MEDICOS MEDICOS MEDICOS MEDICOS MEDICOS The Digital Health Revolution: Promises and MEDICOS Perils MEDICOS MEDICOS 46 MEDICOS 111 MEDICOS 80 41 MEDICOS 17 MEDICOS 36 110 MEDICOS 92 MEDICOS MEDICOS
revista
AMSA India Newsletter
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
Wild Expeditions Part 1
SPACE WITH STARK Improvise, Adapt & Overcome!
ROBOTIC SURGERY
Research Series Part 1
QUASEITIO SEQUENTIA
AMSA INTERNATIONAL APPOINTMENTS
Issue #9
PUBLIC HEALTH STEWARDSHIP PROGRAMME 2020
KOFFEE WITH NAVITA JAIN
AMSA India Newsletter
MERSA COUNCIL 2020
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVERS
Issue #9 AMSA India Newsletter Issue #9
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OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020 OCTOBER 2020
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AMSA india about us.
AMSA India represents Indian medical students interests in all the spheres of our society and thus provides an excellent platform for empowerment. The activities involve medical students in participating in various national and international conferences, academic bonanzas and philanthropic work. The directive of our organization is to inform, educate and counsel every medical student of India. The international activities Conference EAMSC are (January/February), AMSC (Conference: July/August) and AMSEP (Student exchange).
about AMSA
INTERNATIONAL
AMSA was officially founded in Manila, Philippines in the year 1985, it is an active, dynamic and exciting student-led, not-for-profit and non-political organization with 30 member associates and observer nations. AMSA's vision is knowledge, action, friendship i.e. to share knowledge, undertake activities and social services and create international and inter continental friendships that lasts forever.
Asian Medical Students' AssociationIndia Asian Medical Students' AssociationIndia
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Revista medicos : Hardest to bid adios
R
evista Medicos
our Spanish title says , a magazine for and of medicos , we call with love. To describe this Spanglish (Spanish+English) title with soul of medicine in words of a poet:
Not to brag but the gospel truth we say Newsletter is the mirror of an organization's play Every detail of what organization does is told Besides, all the future plans of organisation we unfold Not only a mirror , the meaning of "medicos" is not lost from clinical questions and crosswords to interviews all we got No less than a democracy, our organization stands by members , of members and for members That's what makes it grand your love and feedback is what is indeed craved because in unison are the trails of success paved.
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LETTER FROM RC
LETTER FROM SEC & EDITOR 6
NEW BREAKTHROUGHS
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EDITORIAL BOARD 80
KINDERED SPIRITS
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EDITORIALS
CONTENTS
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ETHICA PERGUNTAS REGIONAL HOSPITALS TRANSLATIONAL FOR YOU (HFY) DICTIONARY
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NEURATHON
DHOONDH
AMSEP PHILIPPINES
96 VPC 2020 & WOR KSHOPS
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OUR PARTNERSHIPS
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AMSA INTL. APPOINTMENTS
30;0;3;4 53;1;3;1 28;0;5;10 40;0;4;4
The Ottendorf code, Lets see you decode.
Asian Medical Students' Association- India
.on droW ,on eniL ,0-ertneC/2-thgiR/1-tfeL ,on egaP
FROM OUR READERS
Priyansh Nathani Letter from Regional Chairperson, AMSA-India 2020/21
Dear Readers, It has been almost 6 months since we have been living with COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst such difficult and trying times, this pandemic has also given us an opportunity to improvise and work on our health systems. With the recent focus on the concepts of Telemedicine and mHealth, it is evident, that the healthcare industry is evolving much earlier than we could ever imagine. It has been difficult for all to take a lead to bring about a change and to sustain the progress in the pre-existing healthcare systems. But with working in solidarity, more than ever, as young healthcare professionals, we can surely move towards a better future and a more health inclusive society. In this edition of our Newsletter, you will have a glimpse of our works and the knowledge as shared by our members through various mediums, bringing about a change in our fraternity and the society at large despite of the barriers and limitations due to the pandemic. Have a great read ! Stay Safe ! Stay Strong ! VIVA AMSA! Knowledge. Action. Friendship. Keeping up to our ‘Vision 2020’ for AMSA India “Under Promise and Over Deliver” Priyansh Nathani Regional Chairperson AMSA India
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Asmitha P. Reddy Letter from Secretary, Newsletter, AMSA-India 2020/21
Dear Readers, We at AMSA India go by the vision “under promise and over deliver” and I hope this Newsletter delivers the same. With the upcoming AMSACON and various other activities that are organised around the clock, trying to bring the best opportunities to our members, we have always kept our members in mind. I hope you all find this Newsletter relatable and something that is in need of attention, considering the seemingly never ending pandemic and the dire need to adapt to the current scenario. With this Issue#9 of the Newsletter we bring you the advancement’s in Technology in the Medical field and also what our readers think about the same. We also bring to you few newer sections such as Research, Wilderness Medicine, Space medicine and our very own Indian Culture! It was a pleasure to work with The Editorial Board, a talented and enthusiastic team, who have worked tirelessly. I thank each and every one of them, without their effort this Newsletter wouldn’t be here before you. I would also like to thank Priyansh NathaniRegional Chairperson of AMSA-India for his support and enthusiasm and even the Editor of Newsletter-Anushree Rai for working along with me and being my constant support. I would like to send a huge-shout out to all the contributors and the passionate readers who are keenly waiting for the release of this issue, and we hope you love this issue of Revista medicos! Stay Home, Stay safe! Asmitha P Reddy Secretary of Newsletter AMSA- India 2020/21
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Anushree Rai Letter from Editor, Newsletter, AMSA-India 2020/21
Dear Readers, Being one of the leading students medical association in India, we are well aware of our responsibilities while catering to a diversified audience of medical students Pan-India and beyond. And as a step towards achieving the same holistically, we, the editorial board of AMSA-India have tried to cater the needs of the bibliophiles and intellectuals by incorporating literary and illustrative endeavors by our members and curated a visually appealing and reader friendly Issue for this quarter! This October, Revista Medicos has dedicated an entire issue on what's making the healthcare safe and accessible in the Foregoing pandemic, as we witness it, the digital health revolution! We've explored several technologies that fall under the umbrella of digital health, namely telemedicine, Artificial Intelligence, wearable technologies, 3-d printing, robotic surgery, augmented reality and virtual reality. The editorial board of AMSA India, has been always seeking newer ways to engage the readers with quality and brainstorming content, as a result of which, we have initiated a new tri-series questio sequestia (Research) and Wilderness medicine (Space medicine), part 1 of which can be found in the later issues. In continuity to the previous edition, you can attempt the next neurathon, Crossword, make your choices and get a chance to win exciting prizes! Do not forget to check out essential updates like the Public health Stewardship Programme and their thoughtful projects, Regional Translation Challenge, Plasma donation Initiative Dhoondh, and not to forget, the newly appointed council of MERSA! Its rightly quoted, one can whistle a symphony but it takes a whole orchestra to play it. And to be able to accomplish one symphony of this newsletter, I'd like to extend my special gratitude to Priyansh Nathani, Regional Chairperson, AMSA-India, 2020/21 for believing in me and supporting me throughout the curation of the issue. I am deeply thankful to the Secretary of Newsletter Asmitha P. Reddy for her unconditional support and enthusiasm in curating this issue. Lastly but Most essentially, I am deeply indebted to the entire editorial team, Sanjali Dharamshi, Sriharmendar Kant (Layout Designers), for making the newsletter a visual delight for our readers, And Vignesh M. , Shaswat Misra, Samneet Singh (Content creators) for working diligently and enthusiastically towards the goal of providing our readers with new, unique and improved content. However, with the best put efforts, we believe that there will always be a scope of improvement in the work that we do, so I'd request all the readers to please fill the feedback form which will help us in knowing better about your expectations from us. In case of any suggestions, send an e-mail to editor@amsaindia.in.
Have a great read! Stay home, Stay safe! VIVA AMSA
Anushree Rai Editor of Newsletter AMSA- India 2020/21
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD SHASHWAT MISHRA 2ND
YEAR
A CARING AND FUN-LOVING HUMAN STUDYING IN DR RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, LUCKNOW. HE MAKES SURE EVERYBODY ELSE IN THE ROOM ALSO IS HAVING FUN, AT ALL TIMES WITH HIS WITTY HUMOR.
SAMNEET SINGH 2ND
YEAR
A STUDENT OF DAYANAND MEDICAL COLLEGE , LUDHIANA. AMALGAMATION OF IDEAS WITH RHYTHM IS HIS PASSION AND AS THEY SAY BREVITY IS THE SOUL OF WIT, HE FEELS POETRY ADORNS AND ABRIDGES THE CONTENT NEVERTHELESS MAKES THE CRUX UNADORNED.
VIGNE 2ND
A STUDENT MEDICAL MADRAS, T WITH A H ZEAL OF MEDIC ENGINEE PRESENTL INTERNSHIP INTELL
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AMSA-INDIA 2020/21 SANJALI DHARAMSHI 4TH
YEAR
A STUDENT OF VYDEHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND RESEARCH CENTER JUST TRYING TO MAKE A LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE.
ESH M YEAR
FROM MADRAS L COLLEGE, TAMIL NADU. HUMONGOUS BLENDING CINE AND RING, HE IS Y DOING HIS IN ARTIFICIAL LIGENCE.
SHRIHARMENDER KANT 2ND
YEAR
A STUDENT OF AIIMS, RISHIKESH WHO DRAWS CREATIVE INSPIRATION FROM FANTASTICAL DREAMS AND EXTRACTS COLOUR PALETTES FROM THE BURGEONING LIFE ALL AROUND, NO WONDER SHE'S ONBOARD THE DESIGN CREW OF AMSA INDIA NEWSLETTER .
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NEW BREAKTHROUGHS
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ANTI-AGING DRUGS:
Also known as senolytics these drugs have begun human testing and might be available in the coming 5 years. While these drugs do not reverse aging itself they do treat certain diseases by reversing a particular process which is involved in aging. These drugs can create a low level inflammation
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to kill the senescent cells in one's body.
INTERFERON BETA IN COVID 19:
Interferon beta is a cytokine which the body usually
produces in a viral infection. It has been found that administration of Interferon beta through the inhalational route cuts the odd of a Covid 19 patient in the hospital from developing a severe disease by 79%!
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LIGHT ACTIVATED 'CRISPR' In a series of experiments, scientists at Johns Hopkins have used light as a trigger to make quick, precise cuts in the genomic material of human cancer cell lines. The researchers cut the DNA within seconds using a molecular scalpel known as CRISPR and were able to observe how repair proteins arrived at the damage site and fixed it within minutes. The powerful CRISPR tool has enabled scientists to easily change, or edit, DNA sequences and alter gene functions, and has accelerated research on gene-linked conditions.
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COVID 19 VACCINE
Although no candidate has completed their trials, as of August of 2020, there are 231 vaccine candidates in development. 24 of these are in clinical trials, 6 in the phase III and 18 in the phase I-II. The promising candidates for the Covid 19 vaccine, as of now are : 1) The Oxford University Vaccine which is the Phase III trials. 2) Moderna's vaccine with very successful phase I results. 3) CanSino adenovirus vaccine 4) Sinovac inactivated virus vaccine. 5) Sputnik V: developed by Gamaleya research.
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MACHINE LEARNING TO PREDICT HEART DAMAGE IN COVID 19 PATIENTS
There is increasing evidence that COVID 19 could damage the cardiovascular system, and thus there is an urgent need to identify the patients who are at risk for developing heart problems and unfortunately as of yet such predictive capabilities do not exist. The researchers at the John Hopkins University undertook this project which aims to change that. It will take data in the form of ECG, cardiac-specific laboratory tests, continuously-obtained vital signs such as heart rate and oxygen saturation, and imaging data such as CT scans and echocardiography from more than 300 COVID 19 patients and this data will be used to train the algorithm. The aim is to predict at least 24 hours ahead of time, which patients are at risk for developing cardiac issues. The project will shed more light on how COVID-19-related heart injury could result in heart dysfunction and sudden cardiac death, critical in the fight against COVID-19.
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The Digital Health Revolution: Promises and Perils
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EDITORIALS PITFALLS OF DIGITAL HEALTH THE CONTEMPORARY EPOCH OF CHIRURGY WEARABLE TECH BECOMING PIVOTAL FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE DIGITAL FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE ADVENT OF TECHNOLOGY
Well researched and especially curated by the editorial board members for the readers, to realize the harsh realities from the editorial point of view
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PITFALLS OF DIGITAL HEALTH AUTHORED BY: SAMNEET SINGH One fine afternoon, returning back home after proving my mettle, earning the trophy to my house for debate, my elation was beyond boundaries as we sat for dinner, with a smile, I tell my dad, "I did it, I won the debate contest" to which he says, "well done my kid, what was the topic?" he asked "digital health is a cent percent boon " I reply. "Debate aside do you still believe digital health is a cent percent boon?" He says and I reply with glee,"Yes Dad" and as I get to my room to sleep.
Proving my mettle, tired, Bed calls me I lay down with boundless Glee All of a sudden, a new world I see I see a template of director of hospital Looks like my dream made my wish seem real With stethoscope on me, across the corridor, I walk Through window, I see an onscreen doctor patient talk.
"The notion that simply discharging
Looks from my wishes to debate, dream covered every Walk
patients with some technology will prevent readmission or ensure positive outcomes is more wishful thinking than
As I moved from one ward to other
reality."
I see doctors and interns on iPads shudder Looks presenting data and not diagnosis was a tedious thing I realised Digital Health wasn't that simple a thing
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I stumbled and my spectacles fell down To my astonishment, blurred looks my vision Somehow managing to get my spectacles back Taken aback by seeing, none in my staff not having the spectacles knack Recalling how mum limited TV watching hours With all these boons, effect on vision definitely the issue that towers
All these thoughts in head, I step out of the hospital soon Tall buildings but still poverty-stricken scenes make me swoon Realising the majority of population couldn't even afford food I Fought and won for consulting them on an iPad dude! Getting to my favourite coffee shop, arrives a notification of a patient's report I forward the report to this Neil, who I ordered this test for. As I step to the counter to pay for coffee, counter guy's phone chimes, Reading the name Neil on his shirt, taken aback again this time Realising how the digital health compromised the doctor patient relationship Now hits my mind not a cent percent boon whip Strolling down the lane, I stop by this book shop, Buying the newspaper, I open the classifieds log, Seeing hospitals offering more vacancies for programmers, More programmers than doctor, my voice stammers
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As I return back to hospital, a huge mob i see Patient died of wrong medication is the voiced plea Somehow I enter to manage my data room Realising the database was hacked, frightened me the impending Doom!! Sweating, frightened, I wake up from this nightmare and instantaneously rush to Dad's room telling him, " you were right no matter what, no matter what!!! no coin has a single side and undoubtedly digital health isn't an exception, I might have won the debate with prowess of pros but pitfalls of digital health in a dream turned tables."
Dad kisses me on forehead and says, "Every Venture has it's own lows and highs, but remember no great venture was ever accomplished without frightening high waves."
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THE CONTEMPORARY EPOCH OF CHIRURGY AUTHORED BY: VIGNESH M.
Tour d’horizon At the present era of technology and social media, the influence of robotics is pacing its way up. Started from nowhere, today the major industrial sectors including the manufacturing, service and healthcare have incorporated robotics to improve the efficiency and precision and soon we robots would become a part of our daily life similar to the way portrayed in the animated series ‘The Jetsons’. Robot was not a fancy term during the initial decades of the 20th century. It was the Czech writer Joseph Capek, in his work The Opilec (The Drunkard) in 1917, first introduced the automats and his brother Karel Capek in 1921 first introduced the term robots in his play Rossum’s Universal Robots (RUR). From the language of the baptizer, the term robot derives its origin from the Czech word robota meaning ‘laborer’. Since then its start, the robotics has become popular. Widely depicted in literary and cinematic fiction, sometimes as a friend (Star Wars) or as a foe (The Terminator), the robots has begun their advent in almost every field and healthcare is not an exception to this. Mostly used in laboratory setting, in the present generation with the development in Artificial Intelligence, scientists are slowly trying to integrate into the clinical setup. The adoption of robotic surgery has revolutionized the field of minimally invasive surgery and it confers a lots of advantage over the traditionally laparoscopic surgery..
