The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), India’s apex body for funding health research, advertised this month for directors of nine of its constituent institutes/centres. Applications are due by 4 September, and it’s probable that the positions will not be filled until the end of this year. ICMR’s top position—the director general’s post—has also been […]
Category: South Asia
Veena Rao: India’s welfare woes
There’s been a huge amount of criticism in India following budgetary cuts imposed on social sector programmes in this year’s budget, the most prominent being the 50% cut in the Ministry of Women and Child Development, custodian of the Integrated Child Development (ICDS) programme, and supposed guardian of India’s nutritional wellbeing. To compensate for this […]
Aditya J Nanavati: A fat(e)al flaw
The concepts of fate and destiny are rooted in the cultural fabric of India. Even though these concepts have provided people with solace in the most difficult times, I believe a closer look is warranted at how they affect medical practice. Very often, while explaining the potential complications of a surgical procedure I hear, “Thanks […]
Doctors’ Day in India: Time for critical reflection for the medical profession
India celebrates Doctors’ Day every year on 1 July, in memory of Bidhan Chandra Roy (1 July 1882-1 July 1962), a well respected physician who was also the second chief minister of the state of West Bengal. The day sees a fair bit of fanfare, with events held across the country, especially by bodies such […]
Tushar Garg: India’s medical curricula are abetting outdated constructions of gender and sexuality
Recently, India Today exposed licensed medical practitioners in New Delhi offering conversion therapy to cure homosexuality. It is a sad reflection on the contemporary awareness of gender and sexuality that such quackery is still being practised with impunity. The Pan American Health Organization has stated that such therapies lack medical justification and “constitute a violation […]
Jocalyn Clark: Does it pay to pee? An Indian city thinks so
When in public, where to pee? This is a universal challenge with a surprising array of local solutions. Last month Tahmima Anam, in her characteristically delightful New York Times column, revealed that Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city of over 15 million, has just five functional public toilets. The abundance of outdoor labourers and the endless traffic […]
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran: How can we measure patients’s trust in doctors?
Jum Nunnally, the much acclaimed author of “Psychometric Theory” the standard textbook of psychometrics, which has run into several volumes, says “an accurate method was available for measuring the circumference of the earth 2000 years before the first systematic measures of human ability were developed.” He expresses surprise that psychometrics took so long to develop as […]
Aditya J Nanavati: Dealing with patients seeking “instant gratification”
I must admit I feel immense joy when I see an instant message pop-up on my phone screen. I do not think it makes a difference whether it is a meaningful conversation or pure gossip. There is something very gratifying in receiving a response almost instantly. When I think a little more about this feeling […]
Roshan Radhakrishnan: When “viral” is a good thing for a doctor
When I hit the publish button for my recent blogpost, nothing would have prepared me for what was coming. I would have gladly accepted the usual 400 views with a few dozen comments. 72 hours and 2 lakh views later, I found myself the centre of discussion on over a dozen news media outlets, both […]
Vijayaprasad Gopichandran: Peer review from an author, reviewer, and editor’s perspective
I write this as someone who just recovered from a battle that lasted 2 years in an attempt to publish the findings of one of my research papers. Four journals and 10 sets of peer reviews later, a paper which was initially deemed unfit to publish has been accepted by a reputed, indexed, high impact journal. […]