Dr. Vikram .R. Lotwala

Just came across few good lines, wanted to share with you. " No one likes to feel like they don’t matter. Just because you have final say doesn’t mean that you can’t get some help with important decision making. People enjoy feeling like they’re making a difference. Always keep an open ear and you’ll be motivating your team to come up with solutions and creative ideas."

The mood at KEM Hospital on Thursday, which has been home to Nurse Aruna Ramachandra Shanbaug for the past 36 years, was that of anger after the employees learnt about the plea moved in the Supreme Court, asking to stop her force-feeding. Aruna, who was a nurse at the hospital, was attacked by a ward boy on the night o f November 27, 1973. He sodomised the then 25-year-old Aruna after strangling her with a dog chain, which left her blind, paralysed and speechless. Today, she lies in a vegetative state at the hospital. Nurses and ayahs, who have been relentlessly looking after the 61-year-old woman, felt that no one, except Aruna, had the right to take decisions about her life. The same sentiment was echoed by KEM dean Dr Sanjay Oak who said the hospital was absolutely resolute to take care of her as they have been doing all these years. "All of us at the hospital will look after her,'' he said. Oak added that he had faith in the judiciary. "We are sure that the Suprem...

Anger is a completely normal human emotion – and a powerful one. When allowed to boil over, it can seriously damage relationships and hurt your professional credibility. But when completely suppressed, anger can turn inward, causing high blood pressure, depression or passive-aggressive behaviour. When you find yourself struggling with anger, or are the target of someone else’s wrath, there are a few coping strategies you can use to help defuse and deal with the situation in a healthy way. 1. Try to calm down inside During a difficult conversation, make sure you breathe deeply and evenly, from the diaphragm. Picture your breath coming up from the very middle of your body. Talk to yourself, slowly repeating something like “relax, keep calm”. You can also close your eyes for a few seconds and visualise a relaxing image, something that calms you down or makes you happy. While you are speaking, slow down, don’t interrupt, and consider carefully what you are saying. 2. Remove yourself from t...

Nearing 5000 hits on my blog http://ping.fm/lmJvD Thank you folks. Makes me happy but still a long way to go.

One of the good forwards I received today on my mail. I would like to share with you all the Mail. Please reply with your comments. I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum. From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times." "I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. He didn't. He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke. "That's a very pretty car," he said. He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond beard keep more than his ...

If little problems frustrate you, big ones will destroy you

One of the good article I came across on the net. Please mail me your comments. When you have major changes going on in your life, or you’re just frustrated about where you are, it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of depression, bad moods and frustration. I know, I’ve been there … and when I’m not careful, I still get there more than I want to. But lately I’ve had a particularly hard time, as I make some major (positive) changes in my life. I hit these moments where I’m in a foul mood, or I’m just feeling paralyzed, and I’m just stuck. Sometimes I just stew in that and stay there, but sometimes I actually get intelligent and pull my way out of it. I’m going to outline the framework that I’ve been using over the last 30 days to really get myself resourceful and motivated (and in a better mood) when I’m feeling stuck. Hopefully it will help you, too, and if you do I truly hope you’ll share it with others. First Up: Using A Framework to Escape From Paralyzing Emotions When we feel...

I always wanted to share with you people some of the very good articles that are published online. I felt this article was one which I could share with you all. Please go through it. Send me your comments about the article and the initiative. How to Ask for Help — Without Looking Stupid - Jodi Glickman Brown The New York Times revealed a tale of "unseasoned people uncertain about what to do and unwilling to ask for help." But learning how to ask for help — and how to do it right — is critical to doing your job well and setting yourself up for success. You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for and get the help you need is inexcusable, especially when the stakes are high. Asking for help in the workplace is a good thing. In fact, asking for help the right way can show how smart you are: it demonstrates that you've got good judgment and shows that you know what you know and what you don't know. Moreover, getting help up front saves endless time...

Hello Friends. I am sorry I am writing here after a long time. No good article to write these days. Just few thought which i used to tweet on the blog past few days. The following is an excellent article I came across on the web recommended by no other than the great GUY KAWASAKI. I personally think that the principles given in the article applies any article or a presentation or a paper we write. I hope you too enjoy and learn as I have. Do you have a really good idea which you want to go viral? Is there a behavior you’re trying to modify in your blog readers, such as encouraging them to save, eat healthy, or start an exercise program? Are you looking for ways to persuade readers to purchase an affiliate product you’re promoting? If your answer is “yes” to any of these, then you need to make your writing stickier. In this post I’m going to share with you six principles which you can begin to apply right away to make your articles as sticky as urban myths, Aesop’s fables, the ...

If you want a great relationship, then stop looking for the right person and become the right person

Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute

Friends, Please send me a invite for Google wave, If somebody has got through. The next big thing on internet is here. Has someone used Windows 7??