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To name a few, the perks of undertaking the robotic surgery include: Ø Improved dexterity Ø Natural Hand-Eye Co-ordination Ø Comfortable body posture of the surgeon Ø Intuitive utilization Ø Stereoscopic 3D view of the operation site Ø Tremor filtration Ø Shorter learning curve Not only is the surgeon benefitted, but also the patients undergoing robotic surgery also have the following pay-offs which naturally encourages them to opt the novel innovation: Ø Smaller incisions Ø Shorter Hospital stay Ø Faster recovery Ø Less pain during surgery Here we try to introduce the readers a few of the robotic technologies that were and is available to kindle their interest and explore more about them.
ARTHROBOT The stepping stone for the entire field of robotic surgery was laid when the ARTHOBOT (aka as the Heart Throb) was successful in Total Hip Arthoplasty (THA) along with its scrub nurse robot in 1983. Holding the pride as the first telesurgical system designed to improve the dexterity of surgeons, to increase the reliability of surgical interventions and to improve the accuracy of the manipulations; this prototype advanced robot system manipulated and positioned the patient’s limb during surgery on voice command by the surgeon such that there was no longer need for a surgeon to do two jobs at once – i.e. to manipulate the joint and perform the procedure. With an idea to reduce the labour intensiveness of surgeons, the robot had a master-slave structure such that the surgeon had complete control on the motion of the robot.
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PUMA 200 Delayed its first trial just by a month from ARTHROBOT, Unimation PUMA (Programmable Universal Machine for Assembly) 200 was a programmable, computer controlled versatile robot known for its accuracy and delicacy. Being the first of its kind, PUMA 200 was used for a CT guided, stereotactic brain biopsy with 0.05mm accuracy, it formed a base platform for the development of many novel instruments in the later years. Above all, it was designed to work with humans and human tempos and its joints and motion, best described in human terms as waist, shoulder, wristbend, flange rotaion, are equipped with spring-applied, solenoidreleased brakes.
THE LINDBERG OPERATION September 7, 2001 marks a landmark in the history of telesurgery. It is on this date, the first ever complete tele-surgical operation was executed successfully by a group of surgeons led by Prof. Jacques Marcessaux from Manhattan, New York, where the surgeons’ precision was amplified trans-atlantically to carry out cholecystectomy on a 68-year old male at Strasbourg, France. Named after Charles Lindberg, the first aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, the Lindberg operation was an ultimate confluence of high speed fiber-optic transmission, telecommunication solution and sophisticated Zeus Surgical Robot.
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PROBOT The Prostatectomy ROBOT (PROBOT), initially developed to succor prostatic tissue resection, is the first of its kind for a human soft tissue surgery, which completed its first successful trial in April 1991. This computer integrated prostatectomy system is image guided and model based with simulation and online video monitoring. The system has incorporated within itself, an automatic transurethral US scan of the prostate with real time simulation of what has been and is proposed to be cut and dynamic visualization of the final realized cutting volume. Stocked with hardware constraints to prevent gross movements outside the prostate region, the development and trial of the system not only demonstrated the success robotic imaging and resection of the prostate, but have also shown that soft tissue robotic surgery in general, can be successful.
ARES Today, with advances in almost every aspect of medicine, capsule endoscopy has opened up a new way for diagnosing GI pathologies. Even we have leaped a step further to perform intensive examination and early interventions using endoluminal instruments. However the number of components and degrees of freedom that can be implemented in a single surgical unit is limited which hinders their dexterity and function. As a panacea for the drawback, is developed Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical (ARES) system which launches the concept of modular robotics into surgical robotics. Here miniaturized robotic modules are ingested and assembled in the stomach whose configuration can be changed according to the target location and task. The position of each module is monitored by a localization system and the robotic structure is maneuvered via wireless bi-directional communication with an external console operated by the surgeon.
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THINK SURGICAL TSOLUTION ONE Emerged as a convergence of two unique innovations, namely the TPLAN (a 3D presurgical planning workstation) and TCAT (a computer assisted tool for CT based image construction), the TSolution One Surgical system is a revolutionary technology providing exceptional degree of accuracy to total joint replacements. The system offers advantage for the surgeon to implement patient’s preplanned procedure using the active robot, which mills the bone precisely according to the pre-surgical plan. The striking feature of the system is that it grabbed with itself an open implant library providing an optimal personalized surgical plan for each patient according to their distinct anatomical features.
SOFIE Developed at the Eindhoven University of Technology, Surgeon’s Operating Forcefeedback Interface Eindhoven [SOFIE] is the first to its kind to implement haptic technology and force feedback [technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user]. Here a surgeon can feel exactly what force he applies when making a suture or pushing aside a bit of tissue through the counter pressure exerted through the forcefeedback technology.
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CARDIOARM The snake-like surgical robot, also known as CardioArm, is a curved robot having a series of joints that could let a surgeon to perform a critical heart operation with just a single incision!! Having greater precision than the flexible endoscope, this surgical innovation is embedded with 102 degrees of freedom, three of which can be activated at once, allowing to enter through a single incision in chest, wrap around the heart until it reaches the desired position.Other interesting feature is that, each joint takes the same path as the predecessor thus preventing the probe from bumping into sensitive tissue. Also the snake is made small enough to enter the blood stream through a blood vessel, thus making it an ultimate destination for minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
NEUROARM Designed to take advantage of the imaging environment, is the first MR-compatible surgical robot that has the capability to perform both microsurgery and stereotaxy. With the ability to couple near real-time, high resolution images to robotic technologies thereby enabling a surgeon with image guidance, precision, accuracy, and dexterity, the robotic system is specially designed to handle a plethora of actions - to cut and manipulate soft tissue, dissect tissue planes, suture, biopsy, electrocauterize, and aspirate. Further the system is equipped with functions like tremor filtering and motion scaling were applied to increase precision and accuracy while functions like no-go zones and linear lock were applied to enhance safety.
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SENHANCE The Senhance system is best described as an open architecture, multi-arm ergonomically convenient surgical system which forms a digitalized interface between the surgeon and the patient. Equipped with eye-tracking visualization, the surgeon has a continuous control of the camera, reducing the need of interrupting the procedure to change the field of view or seeking the help of support staff to perform it. The surgeon also has the advantage of sensing the haptic forces at the instrument-patient interface thereby reducing the tissue damage. The unique advantage of this haptic feedback is that in addition to providing feedback, it also alerts the surgeon if excess force is detected either at the instrument or the abdominal wall.
MAZOR ROBOTICS RENAISSANCE The Mazor Robotic Renaissance system is a state-of-art in the field of spinal surgery with increased accuracy and reduced neurological risks thereby enhancing its overall performance on far and even more than the freehand spinal surgeries. The system is known for its precise placement of pedicle screws especially in those with demanding anatomy such as scoliosis. Peculiarly designed to increase surgical safety and extend the range of clinical applications, the system provides a surgical blueprint in a virtual 3D environment at the intuitive interface. Above all the Renaissance is unique for its improved implant accuracy and reduced dosage of radiation required, fabricated it to be the best known choice for spinal surgeries from spinal fusion and scoliosis correction ranging to osteotomies, transfacet and translaminar-facet implant placements.
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DA VINCI SURGICAL SYSTEM The confluence of all the minds both in medicine and engineering behind the screen of robotic surgery is the modern da Vinci Surgical system. Standing as an example for cutting edge military technology into civilian use, it still persists to be the most commonly performed and popular among all its peers. Under the mastery of the surgeon, the robot can cut, suture, grasp and dissect. Further on comparison with traditional laparoscopic techniques, there is significant improvement in dexterity, depth perception, camera stability, and surgeon ergonomics.
The innovation is mounted with four robotic arms (three of which are instrumental, one is an endoscope) which can be manipulated by the surgeon with the help of ‘endowrist’ instruments. In addition to enabling the surgeon to control seven degrees of freedom, the wristed instruments track the surgeon’s movements 1300 times per second in addition to tremor filtration and scaled motion. The console’s monitor provide a 10x to 15x magnification and true 3D vision where the focus can be adjusted by using pedals thereby eliminating the need to take of the hands from the console for focus. Thus as a culmination of all these technologies in addition to lots more, there is a remarkable amelioration in the performance and safety of intracorporeal suturing, thereby devising the surgical robot as a powerful tool especially when a high degree of precision in a tight space is required. Thus the single robot has revolutionized the entire field of robotic surgery and also serve as a benchmark for the instruments already available.
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WEARABLE TECH BECOMING PIVOTAL FOR A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE AUTHORED BY: SANJALI DHARAMSHI The wearable health industry has exploded in recent years, and the trend isn’t slowing down. First-generation wearables, including fitness trackers like the Fitbit and Jawbone’s Up, health apps like Walgreen’s Balance Rewards, and smartwatches, are very popular with consumers. These technologies enable the continuous monitoring of human physical activities and behaviours, as well as physiological and biochemical parameters during daily life.
The most commonly measured data include vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, as well as blood oxygen saturation, posture, and physical activities through the use of electrocardiogram (ECG), ballistocardiogram (BCG) and other devices. Potentially, wearable photo or video devices could provide additional clinical information. Wearable devices can be attached to shoes, eyeglasses, earrings, clothing, gloves and watches. A smartphone is typically used to collect information and transmit it to a remote server for storage and analysis. The benefits are not only limited to Fitness Tracking, Weight Control and Monitoring, checking for pulse, step counter and keeping user engaged in their own health, but is far vast than we know.
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To Get Rid of Stress The device gives immediate feedback about your stress levels and the smartphone app helps you learn how to reduce stress by having you transform a depressing scene into a happy one by actively relaxing, giving you tips along the way.
Sports Medicine
These devices can help athletes or coaches to systematically manage athletic training and matches. They can monitor functional movements, workloads, heart rate, etc., so they may be more widely used in sport medicine to maximize performance and minimize injury.
Patient Management Wearable technology can also improve patient management efficiency in hospitals. garments integrated with wearable solutions, such as commercial portable sensors and devices in the emergency medical services (EMS), emergency room (ER) or intensive care unit (ICU) environments, have facilitated the continuous monitoring of risks that endanger patient lives.
Cancer Survivors Endometrial cancer survivors are the least physically active of all cancer survivor groups and exhibit up to 70% obesity, but lifestyle interventions can result in improved health outcomes, which can be done through Fitbit Alta™ physical activity monitor. Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are common amongst breast cancer survivors, and wearable activity trackers (WATs) are used as behavioral interventions to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior.
Parkinson’s Disease
To manage Parkinson’s disease, wearable devices, like Parkinson@home, offer huge potential to collect rich sources of data that provide insights into the diagnosis and the effects of treatment interventions. Ten-second whole-handgrasp action is widely used to assess bradykinesia severity, since bradykinesia is one of the primary symptoms of Parkinson's disease
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Disease Management SigniďŹ cant progress in the development of wearable device systems for healthcare applications has been made in the past decade. Wearable technology can make disease management more effective as outlined below.
Patients with Stroke Stroke, predominantly a condition of advanced age, is a major cause of acquired disability in the global population. Conventional treatment paradigms in intensive therapy are expensive and sometimes not feasible because of social and environmental factors. Use of wearable sensors, like HeartGuide to monitor activity and provide feedback to patients and therapists are done alternatively. Withings Blood Pressure is also used to check for hypertension.
Autism It is important for autistic children to recognize and classify their emotions, such as anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise, and now there are wearables, like Google Glass, which help them. 27
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Heart Disorders Devices have been developed to do cardiovascular monitoring and enable mHealth applications in cardiac patients. Low-power wearable ECG monitoring systems have been developed. Some can monitor heart rate variability (HRV). a wearable patch-style heart activity monitoring system (HAMS) was developed for recording the ECG signal. The devices can be used efficiently as health monitoring system during daily routines in many places and situations. The ear devices can reveal important information about cardiac contractility and its regulation. The wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) was introduced into clinical practice in 2001. The WCD represents an alternative approach to prevent sudden arrhythmic death until either Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) implantation is clearly indicated, or the arrhythmic risk is considered significantly lower or even absent. As well, heat stroke can be potentially damaging for people while exercising in hot environments. To prevent this dangerous situation, a researcher designed a wearable heat-stroke-detection device (WHDD) with early notification ability. If a dangerous situation was detected, the device activated the alert function to remind the user to avoid heat stroke.
Patients with Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries Patients with brain and spinal cord injuries need exercises to improve motor recovery. Often, these patients are not qualified to monitor or assess their own conditions and they need healthcare provider guidance. Therefore, there is a need to transmit physiological data to clinicians from patients in their home environment, and use of wearable technology for in-home health monitoring, assessment and rehabilitation of patients with brain and spinal cord injuries are being done.
Wearables are contributing in a major way to disease prevention, detection, and taking precautionary measures
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Chronic Pulmonary Patients As a chronic illness, COPD typically worsens over time, so extensive, longterm pulmonary rehabilitation exercises and patient management are required. A wearable rehabilitation system for a multimodal sensors-based application for patients who have chronic breathing difficulties which includes a set of rehabilitation exercises specific for pulmonary patients, and provides exercise tracking progress, assignments, guidance and patient performance.
Diabetes Care Management
Depression
Patients and healthcare providers need to track many factors that influence blood glucose dynamics (e.g., medication, activity, diet, stress, sleep quality, hormones, and environment) to effectively manage diabetes One well-known example is the wearable artificial endocrine pancreas for diabetes management, which is a closedloop system formed by a wearable glucose monitor and an implanted insulin pump. Researchers also explored the possibilities of using Google Glass to simplify the daily life of people with diabetes mellitus.
Wearable Technology can also assist with the screening, diagnosis and monitoring of psychiatric disorders, such as depression. The analysis of cognitive and autonomic responses to emotionally relevant stimuli could provide a viable solution for the automatic recognition of different mood states, both in normal and pathological conditions.
Pandemic
Smart clothes with built-in sensors enable the remote monitoring of patients’ vital signs and eliminate the need for hospital visits. The Canadian company, Skiin provides comfortable and washable smart clothes with built-in sensors for continuous vital sign monitoring. The company’s clothes track stress level, sleep quality, activity, temperature, and ECG levels (under FDA pre-submission process). Yes, we are in a world where the role technology plays in our lives is rapidly growing, as we are willing to be more and more dependent on it. The technology’s tendency to get faster and smaller at the same time has fueled the rise of wearable technology. 29
DI G I T A L F U T URE O F HEALTH CARE
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WHAT TO EXPECT
AUTHORED BY
Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic.
SHRIHARMENDER KANT
- Arthur C. Clarke
Innovation in medical sciences has snowballed from a hollow wooden stethoscope introduced by Dr. Laennec to sophisticated robots performing guided surgeries to groundbreaking gene editing technologies like CRISPR that will one day have future professionals snipping out ‘bad genes’ and sending them to the recycle bin on their laptops. And if hearing about med-tech has aroused an imagery of robot run hospitals in a space station then take a look around to see how digital healthcare has marched into our abodes, with a slew of wearable devices that take ECG right off your wrist and health apps telling you that you probably shouldn’t eat that cake as you have reached your defined calorie intake for the day. With health related disruptive technologies hitting the market space and becoming increasingly accessible to population at large, we are forced to rethink about the traditional doctor-patient equation. It is inevitably bound to undergo evolution at the hands of machines bringing us back to the titular question- what to expect?
Dr. Digital: How will the future healthcare systems look like?
Nothing can undermine the reality that med-tech is the impending future of healthcare
Currently the world faces a shortage of some 4.3 million healthcare professionals with the low and middle income countries being in a much poorer state. In India, in addition to the scarcity of doctors and hospital beds, accessibility and adequate consultation time only calls to attention the dereliction of medical care. Telemedicine can thus offer a convenient solution by cutting down the traveling expense and waiting time of clinical visits. Also entering the patient information into electronic records will make navigation and tracking easier for both the patient and the provider. A worthy mention would be of monitoring devices that are only set to get all the more sophisticated and edgier in future. They would become an indispensable rapid diagnostic tool for early detection as well as handy tracker for chronic diseases. Use of VR headsets in hospitalized patients to manage pain and anxiety will gain traction in coming times. Medical technologies such as artificial narrow intelligence, robotics, genomics, virtual and augmented reality are becoming disruptive.
