discussion in the last column, we have to uncover the product attributes that are most meaningful to the user, whether that user is a physician, nurse or technician, and to the buyer—whether he is a purchasing agent or general manager. For instance, I suggested that we learn...  Read more »

Disposal of Human Excreta and Hygienic Behavior: Guest Blogger Dr. Mohan Lal Jangwal

Environment is an integral part of life. Survival of any living organism is not possible without a healthy environment. Put simply, the “environment” refers to the external factors around us; these factors have an influence on all human beings and vice versa. Different types of environments are all around us,...  Read more »

Make Your Medical Product Ideas Come to Life: Inventor’s Syndrome

Can you diagnose these symptoms? The subject has conceived of a novel medical innovation that he believes is so important it will soon become a staple device in every hospital and clinic. He thinks its features and benefits solve an important problem facing physicians and their patients. However, our subject...  Read more »

Make your medical product ideas come to life: Public Domain

In the last column we talked about how to comb through patent claims and perform a lay assessment of infringement. While you might arrive at the conclusion that your innovation would not, in your estimation, infringe any of the claims you turned up, there is something else you need to...  Read more »

Make your medical product ideas come to life: Are you infringing?

Certainly, issues of patent infringement should be determined by your patent counsel. However, if you are conducting your own prior art search, as I have suggested you do, do you ask your attorney about each patent you turn up? My recommendation is that you, as the inventor, should try to...  Read more »

Concerns of Unhealthy Diet: A Cause of Non-Communicable Disease! Guest Blogger Dr. Mohan Lal Jangwal

Since the dawn of globalization, our society has seen numerous changes. Urbanization, change of lifestyle, change in occupational environment and new dietary habits are some to be counted. Some of these were beneficial, while others have had adverse effects on our health. For example, unhealthy lifestyles are a major cause...  Read more »

Make your medical product ideas come to life: Searching for prior art

How likely are you to obtain a patent for your invention? If you made and sold it right now, would you be infringing someone else’s patent? Researching the patent databases will help you answer these questions and give you a good idea about whether your innovation is already described or...  Read more »

Make your medical product ideas come to life: More about intellectual property (IP)

Patients benefit from medical innovations. I mean, that is the purpose behind introducing new treatment methods—to help patients in a way not previously available. Bringing these innovations to market typically requires significant amounts of money, from a few million, to a hundred million dollars and more. Medical startup companies are...  Read more »

Make your medical product ideas come to life: Intellectual property (IP)

IP. Many of us have heard the term “IP,” a commonly used abbreviation of “intellectual property.” IP includes patents, trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights. If you have an innovative idea that could, some day, save lives or improve patient outcomes, then being a little versed in IP, especially patents, could...  Read more »

The importance of communication for health professionals: Guest Blogger Dr. Mohan Lal Jangwal

The modern era is known as the era of information, with "communication” as its main source. Various sources of communication (the best example being media), process and generate the information, though most of the facts that we get to know about someone or something may not be precise. In technical...  Read more »

Make your medical product ideas come to life: Introduction

Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear about some new method of treatment or care for patients. Maybe you are toying with such an innovation right now. And, if you are contemplating a future time when your own idea or invention will bring about improved patient outcomes, then...  Read more »

Infectious disease burden on India: Guest Blogger Dr. Raghavendra D. Kulkarni

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I attended the 37th National Conference of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists held at Hyderabad between November 21st-24th and returned to Dharwad on the morning of the 25th. A lot of deliberations and discussions took place over the course of those four days. Most of the conferences in India...  Read more »

Hospice care in the end of life in patients with terminal illness: Time has come to develop the discipline in India – Guest Bloggers Dr. P.L. Arora and Dr. Z. Arora

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Even with increased sophistication in care now available in India for a variety of illnesses, it should be expected that there will be instances where further medical care in patients with a terminal illness will be considered futile by current standards of care. This is unfortunately more applicable in cases...  Read more »

Wearable Technology in Healthcare: Will It Take Root in India? Guest Blogger Dr. Neelesh Bhandari

With the advent of Google Glasses and self-quantifying apps (mobile apps that monitor vital signs or other information about the user), wearable technology will soon be a big thing in healthcare. The movement for self-quantifying patients is not too old. Many experts believe that self-quantifying patients are the logical next...  Read more »

Understanding the patient in a consultation: Guest blogger Dr. Shalini Ratan

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In a disease-centric approach of medical consultation, the patient comes in with a disease and returns with a diagnosis, while in a patient-centric approach, the patient is diagnosed for the disease and is also understood more as a person, at the end of the consultation. It is documented that in...  Read more »

Types of patients encountered in medical practice: Guest blogger Dr. Shalini Ratan

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Every patient is UNIQUE. Reason being: Patients are all people, with individual differences The same treatments and actions may not work for every patient Some patients may interpret what you say to them in different ways The Health Belief Model is a well researched description of patients’ beliefs about health...  Read more »

The art of patient care: Guest blogger Dr. Shalini Ratan

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“Handling a disease requires Knowledge… Handling a patient requires Wisdom.” The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and does not consist only of the absence of disease or infirmity.” According to this definition, for a doctor to be referred to...  Read more »

New age medical practice: Challenges in a modern world: Guest blogger Dr. Shalini Ratan

Among the challenges for an ancient profession in a modern world is the need to define and assure professional behavior in the rapidly changing health care environment. New Age Medicine is about Medical Professionalism. Today, medicine is a specialized service industry. Adopting methods to improve the patient experience has become...  Read more »

Traditional medical practice: Time has changed: Guest blogger Dr. Shalini Ratan

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Managing a medical practice has never been a subject of learning in the medical education system. This has led to a lack of awareness among medical practitioners regarding the philosophy and methodology of running a medical practice with formal skills and planning. Typically, practicing medicine involves giving a diagnosis and...  Read more »

Teaching of public health in Indian medical colleges: Guest blogger Dr. Kiran Kumbhar

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Most medical undergraduate students in India rate PSM (Preventive and Social Medicine) as the most tedious subject in the curriculum; the ennui being exacerbated by, with all due respect to the writers of Park’s, the monotonous nature of the subject’s premier textbook. I believe that public health is such a...  Read more »

Healthcare, Doctor, and the Patient: Guest blogger Dr. Shalini Ratan

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Healthcare is one of India’s largest sectors, in terms of revenue and employment, and the sector is expanding rapidly. It is going beyond its “institutional” role. It is taking a transition from a “Disease-centric” to a “Patient-centric” approach. It is extending its role from treatment to prevention and up to...  Read more »