Three correct guesses will establish your reputation as an expert

No Research, No promotion Policy for all Medical Colleges. The MCI ( Medical Council of India ) has made research work for promotion mandatory for all 299 medical colleges in India. According to old regulations an Assistant Professor can be promoted to Assistant Professors post after 5 years of service. The research work in these 5 years was desirable and not compulsory. Now according to new regulations the 5 year term is reduced to 4 years but there should be mandatory 2 original paper publication, without which the promotion cannot take place. The same applies to Associate Professor to Professor level promotion. 3 Years of experience as associate( previously 4 years) but mandatory 4 papers to be published. So we will have younger professors and new thoughts and insight from young blood. There are some striking facts not very well known to Medical fraternity in India, like We have largest number of medical colleges in the world. All but only 1.2% of research work in contributed by I...

Continuing with the article's second part regarding the recent initiatives from Medical council of India, MCI has declared to double the Post graduates seats. MCI has revised the student - teacher ratio in thePG courses from 1:1 to 2:1 i.e 2 students under 1 professor ( Assist and Associate Professor not applicable). This move creates 4000 PG seats year 2010 onwards in Government medical colleges. For Private medical colleges 3000 seats more will be added on later date after a sincere scrutiny. This move might help in fall of private medical colleges paid or donation seats rates, which costs about 40 lacs to 1 crore. MCI plans to start new discplines like Emergency Medicine, Infectious Disease, Cardiac Anesthesia, Pediatric cardiology, Child and adolescent Psychiatry, Pulmonary Medicine, Pediatric Gastroenterology. Indeed a move in right direction.

Finally some good news from Medical council of India. Is it because of the talk of dissolving the MCI and forming a new body, we never know, but I think it has rattled MCI. Some initiatives which should be appreciated are : MCI has removed the main bottleneck by recognizing the post-graduation and other degrees of 5 specific countries viz, Us, UK, Australia , Canada and New Zealand. These move brings back 5000 NRI doctors back to India. They can tech here in Govt or Private colleges and hospitals. They can setup their own medical colleges too. MCI has went a step ahead and recognized even the working experience in the foreign land. So the professor in UK will be a professor in India too. These is a great move in the sense that not only it brings the great pool of advanced knowledge and experience in India but also the number of treating doctors. Secondly it will definitely increase the competition ( Healthy ) among various hospitals.

In a complete overhaul aimed at cleansing the medical education system in the country, a task force of the Union health ministry has decided to scrap all regulatory bodies, including the Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Pharmacy Council and the Nursing Council, sources revealed. There will instead be a single regulatory body - National Council for Human Resources in Health - which will oversee seven departments related to medicine, nursing, dentistry, rehabilitation and physiotherapy, pharmacy, public health/hospital management and allied health sciences, sources involved in the revamp process said on Thursday. The move now needs a formal government notification reports today's The Times Of India. To be very frank I am not very happy with this move. I might be totally wrong and you may not agree with me but although corrupt, remember the Medical council of India was an autonomous body. It was a prerogative of us doctors to cleanse it with our duty of voting and...

AMENDMENT NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 21st July, 2009 No.MCI-12(2) /2009-Med. -22654 - In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), the Medical Council of India with the previous sanction of the Central Government, hereby makes the following Regulations to amend the “Minimum Qualifications for Teachers in Medical Institutions Regulations 1998” , namely: - 1. (i) These Regulations may be called the “Minimum Qualifications for Teachers in Medical Institutions (Amendment) Regulations, 2009” . (ii) They shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 2. In the “Minimum Qualification for Teachers in Medical Institutions Regulations, 1998” , the following additions/modificat ions/deletions/ substitutions, shall be, as indicated therein: - 3(i)(a). In Schedule I, Clause (2), the words “The Heads of these departments must possess recognized basic university medical degree qualification or equivalent q...

A quick guide to the H1N1 virus and what you should do during the current epidemic WHAT IS H1N1? Swine flu is a respiratory disease caused by a new strain of the influenza virus type A. The strain is known as H1N1 and is the same as the one found in seasonal flu outbreaks, except that it contains genetic material found in birds, humans and pigs. It is now a wholly human virus How does it spread? Flu viruses are spread through droplets that fall from your nose and mouth when you cough and sneeze. These particles can be inhaled or transferred to others via hard surfaces, such as door handles, phones, keyboards and remote controls How concerned should I be? In most cases, symptoms of the virus are relatively mild. The majority who have caught it have made a full recovery within a week, many without medical treatment and some without knowing they were infected Laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) show a mortality rate of 0.4%, in line with...

This is regarding the cases of child abuse. Seen not only in the poor class but also in so called high societies. Child abuse ranges from heinous crime of rape and sexual perversion to corporal punishments in school to parental excess of punishments. The images of schoolchildren lying in a supplicant position with their arms stretched out in front while a man drives a motorbike over their fingers are shocking. That’s what happened exactly at a government elementary school in Tamil Nadu showcasing – of all things – the children’s ‘bravery’. What’s even more staggering is that the event was planned in conjunction with the parent-teacher association, with the consent of the parents of the children involved. That the parents of these children saw nothing wrong in risking the health of their kids to pull barbaric stunts to impress politicians is disquieting. Even for those inured to corporal punishment being routinely doled out to kids in schools despite laws to the contrary, such abuse o...