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The Phansophic Patient: A demand for participatory healthcare There will be the need to cultivate a data-driven and participatory culture. The new age patient will be armed will home health accoutrements and the doctor will have to answer queries- both pathological and technical in order to deliver a satisfying experience to the patient. With the digital detonation in healthcare, a lot of information will be misinterpreted by the by the patient making the authorities realize that healthcare cannot be toyed around. This will require the providers to not only make technology available to the patient but also coach him/ her in optimization of facilities. Professionals and patients of the future will witness not only a digital revolution but also a cultural one.
The middle ground: Creation, collaboration and transformation We are shifting to the paradigm where the thrust will be on personalized care and tailored therapies. Digital care will assist in identifying new illnesses or retard the rate of progression of earlier ones. Companies are raking in billions of dollars realizing that the digital health market it set to grow exponentially. But this will again pose a challenge to the regulatory authorities on how to safeguard patient’s privacy. Some might also harbour a foreboding that with digitization the health care system will lose the human touch. We will be deluged in several ethical questions but nothing can undermine the reality that med-tech is the impending future of healthcare.
Professionals and patients of the future will witness not only a digital revolution but also a cultural one.
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ADVENT OF TECHNOLOGY
FROM HYPERCHONDRIA TO CYBERCHONDRIA AUTHORED BY SHASHWAT MISRA
" The only thing we have to fear is fear itself". Humans are delicate and resilient at the same time. A small change in the factors around us, the smallest pathogen or even our own body can make us feel terribly ill and yet our body can still find ways to bounce back from anything fate throws at us. With the boom in technology people tried to take fate into their own hands, to diagnose a malady before it begins and to stop it before it can harm them. However as is the case with us humans, we forget to understand the complexities of the world. We fail to understand the complexities of our own body. We have virtually unlimited resources and information that we can  access at the click of a mouse and yet somehow it has only made us more scared that a normal sneeze might be something deadly, a normal fever might be the rarest infection and a headache might be a brain tumor. Fear manifests anxiety and anxiety manifests illness. Our mind and body aren't separate components but are different parts of a whole being, us. We obsess over diagnosing, preventing and treating our body from physical illness that we forget that constant fear makes a mind ill. By all means, hypochondria isn't a new concept. There always have been people who would obsess manically over control of everything around them including their environment to prevent themselves from contracting a malady but the advent of technology, the advent of knowledge that could fill hundreds of thousands of libraries at the click of a mouse exacerbate this. Knowledge in it's true form is neither bad nor good. The validity of knowledge makes all the difference. To trust everything that one reads on the internet is like blindfolding yourself on a crowded metropolitan highway and hoping to reach your destination safely.
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IDIOT syndrome, that is, Internet Derived
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Information Obstruction Treatment Syndrome or Cyberchondria is exactly this. People who wish for nothing but their safety fall get lost in the labyrinth of information that is the internet. To an anxious pessimist, the internet is the worst place to look up what's wrong with them. The internet is nothing more than a tool, and it's remarkable that people like to arm themselves with knowledge. However a healthcare is someone who knows how the human body works and and how it behaves in an abnormal state . A healthcare worker understands the environment, history, background and the mental state of a patient which the internet never can. Humans are impossibly more complicated than an assortment of 1s and 0s and therefore it's important to realize that it's not just pathology that affects our lives but there are hundreds of other factors. To reiterate, the internet is nothing but a powerful tool, if not used carefully it might cause unprecedented damage. It's only meant to be used as a helping hand.
To reiterate, the internet is nothing but a powerful tool, if not used carefully it might cause unprecedented damage. It's only meant to be used as a helping hand.
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ETHICA PERGUNTAS Every doctor takes the Hippocratic oath where it’s clearly mentioned do no harm. But what happens when a certain action’s consequences come in a grey area? What happens when a doctor is unable to judge appropriately what is considered harmful and what isn’t? This is where a pristine knowledge of medical ethics is required. So let’s know about the 4 four pillars of medicine These are often useful concepts to apply when discussing medical ethics scenarios Autonomy – the idea of self-governance, that an individual has the right to make a decision and act under a self-chosen plan Beneficence – that doctors should maximise the benefits that medical care has on a patient. Non-maleficence – the idea of ‘doing no harm’. Justice – that any ethical decision should be considered as part of the wider context in society Think of these 4 pillars as you answer the questions! A 34 year old female is undergoing Caesarean section delivery and has delivered her 3rd female child. She now has 3 children all daughters. She wishes to get tubectomy done but when asked for consent of the husband, he says no. She then requests you to perform the procedure and don’t inform her husband. What will you do? A. You do the tubectomy and tell the husband B. You do the tubectomy and don’t tell the husband as per the patient’s wishes C. You try to convince the husband
A 16 year old unmarried female comes to you for an emergency appendectomy for acute appendicitis query. While performing the surgery you find out that it’s a case of ruptured ectopic pregnancy instead of appendicitis. What do you do after removing her Fallopian tube to save her life? A. You talk to the girl about the findings B. You talk to her parents C. You tell both at the same time
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A 65 year old male patient has presented with a life threatening illness. The patient is refusing treatment because he has had multiple failed encounters with services provided from numerous Allopathic and non-Allopathic doctors. His family is persistent to get the treatment but he is not agreeing. What do you do? A. You try to convince the patient through different means B. You agree to the patient’s wishes after explaining all the risks involved C. You refer the patient to a counsellor A 14 year old boy has been diagnosed with a terminal illness (leukaemia). He asks you for the prognosis of his illness. His parents have requested you to not tell him the bad news. What do you do? A. Respect the parents’ decisions B. Convince the parents to tell him C. Tell him about the fact that there is possibility of death An unconscious patient has been brought to the hospital by a unknown passerby who failed to wake up the person lying on roadside. You manage the patient and he regains consciousness. But the patient needs to be in the ICU for observation for 72 hrs. On asking him preliminaries, you diagnose he has Alzheimer’s disease and he can’t give any information about family or friends. At the same time, he keeps on asking where he is and why is he there. He then tries to leave the hospital. What do you do? A. Let him leave B. Sedate and treat him C. You restrain him and then treat him A 17 year old boy has come to the OPD with the complaints of abdominal pain with his father. On physical examination, you find multiple bruises on his abdomen. On questioning the boy, you get no response. On asking the boy’s father, there’s no response again due to disinterest. What do you do? A. Ask the boy patiently and calmly till he gives the answer B. Ask the boy to bring his mother along C. Treat for the pain and let the matter at hand go 35
Q
QUAESITIO SEQUENTIA
Understanding research:
As medical students, we are filled with prejudice regarding our research endeavours during undergraduate years. Acquiring research skills is an integral component of postgraduate medical education in our country but still hasn’t transcended to the undergraduate level. The reason being multifactorial, but the most jarring of which is the lack of understanding the path to research "Explore strange new phenomena, seek out the truth and to boldly go where no one has gone before" Oxford defines research as the systemic investigation into, and study of materials and sources, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. Research is designed to discover new, or collate old facts, by the scientific study of a subject or by a course of critical investigation. Simply one could define research as a planned activity with a logical and systemic approach leading to generation of new and reliable information which helps in answering a specific question. Few perks why one should dwell into research: Once the ‘what’ is cleared, the question ‘why’ pops up in mind
We may wonder why an undergraduate should pursue research when they can rather strengthen their academic knowledge. A rejoinder to that doubt is Research acts as a means to build a stronger background and amplify our pre-existing knowledge and understanding on a topic that piques our interest with additional payoffs being: Augmenting medical knowledge application. Accustoming mode of learning Sparking curiosity for specific subjects. Bolstering confidence amongst the academic community. Improvising critical thinking. Assisting with writing and communication skills. Helps to improve our CV – a great booster for USMLE and PLAB aspirants as well as for jobs, internships and research assistants. Before moving forward…
As we are motivating ourselves towards the path for the betterment of both ourselves and the scientific community, we should also keep in mind few hiccups that spoil the quality of our research. We, as the medical community, are dealing with lives and we are bound to ethical considerations in each and every aspect of our job.
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Conducting a research or a trial is not an exception to this thumb rule thereby Ethics in Medical Research is one of the most important factors to be considered before under taking any research Scientific misconduct is a recurrent observation when it comes to research. The definition for which is - the fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
Six areas of scientific dishonesty include: • Plagiarism – using the ideas, writings, and drawings of others as our own • Fabrication and falsification – making up or altering data • Non-publication of data, also called cooking data • Faulty data-gathering procedures • Poor data storage and retention • Misleading authorship The World Medical Association (WMA) in 1964 developed and signed the ‘Declaration of Helsinki’ and since then has undergone several amendments. Last amended in 2013, the Declaration of Helsinki is considered as the cornerstone in Human Research Ethics. For a more comprehensive idea on it, you could explore the following link: https://www.wma.net/policiespost/ wma-declaration-of-helsinkiethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-humansubjects
A step-by-step approach: As we feed our unending inquisitiveness on understanding the ‘what’ and ‘why’, we have a natural tendency to think about ‘how’ to go about doing the same. Having a precise understanding for the question at hand is a life-long process and most of it is acquired only through experience. Yet, we have tried our level best to give the readers a brief overview of the process behind the screen:
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Identify a problem/field of interest
Formulate a research question Refine your research question by reviewing literature Formulate a hypothesis and set your research objectives Decide the study population and settling Decide the study design and methodology Formulate a protocol with proper ethical considerations Institutional Ethics Approval
Collect data in compliance to the protocol and objective Analyse the compiled data and interpret the results by using statistical methods Write a report
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The diversity of medical research: As we extend our previous question, we realise that there are a plethora of options and research can be carried out in any one of the following methods :
At an undergraduate level, it is feasible for us to start off with cross-sectional surveys across the community, which, at present, in the era of social media, is a piece of cake at hand. To aid the outreach of community, the Academic Wing of AMSA-India has come up with an initiative with the name Wise Wednesdays to boost up our members to kick off their research passion.
Then WHEN... "You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great - Zig Ziglar" The most often and the one that everyone hesitates to discuss is the ‘when’. The best time to make your first move is today, no matter whether first year or final year. As the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step and, with the help of a myriad of opportunities and platforms to start your journey with research, we encourage readers to take stock of the whereabouts of research and dig deep into their area of interest.
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A suggestion to rend the barriers of research: The reality that undergraduate medical students are facing a hinderance in undertaking research projects has come to the limelight. To break these barriers few suggestions has been put forth that might be feasible: ➢ Encouragement is the key for enthusiasm. Some colleges incentivise a students’ good research similar to ICMR and other reserach organisations. But those who don’t could garner resources via national funding agencies. ➢ Regular medical reserach writing workshops could be conducted to further the cause of report and protocol writing in a short but engaging and inimitable style. ➢ Modern medicine is laboratory based and the progress in laboratory medicine including imaging techniques is happening by leaps and bounds, thereby suggesting one’s colleges to familiarise the laboratory environment to the students will aid in better understanding when it comes to research ideologies.
Few hacks to make your dream come true: "If it is important to you, you will find a way, if not, you will find an excuse - Daniel Decker As an individual, we could put a bit of our time and hard work from our side too - to develop our skills and initiate a research project. Here are few hacks that would help you guys in long run. ➢ Try to find a student friendly mentor whom you can approach regarding your ideas. ➢ Narrow down your interests, even to one specific field of inquiry or topic. Your mentor could help you identify narrower areas of focus as you begin to work with them. ➢ Join hands with people of similar interest and try to initiate a students’ research club at your college to help each other and have a strong foundation for research in your college. ➢ Try coming up with ideas based on day-to-day challenges and experiences rather than succumbing to the herd mentality of undertaking similar topics as that of a copycat research already conducted and published elsewhere
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➢ Develop statistical and software skills that might help you along your research journey. ➢ Foster bonds with seniors who are familiar with research methodology. ➢ Try to attend workshops or taking courses on Research Methodology to increase your understanding.
Medicos’ Education and Research Society of AMSA-India As a vandal to all the barriers of research, with a aim to propagate and further the intricacies of researchh to our fellow members, we at AMSA-India are proud to initiate MERSA (Medico’s Education and Research Society of AMSA-India) with the motive ‘Analyse, Devise, Pioneer’. Intended to be a one stop destination for medicos around India for research related queries. Under MERSA, the hashtag #MERSAMondays is becoming popular in Twitter, where the Medicos all over the world come together to Share Ideas and Reviews, Discuss Ongoing Research and Collaborate on Novel ideas with a new theme each week. This is just a glimpse to the fervour in research enthusiasts who will be coming up with more ways on upgrading reserach and making it accessible to the masses.
Council Lohit Vaishnao
Bhargavi R Budihal
Associate Chief of research
Assistant Chief of Research
Aritra Paul
Ikshita Nagar
Associate Chief of Academics
Associate Chief of External Affairs
Madhav Goel
Keagan Mirand
Assistant Chief of Academics
Mahima Saptarshi
Secretary of Research Updates
Assistant Chief of Externals
Chief Of Education and Research
Ripudaman Singh
Secretary of Examination
Aakruti Ganla
Secretary of Research Ethics
Gauri Thukral
Secretary of Internal Matters
Yashdeep
Rahul Rangan
Secretary of Public Relations
Vignesh. M Secretary of Research Writing
Mannat Kaur Bhatia
Secretary of Research Presentation
Mansi T M
Secretary of Research Learning
Asees G Singh
Secretary of Media and Broadcasting
Amanat Kaur
Secretary of Capacity Building
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CROSSWORD
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Across 3. Also known as tiny organs, they are made of layered stem cells that can grow inside the body of a patient and can take over when an old organ fails 5. The term used for all mobile devices and apps that allow patients and providers to monitor health information 8. The ever-growing array of medical devices and applications that connect to health care IT systems through online computer networks 10. The ability of clinical or patient data to transfer between providers in various settings and their various software packages 12. An emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that considers individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle is called _____ medicine. 13. A map of clinical concepts with standard descriptive terms, containing approximately 355,000 concepts and is the core terminology for EMRs
Down 1. Any portable device that can be worn to collect medical information, such as pacemakers, pedometers or smartphones 2. The universal identifiers/language for lab testing and results 3. The technology in which a single neuron is targeted in the brain by turning on a light source 4. The 3D printed pill being developed for patients with multiple illness that can hold several drugs at once, each with different release times is called 6. The system allow neurologists to diagnose strokes remotely in time to order life-saving “clot buster� medications, where the neurologists review and interpret CT brain scans that have been stored and forwarded, and they examine the patient via videoconferencing. 7. The explicit agreement from a patient to allow another party to view the data contained in his or her electronic health record 9. The capabilities that enable a doctor to perform surgery on a patient when they are not physically in the same location by using robotics and other advanced technologies. 11. A malicious software that blocks access to a victim’s data until a ransom is paid and has been used by hackers to extort payments from hospitals and health care organizations
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CUlTURE
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
-Gauri Mehta
JAIPUR Bright, fresh hues of vivid colours reflect the effervescent culture of the Royal state of India, Rajasthan. Two men in their vibrant traditional attire take a quick breather from the hustle around.
PAAN LEAVES Betel Leaves, also known as paan leaves are a ubiquitous part of the Indian culinary traditions. These green leaves are chewed by locals to aid digestion, they are also said to have powerful medicinal values in Ayurveda. Being an inseparable part of auspicious occasions of various religions they are offered as gifts symbolising good fortune.
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India VENDOR Vending has been a profession since time immemorial, with street vendors an integral part of our urban history and culture. They exhibit remarkable ntrepreneurial skills and always are on the move from one lane to another irrespective of the heat, rain and cold. Everyday is battle they conquer with hardships.
REACH Look beyond, aim to reach higher because the sky is limitless. Captured amidst the busy streets of the Leh market.
FLOWER MARKET Finding comfort in the chaos, as a local vendor in the busy flower market of India sips the morning goodness of her tea to start her busy day.
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TEA Better felt as ‘chai’ is an inseparable part of the Indian Culture. The antique Kulhad chai blended with flavours and an earthy aroma is served in a boiling mud pot that’s heated in a tandoor. With practice and patience these two gentlemen dressed in the traditional Rajasthani attire brew the perfect cup of tea for 45 you to soak its goodness.
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SPACE WITH STARK From Head and neck to toes medicine looks all confined to a body But looks like unending theory has encroached the interesting part buddy Ever thought of Headache in the space Or asphyxia that occurs in a deep sea divers race Looks like my words made you gaze From minor pains to deadly groans looks like Modern medicine left no unturned stone From examining to treating without being present looks like telemedicine has brought us the present Advancements so myriad , awestruck are we Significant adverse effects of long-term weightlessness include muscle atrophy and deterioration of the skeleton (spaceflight osteopenia) as the muscles and bones are no longer needed to support body weight.
