Continuing educations for physicians in India

I am currently working on organizing a conference on clinical genetics in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. There is an enormous amount of new information generated every day in the field of clinical genetics. To keep oneself up to date with the most current information, one has to have access to information, via publications. Continuing education is also important. In this regard, my observation is that practicing physicians in many parts of India do not participate in scientific conferences. This could be because they do not like to travel for such conferences. It could also be because they are not provided with adequate time and financial resources to participate in scientific meetings. I wonder if this is because administrators do not realize the importance of ensuring that physicians employed by the government to provide medical services to the citizens have to keep up with contemporary information. Granted, that many of the medical services are “routine” and ones does not need to acquire new information. However, genetics, which play a crucial role in many disorders seen in affluent societies (such disorders are on the increase in India), requires that clinicians have to be provided with opportunities to keep abreast of current information. Alternatively, clinicians themselves have to take an active role in organizing conferences locally and make an effort to keep up with the ever increasing information in the field of clinical genetics. Will it be different in a decade or so in India, when as in developed countries, clinicians will be actively participating in scientific conferences and using the information from such conferences in their daily practice to provide their patients with the best possible care?

Mother's Day 2009

I know it is rather late to write about Mother's Day, a whole week late. I have been meaning to write about it. I acknowledge that it is a contemporary holiday with strong commercial interests. This year on Mother’s Day, CNN John King in his show “State of the Union” had a segment in which a mother who is serving in the U.S. Army in Iraq was interviewed and was given the opportunity to talk with her two children back home in the U.S. The 6 year old daughter was asked what she would have done for her mother if she was home. The little girl replied, “Make pancakes with berries”. That was very touching. I wonder how many mothers and children were in that position, being away from their small children, in very difficult circumstances not because of their choice.