On the 10th Anniversary of our Kargil war victory lets remember our heroes who have laid their lives for our country and us. Captain Vikram Batra Batra's Yeh Dil Maange More! (My heart asks for more!), erstwhile a popular slogan for a Pepsi commercial, became an iconic battle cry that swept across the country and remains popular with millions of Indians, invoked at patriotic public events, in memory of the war and the soldiers, and as a symbol of the indomitable spirit of Indian patriotism and valor in face of future attacks. Captain Vikram Batra (September 9, 1974 – July 7, 1999) was an officer of the Indian Army, posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest award for valour, for his actions during the 1999 Kargil War in Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Early life and career Vikram Batra was born on September 9th, 1974 in Ghuggar village near Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, to Mr. G.L. Batra and Mrs. Jai Kamal Batra. Batra joined the Indian Military Academy in De...

Here are excerpts from a fantastic article written by Dr. Ara Darzi in NEJM. There is a message in the article for all doctors and medical policy makers regarding medical insurance and policy making towards it. The message is very pertinent not only to western countries but India as well. "William Beveridge, the economist whose 1942 report led to the founding of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), famously said that “a revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching.” 1 Given the combination of the global downturn and the time bomb that is health insurance costs, there is no denying that health care in the United States has reached such a moment. This matter is too important to be left to the politicians and policymakers; there is an urgent requirement for professional clinicians to step up and lead the debate. Every country in the developed world confronts a similar challenge right now: finding a way to create a well-resourc...

After the recent strike by MARD in maharastra now the FHO in Maharastra are on strike. Unconfirmed reports say that the JDA (Junior Doctor Association) Gujarat is also planning for strike tomorrow onwards. These both associations main demand is salary hike. Is it justified or not, I am no authority to decide. There are some points definately to ponder. The residents quaters in Maharastra and specially Mumbai are horrible. I mean what i say. Same way, the services in villages have no incentives for doctors to stay there. Patient services in rural hospitals and primary health centres came to a grinding halt on Tuesday with more than 8,000 doctors from the Federation of Health Officers (FHO) going on a strike for an indefinite period. Only deliveries, emergencies and post-mortems were conducted. The FHO, comprising medical officers, district health officers and civil surgeons at rural healthcare centres (including mental and civil hospitals), has been demanding a better pay scale and time...

Boston: Using an endoscope to remove leg veins for heart bypass surgery appears to damage the veins and makes patients 52% more likely to die within three years, doctors reported. Although the technique is meant to be less invasive and gentler, it may in fact damage the vein and lead to heart attacks, the researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. About 70% of bypass patients now have their leg vein removed endoscopically, in part because it produces much less scarring and infection to the leg than the traditional method, known as “open harvesting”, in which the vein is taken by directly cutting along a stretch of the leg. Endoscopes are little cameras that can be inserted, sometimes with surgical instruments, via a small incision in the skin. They are widely used for a range of procedures and have been used for vein harvesting for 13 years. But the study of 3,000 patients found veins removed by the endoscopic technique were significantly more likel...

When you're living with diabetes, what you can't feel can still hurt you. This is especially true when it comes to your feet and the nerve damage you may be suffering. If you've just learned you have diabetes, you should arrange to meet with a podiatrist and talk about the importance of foot care, say experts Erika M. Schwartz, DPM, a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) and Dr. David G. Armstrong, a podiatric surgeon and professor at the University of Arizona's Department of Surgery. Here, help for sidestepping the foot pain complications of diabetes. People with nerve damage should avoid wearing sandals with straps that weave between the toes, or those that place pressure against the foot. Q. When it comes to foot care, what is the first thing ...

You know you need zero title to show up at leadership - both within your work and at your home. I've been in the trenches - developing Leaders Without Titles within organizations - for nearly 15 years. Here are some of the personal habits I've seen the best of the best model: 1. They ask brilliant questions. 2. They are fit like athletes (as I mentioned on Twitter the other day "Your #1 business asset is your health".) 3. They are direct/clear/authentic communicators 4. They read (The best leaders have the biggest libraries! Read to Win). 5. They keep journals to record good ideas, lessons learned and dreams to be executed on. 6. The run their own race. Leadership isn't about following the mob and being like everyone else. That's followership. 7. They are ethical - maintaining pristine reputations. 8. They lead where they are planted, deeply understanding that leadership is a way of behaving versus a title on a business card. Source : Robinsharma.com

One of the people who have influenced me most is Robin Sharma. Not because is great speaker or he is Indian. The reason is ........... simple. Yes, the solution he provides are simple, clear and very easy to understand and follow. Just read the following : Leaders get that the real fight is the fight against time. So much to achieve/innovate and influence. And so few hours in a day. The solution? Get up uber-early. That way you have your day - versus your day having you. I was up early this am. One of the gifts I give myself. As I mentioned on Twitter, I spent time reviewing my Core Values. And building out a template for an "on game" day. I thought it might be helpful to you if I shared what I do to help me get up between 4 and 5 am on most days (aside from travel days): 1. I try to workout daily. This dramatically drives energy levels. You'll feel more inspired. And you'll need less sleep. 2. A massage each week. This isn't an expense - it's an investment in...