Other significant effects include a slowing of cardiovascular system functions, decreased production of red blood cells, balance disorders, eyesight disorders and changes in the immune system.
a specific branch wilderness medicine you see So to give our viewers titbits of this fascinating branch , we cover them turn by turn. Catering to the marvel maniacs in us, here's Dr Stark with his Robot Jarvis for space med in this issue. But before you accompany Dr Stark , You should be aware of the profound effects of Space on human body. Venturing into the environment of space can have negative effects on the human body.
Overexposure to radiation can trigger serious cell mutation, leading to cancer, epigenetic effects and even death. Radiation can also impair bodily functions, causing bone marrow to deteriorate, the immune system to weaken and cataracts to develop .
Loss of body mass, nasal congestion, sleep disturbance, and excess flatulence.
Additional symptoms include fluid redistribution (causing the "moon-face" appearance typical in pictures of astronauts experiencing weightlessness).
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SPACE WITH STARK JOURNEY INTO WILDERNESS MEDICINE
Meet our Explorers!
Dr.Stark
Jarvis
Hola Amigos, I am Dr.Stark, your wilderness medicine expert and I'm gonna have a real time experience this time as I'm all ready for a space trip with my robot, Jarvis. Come along , to see what unfolds. Ayy! Looks like I crossed the atmosphere and I'm floating like a ball in space. It feels so good .Oohh! I'm feeling dizzy and losing my balance. WHAT SAY JARVIS ? WHAT DRUG DO WE TAKE?
Let's take Midodrine and Promethazine* *Promethazine is a Dopamine blocker and H1 Antagonist therefore an, Antiemetic. Midodrine: Alpha-agonist ,increases TPR.
Thank God, I am okay now, it's been a day and I'm enjoying the views. I think, I should sleep now. Eh! Why can't I sleep now? What to do Jarvis?
Sir, let's take RAMELTEON/MELATONIN and incase it doesn't work , you can take a Barbiturate/Benzodiazepine later. It's been four long days and looks like I'm having fatigue and that too ,day time fatigue and Narcolepsy ,Eh! What say Jarvis?
Sir, let's take Modafinil now
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It's been two weeks and now , I'm heading back to Earth . It's been fun ,Yay! Excited to meet you all . What!!!!! NASA keeps me in quarantine , I'm all isolated again:-(
I get up and as I face a mirror, to my horror, I see my face has become swollen. Hey Jarvis, what the hell is it?
Sir, it's a common effect travel. "Edema over face"
after
space
Taken aback by despair, I feel dizzy and I fall , I open eyes to find myself being disinfected by a doctor as if I have COVID. "What's the issue Sir?", I ask. Sir, You've developed orthostatic hypotension and we'll give you normal saline to boost your Blood pressure. Normal saline helps increase blood volume and thus, blood pressure.
JARVIS? JARVIS? JARVIS!?!? Where are you ? Why am I being disinfected every day? Jarvis!? Well, that's the first chapter of Wilderness Medicine with Dr.Stark. Looks like Jarvis, has been taken by NASA,Can you help Dr.Stark know why he's being disinfected? Let us know at newsletter@amsa.india Stay tuned, we'll be back in next issue with a deep sea adventure for you.
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LITERARY WORKS FROM OUR READERS In this section, we present to you the best picked literary works by our readers!
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BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN DOCTOR AND PATIENT: THE PROMISE OF TELEMEDICINE Phag, a village in the Aurangabad district, has no functioning PHC today, forcing pregnant women to rely on cots to be transported to a PHC in Goh. Ruksana, a troubled child from another such district, has to travel to the city for medical help. Her parents, being farmers have now exhausted their savings and hopes, but are still persevering. Another parent, Kamla, after fruitlessly presenting her son to an ANM at a village sub-centre 5 kms away, has been advised to travel farther for help. These stories are not just present to portray the repentant ethos of inaccessible areas, but also to validate the data given by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) stating, ‘Majority of overnight trips at all-India level (287.2 lakhs from rural and 79.2 lakhs from urban areas), completed during last 365 days, were for the leading purpose of health. Today, to the hopeless eyes of Ruksana’s parents or to Kamla’s despair, tools like telemedicine are a boon. Telemedicine is the shortening of distance, the replacement of long hours with effective measures and if one might dare, the solution to dwindling quality of healthcare.
As the IT sector and technology advances, as internet sweeps more areas into its reach, telemedicine is going to be the ship that sails through an ocean of problems. As internet and basic ICT get cheaper, increased connectivity with telemedicine could also give villages more doctors, even the ones reluctant to serve in such areas. More than others, developing countries can in the long term, be helped in cutting costs, by simply optimising their telemedicine approach.
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India Urban and rural populations together, can also advance in primary and secondary prevention techniques: by using at-home monitoring devices, having email and call services with doctors, having regular check-ups via the internet and using apps that can remind you to take those pills. Bringing healthcare to homes, telemedicine facilities are easier to set up than whole PHC’s infrastructure, while also catering to the fact that having virtual facilities are better than having none or those of undermined variants. This would decrease hospital stay times, decrease the healthcare burden, reduce unproductive days of the working population and increase the life expectancy: all ingredients in concocting the potion of cost and healthcare effectivity combined. Although one may raise the question of barriers that are yet to be alleviated for the setup of telemedicine, ranging from linguistic differences while reaching patients in villages to legal and ethical constraints, telemedicine is still weighing heavy on the side of its pros.
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Being in it’s infancy, overcoming these challenges can be supported by investments, awareness and lawful guidelines.Funding for more accessibility, laws governing professional secrecy and possible public-private partnerships can positively influence the emerging idea of telemedicine.
Just as we cannot set sail without losing the anchor pulling us down, telemedicine has to be seen as an opportunistic change, pushing limits of our development. With the winds of modernism pushing this sail and the horizon beaming with encouragement, telemedicine is here to stay.
About the author: Unnati Watal is a 3 rd Year medical student, an enthusiastic reader with an ambitious mind, a stickler for hard-work and an altruistic humanitarianwith convincing oratory skills. 51
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THE WEALTHY DESTINATION “Because health is wealth” Travel, tourism & exploration were luxuries reserved for a privilege few and for special occasions. Travelling while sick was a total no no, But now one can not only travel but also return with a healthy glow. “Travelling” is a word that brings a flood of memories be it the school or family trips to fun-filled ones with your friend. But not anymore, be it a cosmetic procedure or a life saving surgery nothing can stop you from getting the absolute best. Health tourism is an upcoming concept developed by countries competing for tourism promotion to attract people with the prime purpose of getting quality healthcare at competitive rates. Is medical tourism a recent concept? No!! Health tourism is thousands of years old. Pilgrims travelled from all over the Mediterranean to Epidauria, a tiny place in olld Greece known as the sanctuary of the healing god Asclepius. In the 19th century the Europeans used to travel from Germany to the Nile for spas, that were deemed to be medicinal.
In the 21st century with low-cost flights taking off by the minute this industry has expanded far beyond the wealthy and desperate. With the pros far outweighing the cons tourists/patients can access quality healthcare with advanced technology at affordable rates, giving them all the more reasons to opt for health care far beyond their borders. The reasons for travel may vary from cosmetic procedures to life saving interventions, from in vitro fertilization to abortions and many more services across the board. The top few countries rapidly progressing in the field of medical tourism are India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Panama and Bulgaria. India attracts individuals not only for it’s architectural marvels, breath-taking views or the distinct cultural and divine experiences, it also attracts those looking for advanced health care at affordable prices. In India the cost of health care is almost 65% to 90% of the same facility in developed countries….breath-taking isn’t it?
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India Further in India the time lag between the confirmed diagnosis and surgery is almost nil unlike other countries, thus giving patients the best care in the least possible time. India might be a developing country but it’s also developing it’s medical arsenal, to make way for world-class facilities and personnel, offering services at almost half the price of the same treatment in developed countries. Over the years newer advancements like stem cell therapy, cyber knife, robotics, highly advanced precise imaging and surgical guidance techniques have increased the success rate tremendously in the surgeries being performed. Ground breaking treatments have been developed for conditions hitherto deemed untreatable.
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With the development in technology, a robust interactive system between doctors and patients is adding to the ease of availing such medical care promptly and effectively. With the world evolving by the minute the percentage of people opting for treatment outside their home country will sky-rocket in the near future.
About the author: Shravya A, a final year medical student from VIMS Bengaluru. A former College head, presently the Zonal Officer Internal (ZOI) South and State Head for Karnataka under AMSA India. A nervous writer giving her first shot at writing an article, because she believes that however old you are there is always a first to everything.
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: A PARADIGM SHIFT Dave Waters asserts that, “Once you trust a self driving car with your life, you pretty much will trust Artificial Intelligence with anything.” The first question that comes into the mind of people is that “What is Artificial intelligence?” In simple words, Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined as the use of technology to stimulate intelligent behaviour and critical thinking comparable to a human being. Did you know that the amount of information within medical literature tends to double almost every 3 years. As such, it is not possible to rely solely on humans to keep up with it. In addition, big data, including Electronic Health Records (EHRs), “omic” data (e.g., genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics), and sociodemographic and lifestyle-related information would be of no use without comprehensive analysis. For this purpose, AI can help broaden the horizons for analysis and maintenance of complex medical data. Its potential to exploit meaningful relationships within a data set can be used in the diagnosis, treatment and prediction of outcome in a myriad of clinical scenarios.
For instance, development of pharmaceutical medicines against a specific disease may take years of study and trials. Conversely, embracing the emerging concept of “precision medicine” through AI could engender success by opening new doors to the world of medicine and diagnostics. In the public health sector, the application of AI would not only reduce manual labor but also emancipate the physician's time. Moreover it could help proliferate productivity, coherence and efficacy of healthcare. However, there are some skeptics who view AI as a bane rather than a boon. Its usage could result in a reduction in jobs. The prospect of humanity is also feared. Analytically and logically machines may be able to translate human behavior, but certain human traits such as critical thinking, interpersonal and communication skills, poignant intelligence, and creativity cannot be honed by machines.
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With recent progress in digitized data acquisition, machine learning and computing infrastructure, AI applications are expanding into areas that were previously thought to be only the province of human experts. We may not understand how dire the situation is but, in developing countries like India, the inequity between rural and urban health sectors is severe. The reason for the inferior quality of healthcare available is the low number of healthcare providers for a large and still growing population, especially in rural areas.
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The implementation of AI mediated techniques could tend to such setbacks.
As rightly said, “With great power comes great responsibility�. Therefore without falling prey to them, it would be very important for healthcare professionals to understand the proper and beneficial facet of AI and use it for the prosperity of the society.
About the author: Meet Sajal Gulati, a first year medical student studying at Krishna institute of medical sciences, Karad, Maharashtra. Sajal is a motivated and reliable individual with a strong work ethic and ability to work independently. Sajal’s intellect is as sharp as his demeanour is smart.
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DISCOVERING IKIGAI An old friend, now settled in Madagascar, called me up the other day. An engineer and an efficient multitasker, for all his problems, I am a triage bay. Reminiscing about his work, he narrated an incident, something which had caused him to start introspecting. Far from hospitals, away from possible treatment, collapsed a lady, her son Rob, a medic in training. Nearby, Rob saw a defibrillator. A pulseless V. tach was visualised, Rob video called his guide cum tutor. It was an emergency, he realised. Rob followed protocol, CPR and shock. Arrived now a supply drone- seemed like an angel figurine, IV secured: the rhythm still indicated shock. Rob repeated CPR, then proceeded to inject epinephrine. A sight he had so longed for, her rhythm had normalised, his mother was safe: he had averted disaster’s glance. Provisionally, he had her admitted but she had been stabilised. My friend just wished his mother too had such a chance.
About the author: Vishnu Unnithan is an intern from Mumbai with a thriving passion for surgery. In his spare time, he sutures words for happiness. He romances the English language and loves quotes.
She had died, too far for medical assistance. Empathising, I realised this was his goal to attain, building those drones had fulfilled his existence. Lives wound not be needlessly lost again.
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WHEN THE WORLD GOES VIRTUAL: DOES EDUCATION SUFFER?
COVID-19, a name in the pages of medical history that shall probably be remembered for decades to come. The rate at which COVID-19 has made you, me and everyone around accept, adopt and live “The New Normal” is indeed one that cannot be overlooked. Orthodox “Social Norms” and crimes like rape that probably cost lives of thousands of female fetuses and adult women still prevail, indicating that nothing less than a threat to life can reform the “Indian” mentality. Merely educating people has neither done nor will it do any good. Without getting swayed away by society, education is one such field that demands utmost attention in these times because today’s education will determine how many lives will the “Next Corona-like virus” cost. Education institutions have initiated virtual classrooms employing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, etcbut their efficacy is indeed a matter of concern.
Quite a few are living their dream of entering the class and getting attendance while enjoying a nap. This is arguably beneficial as students are not facing unnecessary stress which is the talk of the town these days. But the question here is that the whole class is not formed by the “Sleeping Beauties”. The remainder forming a major chunk of the class they cannot be overlooked! Dedicatedly attending hours of online classes has increased their screen-time affecting their eyesight, sleep quality and probably energy levels. With teachers struggling to adapt to this new system, the platform for healthy teacher-student discussions has vanished. The professional development of a student in early years of his life by meeting friends, abiding by rules and following a set time table are virtues for professional and personal success irrespective of academic excellence which can surely not be inculcated “virtually”.
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India
Arguably, “Something is better than Nothing” and self study time has increased for a few, but the loss of regularity being faced by the remaining demands “Real education”. Taking example of a medical college, the challenges being faced are totally different and indeed dreadful! Lectures might have shifted to the virtual world but the skill of saving lives cannot be acquired by lectures or books! Nothing can replace first hand clinical learning. Acing the list of challenges is the harsh reality that hospitals have closed their doors to non-COVID patients in lieu of infection spread, in absence of patients from whom will the budding doctors learn? Following this, sttudents had been sent home for the lockdown. Living miles away most students cannot return until the pandemic ends which doesn’t seem to happen anytime soon. Furthermore, returning shall bring along infection spread issues pertaining to long travels which can’t be overlooked. On the contrary if medical students won’t learn to treat, who will work in hospitals? The pandemic itself is creating a void of available frontline work force to fight it. Problems and solutions accompany each there, virtual patient simulators can serve the purpose here.
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It’s benefits outnumber its shortcoming of not having a “Real patient to learn from”, especially while having no other alternative. The question here is that does India have the degree of acceptance, the money and the resources needed to employ these platforms as a teaching tool? Continuous high speed internet, technical skills of handling the interface and cost of these platforms tagged in dollars are a few problems that can be blamed but in reality the list is topped by lack
Education per say is not limited to formal teaching! Workshops, competitions and conferences enhance the critical application of what a book teaches. This 'Virtual Life” has indeed benefitted us all by making such events a daily affair rather than the previously 58 followed monthly schedule
Asian Medical Students' Association- India Prestigious medical conferences going virtual, has increased their visibility on social media (hence reaching more socioactive medical undergraduates) and has made them more accessible by cutting down the travel and registration costs.
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In depth reviews from top notch researchers of the field are indeed a source of immense intellectual and professional growth of any student and thus can’t be overlooked in any sense.
Students are getting exposure to their future in their preferred specialities listening to like minded specialists. As a researcher, a student gets to present his work before a panel of judges having similar research interests in comparison to the general panel of judges in undergraduate conferences.
“Virtual education” like any other innovation has come with its own pros and cons, with the pros definitely outnumbering its cons in the current scenario but it’s aftermath demands critical brainstorming and productive debating to analyse if this new normal can, should and would prevail for the good !
About the author: Hi! This is Oshin Puri , Second Professional medical undergraduate studying at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh and am currently holding office as Assistant Vice Overall Chairperson (Internal) at AMSA: India 2020-21. He aspires to be a proficient healthcare professional and provide exceptional service to mankind in years to come. Besides this he has immense passion for writing and is fascinated by the enticing world of research which he wish to explore by contributing to the growing field of neurosciences.
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ARE FUTURE DOCTORS SAFE FROM AUTOMATION? “Automation” is defined as the creation and application of technology to monitor and control the production and delivery of services, thereby eventually rendering human involvement obsolete. Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly prevalent in several spheres of society and is beginning to be applied to healthcare. There are already a lot of evidencebased studies suggesting that AI can perform as well as, or in some cases, better than humans at diagnosing a condition, spotting malignant tumours and guiding researchers. Given the rapid advances in AI for precise imaging analysis, it seems likely that almost all radiology and pathology images are going to be examined at some point by a machine. Though, important to mention is the fact that, even though incredibly useful, AI would solely serve as assistive, rather than displace the essentiality of skilled doctors, since they do much more than read and interpret images and slides. Their jobs are integrative and collaborative: they consult with other physicians on diagnosis and treatment, relate findings from images to other records and test results, discuss procedures and results with patients, etc.
Furthermore, clinical processes for operating AI-based image work are a long way from being ready for daily use, since they require a huge repository of ‘labelled data’ – millions of images from patients who received a classic diagnosis of cancer, a broken bone or any pathology. The greatest challenge to AI in healthcare is securing its adoption in clinical practice, especially in developing nations such as ours, for which, AI systems must be approved, standardised, taught to clinicians, essentially funded and updated time by time. Additionally, there are a variety of ethical issues around the use of AI. Healthcare decisions have been made almost exclusively by humans since the beginning, and the use of machines to make them raises issues of accountability,transparency, permission and privacy amongst the general public, often rightfully so. Rationally speaking, the answer really is that most professions are going to be at risk of automation in the future. Machine learning is making huge advances and machines are much better at statistical reasoning than 60 humans.
Asian Medical Students' Association- India
Machine learning is making huge advances and machines are much better at statistical reasoning than humans. In automation, any learning or advancement one person or machine makes can be shared everywhere. All knowledge-based human work will be at risk, just like with the industrial revolution, all physical labour was at risk. In time, yes, AI will take over some tasks, but eventually, new tasks will appear. Doctors' tasks are so widespread and varied that thorough replacement of any one function is just not possible.
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Over time, clinicians may move toward tasks and job designs that draw on uniquely human skills like empathy, persuasion and big-picture integration. They would need to be dequately trained and wellacquainted with the functioning and handling of machines and algorithms.
Perhaps the only healthcare providers who will gradually lose their jobs may be those who refuse to work alongside AI.
About the author: Kulsum Mahmood is a second year student from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belagavi, Karnataka, She wishes to striving to learn and grow, and hopefully make a difference along the way
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3D PRINTING: AN ALTERNATIVE YET TO BE UNCOVERED It was rightly said by Pras Hanth, “At times instead of finding solution in life, it is better to find alternatives. It saves us a lot of energy & time.” Having said that, it is important to know what actually 3D printing is. 3D Printing is a method of forming 3 dimensional objects by depositing smaller layers of materials over one another, replicating a pre-designed 3D model. It not only makes the process more precise but also makes it easier and less time consuming. It also brings the costs down by a huge margin and helps preserve assets. This actually, isn’t a new technique since it has been used by engineers all over the world for more than 30 years. It is being used in healthcare too, for a long period of time in various fields like radiology, cardiology, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, neurosurgery and what not. This magical technique can even make artificial human organs by depositing human cells layer by layer. Thus, it has potential to revolutionize healthcare in a way like never before. But, it is important to realise the need of the hour. With thousands of people dying everyday, it is important to search for alternatives to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the failure of traditional and ongoing systems of healthcare, the system has gone haywire. With inadequate PPE kits, no vaccines, slower pace of tests, insufficient ICUs & lesser number of hospital beds, there has been a rampant increase in deaths. This also is quite detrimental for the progress of the healthcare industry.
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India But, with the availability of 3D printing battle with coronavirus has caught some pace in some regions. 3D printing machines are being used to make PPE kits in underprivileged countries. This has not only increased availability but also has brought down the costs thus, saving countries from debt and safety hazards. 3D printing can be used to make ventilators and be a boon to patients. With proper regulations it can be used in biochemical setups, making testing easier.
The problem in this situation however is, the lack of a proper legal status for the aid offered by 3D Printing. The objects prepared by this technique do not require or get CE marking which is very important for obtaining the trust of a patient.
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This is cause behind less acceptability and usage of this technique despite having great manufacturing potential. It is high time that the governments and health care providers realize the potential of 3D printing. This technique can help save millions of lives not only in the current scenario but in the upcoming times as well. It has a tremendous scope to improve the services without sacrificing anything. The improved precision and reduced burden on doctors are a boon to mankind. With proper support and legislation from governments it can help save millions of lives now and in the times to come. After all, when you can’t find solutions, it’s better to search for alternatives.
About the author: Ikshita Nagar is a Third year medical student from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Subharti Medical College, Uttar Pradesh. She is an avid reader, graphic designer, dreamer and achiever. She believes it is necessary to dream, but working to achieve your dreams is what matters.
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PATIENT SIMULATION FOR STUDENT DOCTORSTHE NEED OF THE HOUR! “Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity”-Hippocrates The idea of sacrificing human lives for medical knowledge is long gone, teaching and research tools need to be updated with time or else we are just living in the past and we can not think of a healthy future if we just live in the past. The art of medicine has come a long way from eradicating pandemic causing diseases without advanced research labs to genetic engineering and producing exact clones, challenging God's plan. Introduction of patient simulation at university level can actually be the next big step in improving medical education across the globe, as the biggest challenge medical students face- is getting over the fear of being the reason for a patient’s death. As student doctors we are expected to make mistakes because that is an important part of the learning process, patient simulation can be very helpful for student doctors to learn without fear of actually killing a patient and develop clinical skills in a safe environment.
As they say, if you make mistakes in the training ground and improve on them only then you can be near perfect but in the medical field even the training ground comes with a huge responsibility and a single mistake can cause someone’s life, this thing needs to change to produce near perfect doctors. If pilots have to pass the flight simulation tests before flying an actual plane, I think it's high time we introduce patient simulation before sending student doctors in real life clinical setups. We all have been talking about replacing doctors with artificial intelligence equipped robots for better results but I think we need to replace a few textbooks with virtual reality techniques for better clinical experience which will equally help in improving the quality of medical education and patient-doctor relationship.
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No good doctor came out of the medical college but from hospitals after gaining ample amounts of clinical experience, the art of medicine can not be taught with textbooks alone because we have seen even the most studious ones make a wrong diagnosis at times when it comes to clinical setups. Virtual reality and patient simulation at university level and as an authentic teaching tool can help overcome the current shortcomings of medical education by not just providing better hands on clinical knowledge but also boosting the confidence of student doctors. “Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals� are the words of Napoleon Bonaparte and it is not uncommon for other people to think the same. The advancements in artificial intelligence, robotic and software engineering should not be used to replace us humans but to teach us and make us better in what we do. Patient simulation techniques as a teaching tool is indeed the need of the hour.
About the author: Harmanpal Singh is an Intern in GMC, Amritsar. He holds an interest in english literature and exploring new destinations and cultures with a life motto- Dream, Explore, Discover, and is always hungry for random trivia.
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HOW READY IS INDIA FOR CUSTOMIZED MEDICINE? Customized Medicine or precision Medicine is the systematic evaluation of a persons genes or proteins to prevent diagnose or treat disease which addresses the root cause. Of the pro born and not just the symptoms. This is the surface definition of the the words, although Customized Medicine goes far more than this menial definition. It is literally the tailoring of the entire medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patients. It is a huge leap in the current traditional ‘one size fits all’ approach which is based on trial and error basis where as customized Medicine considers Each individual as an island and now since the molecular complexity of disease has been deciphered, the role of genetics, environment, and epigenetics is clearly telling us that all patients need to receive treatment designed for their respective physiology and body type. To answer the above question how ready is India for customized Medicine. We have to understand such a initiative is usually considered as a over ambitious since lack of proper nutrition an poverty are evident Problems and also with a country being so diverse With nearly thousands of population groups divided over religion ethnicity caste and social strata.
strata.It is reported that Indians witness a loss of more than 20 billion $ from their annual income in treating or getting tested for non-communicable diseases. Â It is estimated that only around 40% of the medicines we take are effective and appropriate for us. Today, we practice trial-and-error medicine which does not consider in detail the person-to-person variability, which is a key source of variation for the effectiveness of drugs. Genomic analysis can reveal genetic variations which can guide drug dosage, meaning that patients can get maximal drug benefit with minimal side effects. This has been applied to a whole range of diseases so far, such as cancer, mental illness and inflammatory bowel disease. Cost of these tests are a concern still, given India is largely a selfpaid economy. But as technologies improve, the cost of sequencing is seen to reduce. This approach works into reducing the costs of hospice stay, and reducing the overall financial, physical and psychological costs of the trial and error approach of medicine.
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For thousands of years, humans have known that there is inter-individual variability when it comes to things ingested, be it medicine or food. Why then patients pop an over-the-counter pill? Or even wonder whether it will work on them or not?
According to Dr Binay, India needs 4 Ps to make Precision Medicine succeed. 'They are people, processes, protocols and pricing. People meaning encouraging and aiding brilliant minds to be involved in developing new and innovative tests; processes meaning developing the right clinical and scientific processes or SOPs; protocols meaning coming up with the right regulatory' he lists.
The impact of illness in one person in the family has a domino effect on the family and the community. Reducing treatment time and side effects will have a significant impact on the socioeconomic situation of an individual. So, diseases that were previously a death sentence will be manageable, or even curable, because we will be able to individualize therapy for each patient.
About the author: Arfan Nawaz Khan is a Lazy writer, aesthetic lover, intersectional feminist, Borahae. He is ever in the pursuit of ensuring medical equality to all while constantly trying to be a better doctor. 67
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GENOME: JOURNEY OF THE (23) CHROMOSOMES All of you in each cell of yours. The essence of life wrapped around histones; Your existence at the mercy of 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each designed intricately to fulfil its destiny; as they recombine & pass down, transformed yet unchangedto your progeny. Darwin naturally selects while Morgan's mutations shall randomly arrive. The bottlenecks drift while the populations shall shift. As Hardy- Weinberg knew, the equilibrium wasn't meant to stay. You & I mean nothing to nature; for evolution shall always have the final say. "The fittest shall survive" That's exactly what your genome shall decide. Each of the 23 conceals a mystery; while altogether- the one true proof of Humanity's history.
Chromosome No. 2: "Species" "Descent from Chimps" is nothing but a sad delusion, misconceived as we speciated while 2 chromatin underwent fusion. Chromosome No. 4: "Fate" Four shall decide Fate as the chessboard is a CAGe & Huntington's the check-mate. Chromosome No. 5: "Environment" All still isnt written in the genesfor asthma & allergies might be related to five; but your environment will decide whether you survive. Chromosome X & Y: "Conflict" They craved masculinity which demanded wh'Y' for the sex. while even men couldn't do without an 'X' "Sex" -the greatest achievement of evolution; reduced to an insignificant conflicta shameful revolution.
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Chromosome No. 9: "Disease" If cholera shall kill whether depression holds you still. Your blood group is coded by Nine. if you are 'O positive', your heart shall just be fine. Chromosome No. 15: "Imprint" Your parents signed your DNA; which shall express depends on which has the paternal prowess; your giftsPrune Belly for a Prader Willi. & a Happy puppet for an Angelman. Chromosome No. 17: "Death" A deathnote exists in your cell as well. 'Guardian of the genome' (p53) resides on seventeen. Supress the tumor or die (via apoptosis) without creating a scene.
Sometimes, it's better to TURN DOWN an eXcess; Karyotypes are magnificent, until Anueploidy appears- what a Mess. 25,000 genes but a million possibilities. Incurable diseases, Incomprehensible revelationsAnswers to questions you have not yet asked: in all of you in each cell of yours.
Chromosome No. 21: "Ploidy" The famous 21'Two are company, Three's a crowd'
About the author: Besides being a passionate academician, Dr. Avi Singh loves to spend time in the lap of nature, holding a pen or a brush whenever the hospital hours allow him. 69
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BRIDGING THE GAPS We view the world through the lens of this privilege, and it is not so easy to adjust your vision.
When you are born with certain privileges, you can be told again and again about people’s struggles, but you will never quite be able to put yourself in their place. We may sympathise with person but we will never be able to empathise with them . For us world is always full of rainbows and roses we forget that even roses have thorns. We might have access to everything easily but there are many living in the rural areas who suffer daily due to the neglect of the rural population by our health care system. Though rural India makes up about two thirds of the population, only 13% of them have access to primary health centers, 33% to subcenter and 9.6% to a hospital. Why is this? You might think that we could easily build hospitals and employ staff through both government and NGO funding, and voila, problem solved. After all, health first, right? Sadly, in India, only 3.6% of the GDP is spent on health, private and public combined. And out of this, only 0.9% is allocated for public health. We may ponder that Why don’t the doctors themselves provide service in rural areas? But reason is that India’s health infrastructure is lacking. So, the government allows the opening of more private colleges. The private college fees are outrageous, so graduating doctors are in debt. The doctors need to pay off their loans, so they head for the private sector. The private sector has most of the doctors and resources, so the public prefers to get their care from them. The cost of these private institutions can be excessive, so people have to spend out of pocket on basic check-ups.
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People cannot always afford this, so they avoid spending on healthcare unnecessarily. At last, India’s annual health expenditure continues to fall behind the poorest countries. Healthcare as a whole is wrecked. A silver lining though for healthcare is the advent of Telemedicine and the way people are now embracing it. Usually, if a person wants to get in touch with a doctor, they need to make an appointment and visit the doctor. Well, this was the past. What seemed like a distant future a few months back is now a reality. Medical care is now available at your convenience and at your place. Telemedicine aims to empower both patients and healthcare providers. Its applications include video medical consultations, remote monitoring, remote monitoring, telehealth nursing, remote physical, and psychiatry therapy. It has the potential to become one of the most integral parts of the healthcare industry.
But for it to succeed it is necessary that both public and private work together,
for
a
shining
Afterall
we
must
“Health
inequalities
realise and
future that social
determinants of health are not just footnote to determinant of health they are a main issue.”
About the author: Eshaa Chauhan is a first year medical student at government medical college, Patiala. she has a creative sprit and loves to write blogs and articles 71
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INTERNET: NOT JUST A PHASE
Drapetomania: An overwhelming urge to run away from reality . We are usually bound to social media to escape from reality, but what if your escape is your reality now? What seems to be in our days of yore , we received help from the internet in our day to day lives . But now it somewhat seems like we might be crippled without it, it has seemed to become an umbilical to the outside world. According to studies conducted by the university of California in association with IBM the use of applications such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Netflix and YouTube has increased by 27.0%, 40%, 16.3%, 15.3% respectively. Following the current situation there is a sudden dependency on sites aiding in work from home and online classes such as zoom , google classroom etc. In the presence of empirical evidence it can be said that protests and points of views of various individuals has come to light via social media platforms. Their response to the heinous murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the molestations of numerous women and men all over the world and other victims of of systemic racism in the world has got a medium because of social media. Due to the uncertainty, there is a need to seek legitimate information from established organisation which has created a upsurge in the viewing of channels such as CNN, BBC, ABP news etc. er.
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But surpassing all these is the home page for the centers of disease control and prevention, which has engrossed millions of readers in contrast to previously having none. Similarly videos games usage has been increasing in comparison to watching sport shows. Even when living in the same city may feel more distancing, apps such as FaceTime and House-party etc have helped to bring families and friends together. Every move or step taken has been enabled because of the internet. Over the last few months people have honed on their hobbies and talents and made it available the world. Ironically, the internet is struggling to keep up with the shift. During the current global pandemic ‘social distance’ has become the norm, excessive involvement in social media has now become a ‘psychological necessity’ which thereby helps people address their need of human interaction and in turn cope with the crisis.
About the author: Shalini, a first year MBBS student of CMC, Ludhiana, Was a part of the editorial board in her high school. She was born and bought up in Dubai for 18 years.
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MEASURING THE UNMEASURABLE REVOLUTIONISING MEDICINE WITH IMPLANTABLE BIOSENSORS
Today’s healthcare innovations were just yesterday’s science fiction. The rapidly changing world of medicine has given rise to a whole new realm of possibilities. We are stepping into an era of continuous proactive care designed to get ahead of the disease. Emergence of precision medicine owing to technological advancements is debunking conventional medicine. This is an ever-present, algorithm-based system monitoring real-time events and providing individualised attention to health. Technological advancements have led to miniaturisation of medical devices. Microelectronics(MEMS-micro-electro-mechanical systems),nanobiotechnology, biosensors and bio-compatible materials have made continuous wireless monitoring a reality. Implanted devices are partly or totally introduced surgically or medically into the body. Biosensors are hardware that utilise biological reactions to detect target analytes that are translated into electrical signals. CardioMEMS implant is a wireless micro-biosensor monitoring real-time Pulmonary Artery pressure thus improvising care of heart failure patients. For remote home monitoring-Implantable cardiac monitors, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators(ICD)and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy(CRT) devices hold significant potential
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The Radio Frequency Identification(RFID)chip implanted under the skin, can continuously monitor the biochemistry of blood. It can hold the patient’s complete medical records facilitating identification and streamlining patient tracking. In a medical emergency, the first responders have to just scan your hand and every bit of information about your body can be procured instantly. Few more futuristic devices that are perhaps not too far from reality1. DNA biosensors that detect changes in DNA structure during early stages of development, enabling evaluation of a disorder before any clinical symptoms appear. 2. Smart tattoos are microelectronic sensors, embedded under the dermis that continuously monitor signals produced by the heart, brain and muscles. They can be used to monitor arrhythmias, sleep disorders Biosensitive luminescent tattoo inks change the colour of the skin reflecting underlying changes in blood chemistry-Eg.Detection of fluctuations in blood glucose levels of diabetic patients. 3. Smart contact lenses with biosensors can detect glucose levels in tears to monitor diabetes. 4. Implants based on motion patterns can detect the severity of tremors and dyskinesia to monitor parkinsonism. 5. Infant monitoring can be done at all times using biosensors that transmit real-time vital infant data onto the parents’ smartphones. 6. Biochips can perform complete microbial scans in minimal time to detect bacterial and viral infections, eliminating the need to culture microorganisms. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics can also be identified by determining their genome. 7. Biosensors featuring drug delivery systems can detect changes in biomarker levels and autonomously deliver drugs when needed in required quantities. Eg.A device that acts both as a sensor of glucose concentration as well as a drug delivery vehicle for insulin for diabetic patients.
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Major challenges are yet to be addressed prior to the approval of an implantable future likebiocompatibility of the device, long term stability, unobtrusive and precise calibration and continuous power supply. The colossal amount of data generated will eventually lead to an information implosion, thus information harnessing algorithms should be devised to separate noise from relevant data.
However, a myriad of questions remain unansweredWill such unconventional devices be accepted by the public? What will be the level of security provided? Can so much information about our bodies in turn disrupt our wellbeing?
Therefore, ‘intelligent’ medical devices are shifting medicine from a reactive to preventive approach. Â
About the author: Gauri Mehta is a 3rd year Medical Student from Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences, She believes in the simple motto- to always aspire to know more and grab knowledge in any form possible. 76
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TO EACH THIER OWN An aged gentleman sits in wait Heart pounding, breath in bate His failing bladder and enlarged prostate Praying to alter his fate A young girl, teary eyed Leaning back, smile wide In her arms, her first child Exhaustion and pain, more than mild Day in and out, tales are told The quick, the slow, the young, the old Differences between us, untold A request, if I may be so bold Differences must be employed Never to discriminate or divide But to tailor treatment, tested and tried Against every variation, far and wide We stand to gain with a little pain
More efficient healthcare with far less strain Procedures and drugs, stated plain That prove to be more boon than bane to the deficient in G6PD and pseudocholinesterase To the bears of mutations of BRCAs We bring to you tissue and microarrays To assess how to help you, to count all the ways We are humans, with a diverse genome With research that fills many a tome Why then, must medical care be monochrome When it can cater to many a chromosome From approximation to precision We raise the standard of protection We stand against rabid destruction
About the author: Mithilasri Nagdev is a 3rd year MBBS student of The Oxford Medical College, Bangalore, Karnataka. She is a writer, artist and avid fangirl. She’s the proud parent of 7 cats, and a qualified ‘Search and Rescue’ scuba diver.
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DIGITAL HEALTH A MUCH NEEDED METASTASIS FOR THE FUTURE “This is indeed India!” remarked Mark Twain, in his travelogue, flummoxed at the wide-ranging contrasts he witnessed in the Indian society at the cusp of the first and second industrial revolution. More than a century later, India continues to be a paradox. With one of the fastest growing economies of the world, India is currently the fifth largest working towards vaulting to the top-three club by 2025. The Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index ranks our nation at a dismal 145 out of 195 countries. Simply put, India’s growth juggernaut is pulled by a labor force that is performing far below optimal productivity levels due to ill-health. Optimistically, this paradox can present as a beacon of hope, wherein India’s real growth potential will be significantly greater if health systems were to be fixed on priority, with adequate financing and staffing. The interdependence between human health conditions and macroeconomic fundamentals is well-established. However, a sudden radical surge in healthcare financing, at the risk of imposing an unfair burden on total spend of a nation grappling with several burning issues, all equally important as health?? Never the twain shall meet. But Digital health will serve as the perfect epinephrine shot for the frail failing health system of our nation. The burning question of the hour – Will the digitization of health data maximize health outcomes and achieve the goal of “health for all”? The answer is a mixed one. Adopting digital solutions across the care pathway of prevention, diagnosis as well as cure is the smartest route for India to inch closer to the “health for all” goal.
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There are three broad reasons for this: 1. Blending digital approaches into traditional healthcare models will create a three-in-one antidote to at once tackle the systemic problem-trio of access, affordability and quality. 2. digital health system fits in with the overall strategic direction that India is taking to shape its new internal order, with missions such as Ayushman Bharat, Swachh Bharat, Digital India and Make in India, all aimed a developing a healthy and prosperous society. 3. Health-tech is a transformational phenomenon of the Fourth Industria Revolution, with diverse ramifications both for the industry and the society which is getting sicker and older, with a longer average lifespan Consequently, there is opportunity for India to influence policy making i global health and sharpen its competitiveness ranking in technolog development. Unlike space-tech, where India has already reached the to echelons, the health-tech arena is in a germinal stage, with most countries o a level playing field.
The current scenario isn’t a silver bullet for immediate relief, considering the limitations of the current state of India’s healthcare, i.e. weary infrastructure and resource shortages. However, it will make India better-prepared to achieve sustainable development goals in an inclusive manner, and to face black swan events such as the ongoing Covid-19 onslaught. With a regulatory framework and an ecosystem to embrace digital therapeutics and diagnostics, along with telemedicine, it will be a tremendous opportunity for India to leapfrog decades of failures.
About the author: With the hope that Covid 19 has broken the shackles of our innerselves as we retrospect at the outlook of our lives my name is Alan Jacob Alexander, a final year student 79
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N
h t i w ee
J a t avi
ain
Navita Jain, an Intern at Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi, is undoubtedly a pioneer and inspiration to all AMSA-India members. She started her journey as an AMSA-India member during her first year, and AMSA-India was fortunate to have her as the Regional Chairperson for the tenure 2018-19. She is a never tiring hard-worker, the fruit of which are the changes and novel ideas implemented in AMSA-India during her tenure including the release of first issue of Revista Medicos. Her service is not only restricted to AMSA-India, but also AMSA-International, where she took up the post of Director of Membership and Development for the tenure 2019-2020. Her preface wouldn’t be complete without mentioning her unmeasurable efforts in organizing the first East-Asian Medical Students’ Conference hosted by India, EAMSC 2020, which was the last offline conference conducted till date. Finally, she set a new record, as being the first AMSA-Indian to receive the Lifetime Membership award from AMSA-International, for which each one of us feels privileged. Undoubtedly the reputation of AMSA-India reached its peak during her tenure. Apart from AMSA, you could find her travelling, learning guitar or reading novels.
Share with us something about yourself and your aspiration as a medical student. I would like to call myself a free spirited Sagittarian. And I love travelling and dancing. My short term aspiration as a medical student is of course to crack the NEET PG entrance exam so that I can get a surgical branch for my post-graduation. My long term aspiration would be probably to have my own setup where we can encourage more research, develop new products and to bring better technology into India for health
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One country you dream to practice medicine in and why? India, without a doubt. I’m pretty much having my medical career here and I’m not satisfied with the standards of healthcare we deliver to our citizens here and I would like to work here itself to change that. I think we need more doctors, our population is huge and doctor-to patient ratio is not that good.
How did you get to know about AMSA and what is the motivation behind joining it? In my time, when I newly joined as a medical student, AMSA was not that big a name. We had our seniors from our college, MAMC who came to our class and said that there was a conference to be held in Taipei Taiwan in January 2016. I love travelling so much and that seems to be very exciting, and so I joined the organization and attended my first conference at Taiwan.
Share with us a few highlights of your journey in AMSA. The first highlight I would like to share is my first conference. It was amazing, I hadn’t had such an experience before and the organizing committee was so organized, they took us to places and even academically, I attended my first research paper poster presentation. It was kind of an eye-opener to me. That was my entry into the world of AMSA. Second highlight is to be the Regional Chairperson of AMSA-India. It’s kind of funny we were having our interview for the Editorial board, and the EB was not so extensive, we were just 14 to 15 people working for AMSA. At that time, we were setting up stuff, making changes to constitution, we were thinking of how to expand, how to give better services for our members, what new we could do. That was definitely a highlight. I don’t know at that time, AMSA has so much potential before becoming the regional chairperson. Some of the ideas we came with, were beautiful and are still existing today. And some of our ideas are to be dropped since they were not feasible at that time. Next highlight was EAMSC India. When I attended my first conference, I couldn’t imagine we would be able to conduct one and definitely not that I would be the person heading it and having it in our college. EAMSC was a big humongous task but I’m so glad that we did it. And it is the last offline conference that we had as of date in AMSA-International. I’m glad that we did it in time, we didn’t wait for anything else, but we took the opportunity and gave it a shot.
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And joining AMSA-International is definitely a big highlight, because it introduced me to new friends across the globe the working, how different chapters are different in their resources, in the kind of services they would like to provide to their country, the kind of differences they want to make to their chapters. Definitely it was a new experience for me.
How did your leadership in AMSA influence you personally and professionally? Personally one thing is AMSA had kept me sane all these years. I would have gone mad with all the studies and pressure at medical school. It also fueled my passion for travel and has quenched my thirst for travel too. There are so many countries I have visited because of AMSA. Also it has brought a lot of friends and lot of networking. It is such a positive energy, knowing such people, interacting with them sessions like these, they just open up horizon, it is just a break to regular day-to-day work. Professionally, at medical school, we don’t have much experience at leadership. And we, as medicos, always require leadership at some point or other, no matter where we go, because those working under us, the staff, the nurses, they always look upon us for decision making and taking calls at important crucial circumstances. I think professionally it helped me to acquire the quality of leadership, how to work with people, how to build rapport, how to get people work for you - which is very important, and how to lead an organization.
Major changes in AMSA-India took place during your term. How privileged you feel about this? Factually, change is the only constant. So I wouldn’t say that, my term is the only time where we had a lot of changes. I think my predecessors also brought a lot of changes that they could at that time, and my successors too brought changes that was feasible for them. It depends upon the stage you are getting into the office and the scaffold you already have to work upon. Time is changing so fast and we have to cater to the changing time and technology. Changes have been fairly constant at AMSA. Revista medicos was first introduced in my tenure. I still remember, editing, first few copies of Revista Medico - the spellings, the spacing, the commas - I was so paranoid. I remember selecting the name Revista Medicos, the logo, all these small things was such a big deal. 82
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You can’t just sleep at night, once inspiration comes to you and I had sleepless nights at AMSA because of those things. I am super proud at the work you guys are doing now, aesthetically, content-wise, the diversity, the kind of efforts you are putting in, bringing in new sessions, making it more fun for the readers, and so on. In my tenure, we started the Saturday night Trivia. It was a huge task and after every Saturday, my Academic Director would be like ‘This is a very huge task, we can’t handle this anymore!! There is a huge load of messages and we need more people into action.’ Earlier we did not have so many groups too. As we are growing now, there is a need for several groups. And then we started National Officers during our tenure. We were just 14 people initially and we started having N.O. because each position required more work, more expansion, and the numbers into the organization went on increasing, so we needed more people for coordinating. We took inspiration from AMSAInternational and had our first National Executive Board Meeting, to get to know the people we are working with and to increase accountability. Above all, it was filled with fun – a break from our regular schedule of college life.
How do you feel about being awarded the Life-Time Achievement Award by AMSA-International? It is the cherry at the top of my journey for 5 years. I was so elated that, even in this lockdown, I went out with my friends to celebrate it. I think we have a lot of potential and we are a growing chapter. I would like to see one name in the LifeTime Achievement Award every year. I would also encourage you guys because are young and can go up the ladder in AMSA-International, apply for more posts, do more meaningful work, and make changes into the organization.
EAMSC, 2020 holds a benchmark in AMSA-India. India was given this opportunity when you were in term and we were fortunate enough to have you as the Organizing Chairperson for the event. What would you like to share with us as the OC of the first EAMSC hosted by India? I would like to share the genesis of the EAMSC, India. I think it was in January 2019, when I was attending the Executive Board meeting at Thailand, as the EAMSC 2019 was hosted by them.
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We, the Regional Chairpersons of several chapters were pointing out others, and suddenly the Membership director turned to me and asked, ‘Navita, Why can’t India host it?’ It made me feel ‘Why not India?’ After taking into consideration of various factors, we thought of making a proposal and see what we could do and whether we could win or not, because the selection is based on voting procedure. We made up a video and a presentation to show others, what we could do. We worked up the tentative schedule, the things to be taken around Delhi – those were a few exciting days, and then we submitted our proposal. And the date was fixed for others to see up our proposal, to hear out our presentation and vote for us. I guess 2 or 3 days before the meeting, I had a dream that some other country was pitching against us and we were not the only one. And that day, when I checked the mail, there were a proposal from EAMSC, London. It was just bewildering to think, how this thing happened, and myself and Anmol, the two organizing chairpersons were like, we want to up our game for India. We need to sell India for everyone and make them vote for us. Then we made the Incredible India video, editing all the good parts in it, inserting a voice-over, featuring many sceneries, colorful bangles, dupatta’s, Taj Mahal and everything to attract people. And luckily we got selected as we were cheap and prettier. And the EB went and talked to the college authority and we feared a lot whether they could allow us for the same. But our dean was so supportive, he was like, it is a good thing, you guys have to do it. Our college faculty too supported us a lot and was with us till the end. They conducted workshops for us and also helped us with a lot of other things, because they were seniors with a lot of experience. And finally we made it.
What is your view regarding how undergraduate medical students can do their part towards community especially during the pandemic situations as today? In my opinion, the best thing that an undergraduate can do is to keep themselves safe, busy with whatever happening in their colleges - online classes and exams and to keep themselves updated with the situation in the world. They should protect themselves and their loved ones and to spread the right amount of knowledge to the public regarding the precautions one must observe. I think we should adapt to the new normal and medical students should be the thought bearers in it. One day, we will have to resume our offline classes and clinical studies. Hence medical students should be instrumental in showing other institutions how education can be still held in this pandemic. Also they should enjoy themselves and should take care of their physical as well as mental health. We as medical students are busy with our academics and usually we don’t pay much attention to physical health and healthy lifestyle-food and exercising.
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I think this is the right time to utilize for the same and develop healthy habits
What are your views regarding medical research for undergraduate students and the new initiative of AMSA-India, MERSA? I’m not much aware of what is currently happening in MERSA, but to my knowledge, it is started with a vision to encourage research amongst medical students. Since research is not a part of our curriculum these days, it requires an extra initiative from a medical student’s side if one would like to take up medical research. ICMR-STS is a project where young people can get exposure to what is research, picking up a hypothesis, working on it, writing up a paper. Many medical conferences also have research methodology workshops. I think MERSA is a great opportunity to basically aid medical students who are interested in research and how to go about it. Medical research is the future of healthcare. Healthcare is expanding so far and there are so much of research and new pandemics. I think research in future will mainly focus on how to prevent and how to cope up with such pandemics in future. So research is the need of the hour. The earlier you start, the better. This should be inculcated at the grass root level of medical students about how to conduct a medical research. They can start by initially helping big projects and then start independently on smaller ones. The foundation once built strong, they will have the confidence in conducting research later on.
An essential piece of advice you would like to give us as your juniors regarding medical profession and AMSA. As a medical student to another medical students, the advice I would like to give you is probably on studies - To read books. Do not compromise reading books because of newly evolving notes or entrance classes. We tend to shift to them, because it is easier and more comprehensive. But the knowledge you gain by reading books, I think, you will remember more. And do not skip clinical classes It is a tendency seen amongst my friends too. They think that studying for exams is reading books at home. So, my advice is to not miss clinical classes and read standard books. Maybe before exam you could read the concise notes prepared by you, but it is always better to read standard books.
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For AMSA, I would advise you to balance and prioritize stuff, because Too much of everything is bad. I think, now it is a great time to be in AMSA, we have so many opportunities here catering to every domain like research, academics, leadership, designing, IT and lots more. AMSA is a great place where you can do all these. But do not compromise other stuff because of AMSA. Balance stuff, balance studies, balance work at AMSA. Sky is the limit, you can be very ambitious. We can have more and better conferences in India and more people into the EB and NB. Sky is the limit.
One saying /quote you wish everyone to follow in life
‘If you are a climber, there is always another mountain’. It is about never settling in life. Normally, we have the feeling, that once getting into medical college, our life is settled, or getting a PG our life is settled. According to me, it’s about never settling in life. There is always so much you can do in life. Learn new things, follow your hobbies side-by-side. You can always take time for carrying out extra stuff.
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S E M ME R E N COR
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KINDERED SHASHWAT MISRA 2ND YEAR DR RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
SHASHWAT MISRA 2ND YEAR DR RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
PURVI JAIN 2ND YEAR CALCUTTA NATIONAL MEDICAL COLLEGE, KOLKATA
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SPIRITS GUNJAN MALHOTRA 3RD PROFESSIONAL SRI GURU RAM DAS UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, AMRITSAR,PUNJAB
SHIVIL AGRAWAL 3rd YEAR CHHATTISGARH INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, BILASPUR
AMBIKA SETHI FIRST YEARÂ SHRIGURURAMDAS INSTITUTE OF RESEARCH & SCIENCE
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NEURATHON NEURATHON RUN YOUR NEURONS NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON Identify the man behind the discovery of optogenetics?
Zhuo-Hua Pan
Name the drug that has been approved for human trials for treating Retinitis Pigmentosa and is based on optogenetics?
RST-001
Identify this modern technological advancement in field of genetic science?
CRISPR - Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
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OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
NEURATHON NEURATHON RUN YOUR NEURONS NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON NEURATHON
Identify this scientist behind its discovery and who also received the Wolf prize in medicine?
Jennifer Doudna
The Discovery of CRISPR was made during an analysis of genes involved in phosphate metabolism in bacteria 'x'. Identify X
Esch coli
This modern FDA cleared Device based off of EEG,goes by the name BRAINSCOPE. What is it used for?
It is an easy-to-use, non-invasive, handheld platform that allows physicians to assess head injures at point-of-care.
What are the advantages over other existing modalities?
It is non-invasive and painless and can be used on patients who are aged 18-85 years old within three days of a head injury. It measure and interprets brain activity and neurocognitive function. 91
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PUBLIC HEALTH STEWARD PROJECT ASTITVA
SDG
TARGETTED:
3.7
PROJECT HEADS: MEGHNA CHOUDHURY BHAVYA PAHWA
PROJECT AHAAR ABHIYAAN
SDG
TARGETTED:
2.1,2.2
PROJECT HEAD: SAJAL GULATI
PROJECT SWASTH AAJEEVIKA SDG
TARGETTED:
3.1,3.2,3.3,3.4,3.5,3.7,3.9
PROJECT HEADS: HARSHIL KRISHNANI VRINDA PAHUJA
PROJECT PACT TO PROTECT PROJECT ROOTS SDG
TARGETTED:
3.3
PROJECT HEADS: THANUSHA MENEZES YASHASVI ANAND AKANKSHA SINGH
SDG
TARGETTED:
1.1,1.5,2,3.8,3.9,4, 13,14,15
PROJECT HEAD: MUSKAN CHAUDHARY
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DSHIP PROGRAMME
PROJECT BADLAAV SDG
TARGETTED:
3.3,
6.2
PROJECT HEAD: KARTHIKEYAN
PROJECT सा य
SDG
TARGETTED: 5.1,5.2
PROJECT HEAD: VEDANT SHUKLA
PROJECT छलांG
SDG
TARGETTED:
3.4,
5.1,
5.2,
3.3
5.5
PROJECT HEADS: RAVLEEN KAUR AASTHA JOHRI
PROJECT W.A..S..H PROJECT MUSKURAHAT SDG
TARGETTED:
3.4
PROJECT HEADS: ANANYA VADHERA ARPIT MAGO ROHIT VASWANI PARMANREET BHATTI
SDG
TARGETTED:
6
PROJECT HEAD: SANJALI DHARAMSHI
PROJECT HOPE STONE SDG
TARGETTED:
3.5
PROJECT HEAD: SAFAL BOOB
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PROJECT BADLAAV • It's Cool to be Kind (Fundraiser event) with Meher Sewabhavi Sanstha • Tuition for Charity (Fundraiser event) for Assam floods.
PROJECT MUSKURAHAT
Ujjwal (Workshop for School Teachers on Mental Health) with Minds Foundation
PROJECT HOPE STONE Polemic- a National Level Debate
EVEN PROJECT सा य
Together We Can - Panel Discussion on Gender based discrimination in workplace with EB of AMSA India.
PROJECT CHALAANG
• Polemic (National Debate Competition) • Guru cool (3 days Workshop for School Children) with Rotaract Delhi City and Able Charities
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NTS
PROJECT ROOTS
Van Mah with FridaysForFuture and Home Crop
PROJECT SWASTH AAJEEVIKA White Coats Matter Stigmatic Enigmus Hepaticum Workshop with United Way Mumbai
PHRD • Ear to Hear with Poddar foundation • Let's Talk About Sex - with IMA MSN , AIMSA , SNO , ISAY Advocates and Agents of Ishq
PROJECT PACT TO PROTECT
Stigmatic Enigmus Hepaticum Workshop with United Way Mumbai Mozzie Wipeout Challenge
PROJECT ASTITVA
Menses Mondays - 4 Monday long awareness campaign· Periods in PPE· Menses Monday KnowYourFlowBingo · Plastic Free Periods Workshop With BleedRedGoGreen, Boondh Cups and Rotaract.
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HOSPITALS FOR YOU Mumbaikars !
In times, where a minor cough could open the door to doom, getting to hospitals in time is crucial. So, during this quarter, AMSA India is glad to introduce you to the “Hospitals For You” App An app for the public/patients to seek the desired healthcare service nearest to them in and around Mumbai. Therefore, no more delays in the current potentially chaotic pandemic situation. Besides, it provides complimentary and unbiased listing for health care providers and hospital and nursing homeowners, so that the local community is aware of their services. Feel free to check it out at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.doctorsforyou.hfy https://apps.apple.com/in/app/id1529579954
0 BUDGET 50 PROFESSIONAL VOLUNTEERS 100% DEDICATION 4 MONTS OF HARDWORK OVER 1000 CLINICS & HOSPITALS AMBULANCE HELPLINE NUMBERS WEBSITES
Official Inauguration ceremony was done by the teams of Doctors For You, AMSA India and Havabee Developers on 2nd October 2020 in the presence of some eminent personalities. The Chief guest being Shri. Pravin Darekar, Leader of Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Council and the Guest of Honour being Shri Shishir Hiray, Special Public Prosecutor, Maharashtra State Government. It's a not-for-profit volunteer driven initiative by Doctors For You supported by AMSA INDIA and Havabee Developers teams. Kudos to Dr.Himika Gupta from Doctors For You, the brain behind the concept. Our AMSA INDIA Team as led by our RC who worked diligently to contribute towards this noble cause and make it a reality together The AMSA INDIA TEAM : Aakruti Ganla Akatya Sinha Aayushi Singh Ananya Bhasin Fouziya Shaikh Keagan Miranda Madhavi Katta Parth Doshi Priyansh Nathani Riddhesh Kulkarni Sai Shahane Tanishka Koyande Yash Nolkha
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OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
REGIONAL TRANSLATIONAL DICTIONARY
It has been prepared with the help of AMSA volunteers from all over India giving
their
contribution
Dictionary
by
the
represent.
The
to
the
languages
they
Regional
Translation
Dictionary can be used for awareness and information among people and facilitates clinicians
communication and
patients.
between One
such
example are the regional translations used in Innocenti week of AMSA India promotions
in
view
of
World
Breastfeeding week have been featured on World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action - WABA, Pledge Map. Â
AMSA-India compiled a comprehensive Regional Translation Dictionary for the COVID-19 crisis in regional Indian languages to make it accessible for people throughout the country. The dictionary consists of common but important medical terms, information on signs and symptoms of the virus, explanations of true facts and the major issues currently being faced due to the lockdown which include domestic abuse, higher pregnancies rates, etc. Along with this, the dictionary also gives a detailed report on the data of COVID-19 cases per state in the country.
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Wear a face mask on your mouth and nose মাকচ্ খন এেনকােক িপি ব লােগ যােত নাখ আ মূখ খন ঢাকী থােক। اﭘﻨﮯ ﻣﻨﮧ اور ﻧﺎک ﭘﺮ ﭼﮩﺮے ﮐﺎ ﻣﺎﺳﮏ ﭘﮩﻨﯿﮟ ಮ
ಾ
ಮತು ಮೂ ನ
ೕ
તમારા નાક ને મોઢા પર બરાબર તર કે મા ક ને પહેરો
ೕ
ಾ
ಧ മാസ്ക് ഇടുേ
ാൾ മുഖവും മൂ
ਅਪਨੇ ਮੂੰਹ ਅਤੇ ਨੱਕ
് മൂടുക.
ਚੰਗੀ ਤਰਾਂ ਢਕਣ ਲਈ ਮਾਸਕ ਦੀ ਵਰਤ ਕਰੋ ।
உ
க
வா
மைற
ம
ைக சரியாக
க
।
େଫ ମସ ପତି ଆଉ ନାକ କୁ ଧ କି ପି
ைய அணி
க
आप या त डावर आ ण नाकावर फेस मा क घाला
মুখ ও নােকর উপর স ক ভােব মা
প ন
अपने चेहरे और नाक को ढं कने के लए फेस मा क पहन ముకు మ యు
స
ధ ంచం
Avoid touching your hands and mouth অনবৰেত নাক , মূখ আ
চকুত চই নাথািকব।
اﭘﻨﮯ ﮨﺎﺗﮭﻮں اور ﻣﻨﮧ ﮐﻮ ﭼﮭﻮﻧﮯ ﺳﮯ ﮔﺮﯾﺰ ﮐﺮﯾﮟ ಮ
ೖಗಳನು ಮತು
ಾ
ಯನು ಮುಟು ವ ದನು
ತ
ൈകയും വായിലും െതാടു ഒഴിവാ
ുക
ਆਪਣੇ ਿਚਹਰੇ ਅਤੇ ਮੂੰਹ உ
ਛੂਹਣ ਤ ਬਚੋ
க
ைககைள
வாைய
ெதா
வைத
க
தவ
ത്
ହାତ ଏବଂ ପାଟି ଛୁ ଇଁବା ଠାର ଦୂ େରଇ ରହ |
તમારા હાથ અને મોઢાને અડ ું નહ
आपले हात आ ण त डाला
হাত মুেখ
श करणे टाळा
শ করেবন না
अपने चेहरे और मुंह को छू ने से बच
తులు మ యు
కకుం
Asian Medical Students' Association- India
ఉండం
98
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
Please keep a safe distance of at least 1.5 metres ଦୟାକରି ଅତିକମେର 1.5 ମିଟରର ଏକ ସୁର ିତ ଦୂ ରତା
আনৰ পৰা ১.৫ িমটৰ দূৰ মািন চিলব।
ରଖ
ﺑﺮاہ ﮐﺮم ﮐﻢ از ﮐﻢ ڈﯾﮍھ ﻣﯿﭩﺮ ﮐﺎ ﻓﺎﺻﻠﮧ رﮐﮭﯿﮟ ದಯ ಟು ಕ ಷ 1.5
ೕ ಸುರ
કૃ પયા બે માણસો વ ચે ૧.૫ મી. નો અંતર રાખો
ಾ ದೂರವನು
कृपया कमान 1.5 मीटर सुर त अंतर ठे वा
ಇ ത് 1.5 മീ െറ
കുറ
ദൂരം സൂ
ിലും സുര ി
ാ
ുക
1.5
ட பா
ர ைத ைவ த
১.৫ িমটােরর দূর বজায় রাখুন
ਮੀਟਰ ਦੀ ਸੁਰੱਿਖਅਤ ਦੂਰੀ ਰੱਖੋ l ைற தப ச
সুর ার জন কমপে
कृपया कम से कम 1.5 मीटर क सुर ा री रख கா
దయ
க
క సం 1.5
టర భద
దూరం ఉంచం
Wash hands regularly with soap and water or alcohol based hand rub চাবুন পানীেৰ বা এলকহল থকা চিনটাইজাৰ িদ
ସାବୁ
ନିୟମିତ ଭାେବ ହାତ େଧାଇ ଦିଅ
হাত ধূব। ﮨﺎﺗﮭﻮں ﮐﻮ ﺑﺎﻗﺎﻋﺪﮔﯽ ﺳﮯ ﺻﺎﺑﻦ اور ﭘﺎﻧﯽ ﯾﺎ ﺷﺮاب ﭘﺮ ﻣﺒﻨﯽ ﺳﯿﻨﯿﭩﺎﺋﺴﺮ ﺳﮯ دﮬﻮﺋﯿﮟ
ೂೕ ಾಂ
േസാ
ಮತು ರ
ೕರು ಅಥ ಾ ಆ ೂ ೕ ಾ
ಇಂದ
ം െവ
ಯ
വും അെ
ತ ಾ
તમારા હાથને વારવાર પાણી અને સા ૂ અ વા આ કોહોલ આઘા રત સે નટાઇઝર થી સાફ કરો
ಆ ಾ ತ
साबण आ ण पाणी कवा अ कोहोल आधा रत हात
ೖಗಳನು ೂ
ിൽ മദ ം അടി
चोळ याने हात धुवा
ാനമാ
ിയു
সাবান জল বা অ ালেকােহাল যু
ਿਨਯਿਮਤ ਤੌਰ 'ਤੇ ਸਾਬਣ ਅਤੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਜਾਂ ਅਲਕੋਹਲ
साबुन और पानी से नय मत
ਅਧਾਰਤ ਹਡਵਾਸ਼ ਨਾਲ ਧੋਵੋ தவறாம ஆ
கஹா
த
க
ைககைள ேசா
கல த ேஹ
அ
ல
த
சானி ைடச ெகா
அ க
ல வ
স ািনটাইজার
ারা িনয়িমত হাত ধুন
ഹാൻഡ് റബ് ഉപേയാഗി ് ൈകകൾ പതിവായി കഴുകുക
ਹੱਥਾਂ
ଏବଂ ପାଣି କିମା ମଦ ପାନ ଭ ିକ ହାତ ଘଷିବା ସହିତ
సబు మ యు రు ర
కమం తప కుం
प से हाथ धोएं
ఆల
ం
తులు కడు
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DHO NDH ‘Helping one person might not change the world,’ but it could change the world for one person’
While our entire métier is standing in the front line and battling against the unknown havoc, it is high time for us as medical students to contribute our role. Dhoondh is an online platform for matching heroes of COVID-19 who, with the brave heart, had brawled with and had successfully recovered, with the patients at present in dire need of plasma for transfusion. AMSA-India has extended its hands to help Dhoondh by providing volunteers from various cities for the smooth functioning of the matching process. Kudos to Ganeev Singh for being as a moderator between the AMSA members and the Dhoondh platform. Patient Group
Compatible plasma donor
A
A, AB
B
B, AB
AB O
AB O, AB, A, B
+/- has no meaning while donating plasma
Eligible donor Register in website
Recipient in need of plasma Register in website
Verification call from Dhoondh volunteers (AMSA members)
Verification call from Dhoondh volunteers (AMSA members)
After verifying, entered into database as fit
After verifying, entered into database as fit
Successful plasma donation
Prescription from doctor received through email
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Should have tested positive for COVID-19 Women should not have conceived a baby
You should have recovered from all symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough and breathing problems) for atleast 14 days
You should not have diabetes
You are an eligible plasma donor You should not be more than 65 years of age
You should not have a high blood pressure
Do's & Don'ts after donating Do's
Don'ts
Hydrate! Drink plenty of water
Do not smoke or consume alcohol for atleast 24 hours
Rest well after donation
Do not take off your bandage for atleast 5 hours after donation
Consume Iron rich food
Do not perform vigorous exercise or heavy lifting for atleast 24 hours
Delhi
Maharashtra
Bihar Uttar Pradesh
Tamil Nadu States at present covered by Dhoondh
Karnataka Andhra Pradesh
Haryana Telangana
Gujarat
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AMSEP PHILIPPINES
X
‘Any idea, plan or purpose, may be placed in mind through repetition of thoughts’ -Napoleon Hill AMSEP (Asian Medical Students Exchange Program) is a part of AMSA-International and began with an idea to expose medical students to health care and cultural aspects of various countries. India has been a part of AMSEP ever since the exchange with Taiwan in 2016 and Japan in 2019. Within a span of 60 days after the first Virtual Exchange of the year, AMSEP-India, with the same glory and zeal, is back with the Pearl of the Orient Seas, the Philippines. Betided from 21st July to 26th July, 2020, Virtual Bi-AMSEP delivered Psych comp.
the delegates, an inexpungable experience and relationship Mess table
with the Filipino Medicos and a colossal knowledge exchange between the countries. Spiced with Academic and Socio-cultural session, this But she said, where'd you wanna go?How much you wanna risk?
exchange, just like its predecessors, didn’t fail the legacy and motto of AMSEP-International – Knowledge, Action and Friendship. Though the exchange spanned for only 6 days, with 3 Side of a bench
hours per day, it was filled with fun, knowledge, culture, understanding and most importantly a stronger sense of .between the two countries. ‘A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the country’ and it is certain that the delegates of AMSEP will ‘always persist to be eminent by amalgamating with each other and do ‘their role to the society. It is for sure that the departments of AMSA . is on par with other in carrying out the initiatives undertaken by Lost and found
By the river
them. But this time, the Internal, Public Health and Promotion Apocalypse
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and the AMSEP department has come in hand and glove to maximize the contribution from India and has come up with the concept of ‘Titans for Talking’, on oratorical competition among the houses of AMSA-India. and the AMSEP department has come in hand and glove to maximize the contribution from India and has come up with the concept of ‘Titans for Talking’, on oratorical competition among the houses of AMSA-India. As a result of triple the effort along with the Filipino’s contribution, this Exchange program was efficient enough to turnover a sum of around 600 USD to be donated for “Habitat for Asia’ where the money collected was divided among India and Philippines to rebuild houses for those people who have lost their homes. AMSEP has opened the doors for opportunities for various medical students across the globe. Everyone is looking forward for such an amazing exchange in future and it is for sure that the AMSEP team will be back with yet another Exchange in the upcoming days.
By the river
Habitat for Humanity Asian Medical Students' Association- India
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
TURNING THE TIDE During this quarter, AMSA-INDIA with the support of MIT Martin Trust Center for entrepreneurship, MIT Hacking Medicine, MIT Innovation Initiative, MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives, Zomato India and many more conducted MIT COVID-19 Challenge "TURNING THE TIDE", a series of virtual hackathons that aimed at empowering us to take action on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In this 48-hour virtual event, participants focused on addressing some of the most pressing COVID-19 challenges faced by India. Participants were grouped into teams to home in on key problems and generate solutions. The teams worked in collaboration with mentors to refine their solutions and the best ideas and teams were given the opportunity to co-develop and implement their solution with the support of our partners. This was truly a day of rains in summer of scorching heat. Kudos to the organisers
MEDCAST 50%
In the unforeseeable event which is this pandemic, students needed a way to maintain the continuity of their studies. To provide a method for the same, AMSA has collaborated with Medcast for their online course CPR (Comprehensive Practical Revision)! CPR in Medicine and Surgery is an online lecture series by Medcast covering 25+ key topics such as X-Rays, Instruments, ECGs, Procedures, Examination methods etc., from Medicine and Surgery University vivas!Members of AMSA India are lucky enough to get a special 50% discount for this online course!
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AMSA BIG DAY AMSA in collaboration with Asian Medical Students Association Alumni Club (AMSAAC) conducted " AMSA BIG FAMILY' DAY 2020"under the heartfelt theme of “Live, Laugh and Love” The event was successful in bringing the members; medical students and alumni; medical professionals together amidst the global pandemic Covid-19. It aimed to foster bonding and interactions between the present(medicos) and past of AMSA(alumni). The event was conducted on the 8th, 15th and 22nd of August. The event comprised of interesting webinars, sharing sessions, social lounges, as well as the very first Hackathon that was open to all members and alumni of AMSA. It truly succeeded in bridging the physical gap caused by the pandemic and lockdowns and covering up for the Asian Medical Students Conference (AMSC)2020. AMSA BIG FAMILY DAY succeeded fostering the feeling of ONE FAMILY in each one of us.
DIX DOMANDA
AMSA-India Academic council during this quarter organised "DIX DOMANDA ", the online ten question-based contest. Participants were grouped into teams of two. The teams had to go through prelims, conducted on 12th September, based on the theme -" Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedics" and only top 16 teams competed in the next round The teams won their zones house points and much more. Truly one word and ten questions proved to be as much brain storming as it sounds. Kudos to Abhilasha Tyagi and Arpit Mago for this wonderful event.
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THE HUNTINGTONS The Academic council of AMSA gave people the opportunity to channel their inner Sherlock's and go on the first ever journey of a National Online Med Treasure Hunt. The competition consisted of 5 rounds which were: 1) Prelims 2) Déscheffrer 3) Docs brain Team- RadMoo Team- Thunderjaws Punith H R 4) Cease the clue Avi Singh Nidhishri S Shreya Jain 5) The Final Showdown Mansi TM
Team- Brain dead zombies Arpit Singh Sriharmendar Kant Oshin Puri
Team - Inshallah boys played well Ojasvini Bali Nikhil Gupta Mridula Garg
Mansimar Kaur
Team -House of hunters Krushndev Pathak Sagar Mehta Samyak Bharwad
Not only were the participants tested on their astute observations but their team work as well, as they participated in teams of 3. A total of 65 such teams came to participate and after nearly 2 hours of 120 questions the finalists were:
However as is the case in most events there can on be one winner and team "Inshallah boys played well" pulled through! Congratulations to the winners and Kudos to Mahima Saptrishi, Chitwan Ghuman and Shraddha Sawney for organizing this event!
MED-A-THON Looks like staying quarantined has made us long lost friends with our books To Help our members re Kindle their learning fire and set their knowledge trains on to the learning track, AMSA INDIA in collaboration with Kasturba Medical college, Manipal and IGCLA (Indo-German Convention for lindau) organised an exhilarating online medical E-Quiz, "MED-A-THON" It comprises of the following events: 1)PANACEA-MEDICAL E-QUIZ An online quiz described by medicos for medicos, of medicine. The prelims were conducted on 26th of July 2)PACE THE CASE - Registrations for which began on 15th July Kudos to the organisers for such a wonderful quiz- Kanika R, Hanswahini Garg and Vartika Maheshwari
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TUTION FOR CHARITY " Only a life lived in the service to others is a life worth living" - Albert Einstein It is easy to lose sight of what one can do alone when the majority of problems plaguing mankind are too gigantic for anyone to solve, but as it has been rightly said if you can't feed a 100 mouths at least feed one. Do the most you can with your own abilities. Keeping this in mind, Project Badlaav under PHRD AMSA India with help from "Hear Assam" took an initiative to help people affected by the Assam floods as well as help NEET aspirants. Shreya Borthakur, a student of Tezpur University came up with the idea and with the help of fellow classmates from Tezpur University IISER, NIT, AIIMS, Medical colleges, and other prestigious institutes and faculty from Pragya Academy, Jorhat, taught students of 11th and 12th. The students were asked to create a list of doubts which they could ask the teachers, and the doubts were resolved with Zoom calls and WhatsApp groups. With their hard work and their dedication, a total sum of 6340 Rs was raised! All the proceeds of this event went to the charity (Assam Arogya Nidhi for COVID 19 and Hahokh for flood victims). Truly a wonderful initiative by Shreya Borthakur, Riddhiman Sharma, Antarik Parashar and Sudharshan Sandhu.
IMAGINATICA 1.0 One of the fastest ways to get a message across is through the means of a poster. Keeping this in mind AMSA India hosted Imaginatica 1.0, a National Poster competition on the theme of COVID 19! A pan India competition which includes both AMSA members as well as non members shouldn't be bound by the barrier of language and thus, a Regional Translational Dictionary was made available to the participants so that posters could be created in regional languages as well! Kudos to Devesh Chandra for organizing this event filled WIth creativity!
1st prize Muskan, JSS Medical College, HANDMADE POSTERS Mysore, Karnataka
DIGITAL POSTERS
Riya Agrohi, JSS Medical College, Mysore, Karnatakaa
2nd Prize Isha Kumthekar, JSS Medical College, Mysore, Karnataka, Yuvraj Kaushal GMC Patiala, Punjab
3rd Prize Anjali Trivedi, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi Dhamini S , JSS Medical College, Mysore, Karnataka
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SHOTCAM Shotcam Online Photography Contest MAMSA India in Association with IMA MSN Madhya Pradesh, IMA MSN Maharashtra, SNO Maharashtra, IMA JDN Maharashtra, AIMSA Maharashtra organised an online photography contest for medicos which called for entries on following themes : Indoor Photography, Heritages of India, Streets of India, Best Shot(of participant choice). Participants were asked to email their entries The winners were given Certificate of Merit and free one year subscription each from MedMiracle & three runner ups were given medical book of their choice from
The winners were: 1)Shubham Verma 2)Shabir Lehri 3)Saumya lehri
CBS Publication. The event was sponsored by CBS publication and Medilens. Kudos to Prateek Kumar Dinkar, the man behind this wonderful idea
TITANS TALKING During this quarter, AMSA India conducted the first ever national online 1minute declamation competition that was open for all medicos in India "TITANS TALKING-Talk for a Cause. It was a Zonal Declamation Competition which was divided into two rounds Participants were asked to Send in their minute videos via google forms From first 25 entries from each zone, top two winners were selected and the winners represented their zone at National level Debate and won cash prizes, House-points, Subscriptions and much more.. The icing on the cake was that all funds were directed towards Habitats for Humanity for Asia Pacific through GIVE.asia which works to bring hope for Home in Disaster affected areas in India and Philippines. Kudos to Avi Singh (VOCI, AMSA-India) and Mansimar Kaur (Zonal Officer Internal - North) for this wonderful project.
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Q1
AMSA INTERNA
NATIONAL HOUSE POINTS Avi Singh VOCI, Amsa India
Oshin puri Avoci, Amsa India
Southern
Western
Northern
Eastern
Sapphire
Medallion
Crimson
Emerald
Stormbirds
Valkeyries
Thunderjaws
Enfields
596
455
451.5
ZOI- South
ZOI- West
ZOI- North
143.5 ZOI- East
Shravya
Aakruti
Mansimar
Taniya
Aswath
Ganla
Kaur
Poulik
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APPOINTMENTS TO AMSA INTERNATIONAL In this world of unending competition it is a gargantuan task to climb to the top, and yet people manage to achieve their successes. It's from these people that we draw inspiration and motivation, and we have the opportunity to learn from as well as congratulate our colleagues at AMSA India who were appointed into AMSA International!
SAMARVIR JAIN
Samarvir Jain was appointed as the Vice Overall Chairperson Internal 20/21 in AMSA International. He started as a National Officer of IT, to be later appointed in the Organising committee of EAMSC 2020, after which he applied for the post of Director of IT AMSA India. Following this along with several other achievements under his belt he was appointed at the post he is at today. Samarvir feels that AMSA feels like a family more than an organization, which gave him the platform to grow as a person!
OSHIN PURI
Oshin has been appointed as the Chief Editor of the Journal of Asian Medical Students’ Association at AMSA International 2020-21! J-AMSA is an international, peer reviewed, open-access student led biomedical research journal. His journey started as a member last August. His first research abstract being selected for Oral presentation at International Medical Students’ Research Conference, PCM, Bangkok, Thailand motivated him to take the motto of AMSA forward and help medicos round the country gain knowledge, take action and develop friendships. He was appointed as the Assistant Vice Overall Chairperson (Internal) in AMSA India. He wishes to make J-AMSA the first choice for students to submit their research work and gain international recognition!
On the 8th of August, 2020 Khushman was appointed as the Director of Public Health at AMSA International. As such she is responsible for 1) Maintaining relations with WHO and it's regional officers 2) Prepare delegations to public health conferences 3) Coordinate with national directors of Public health to bring about International Health Projects. She manages these responsibilities with the hope that she can unite all AMSA Chapters to work for joint focus areas of public health, working towards bringing in more public health opportunities internationally.
Asian Medical Students' Association- India
KHUSHMAN BHULLAR
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OUTSTANDING ACHIEVERS September 15th a day truly memorable for many as we had many titles to give away. The meeting was attended by 150+ CHs pan India, with the 30 amazing SHs and NOs along with The director of MnD, Luv Gupta preceding over the meeting. The various aspects of the membership drive were addressed by the MnD team. At the end of which the prestigious titles for this quarter was given away to the most deserving candidates across India.
BEST EB MEMBER FOR THE FIRST QUARTER
BEST NO MEMBER FOR THE FIRST QUARTER
Khushman Bhullar
Arpit Singh
BEST CH NATIONAL
BEST SH NATIONAL
South and West (Aashna Raheja and Sumaiya Nadeem)
South and West (Desi C Kumar - TN, Pranjal Jain MH)
BEST CHS FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE ZONES
EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN NEW STATE
North and East (Ebin B Thomas and Shreya Chandra)
Ritul Kapoor (Himachal) Freya Kankhara (Gujarat)
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India
vpc
& WORKSHOPS
‘And suddenly you know; it’s time to start something new, and trust the magic of beginnings.’ - Meister Eckart AMSA-India has been the triggering factor behind many initiatives across the nation; one of its kind is the Virtual Patient Challenge. VPC is a legacy itself, with the most prestigious schools across the globe. Happening for the first time in India, the VPC is wellknown for its efficacy to test each participant’s clinical senses, rapid responses and effective team
communication in critical circumstances. The participants were selected based on their merit in ‘Med Declathon’, which was held from July 12th to July 22nd covering 10 organ systems at Quizizz app, where the questions intrigued the brains, and brought out the hidden potential. The event was even more spiced by innovative and skill-based workshops of ‘Clinical Communication Skills, Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, and Online Surgical Skills’ workshop conducted by esteemed persons around the globe between August 01 and August 03. On the big day of August 04, the 25 teams along with their facilitators, organizing committee and the Body Interact team were thrilled to experience the innovation. The tercet of cases provoked the inner sense of curiosity among the participants and was blended with knowledge from the debriefing of cases at the end. On a whole, the entire plethora of events were organized so that it helped us not only gear up our senses but also to build a healthy bond with our fellow medicos across the nation. Kudos to the entire organizing committee of VPC for collaborating with Body Interact and engaging us for almost a month in a productive way as well as to take back an evocation of knowledge, thrill of 112 action and new bonds of friendship. OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
VISUALdx What better way of filling the This Quarter we had AMSAgap of clinical knowledge that India incollaboration with this pandemic has created. VisualDx to offer students and Not only does VisualDx helps residents an exclusive free enhance clinical reasoning access period till September skills but also provide point-of30 .With virtual education care information access and being the a necessary uncovers how cognitive biases prerequisite during this impact accuracy and diagnosis COVID-19 pandemic,VisualDx .Cherry on the cake is that all provides a decision support the AMSA members were system for differential given two months free trial . diagnosis, testing, and Wohooo! VisualDx is clinical decision support system therapeutic decisions that is software intended to be used by medical Kudos to the team AMSA for accessible on any of our practitioners, including primary care practitioners, such collaborations mobile devices to assist them in differential diagnosis.
Body Interact is a cuttingedge simulation tool, for Medicine and Nursing, which uses virtual patients for problem-solving and clinical reasoning, also allowing the creation of custom-made scenarios (authoring tool). Body Interact enables an integrative learning process, making connections among concepts and experiences so that information and skills can be applied to novel and complex issues or challenges, through real-life situations, establishing a culture of open communication and collaboration.
To know more check out: Website- https://bodyinteract.com Instagram- bodyinteract Check out the COVID-19 Free cases for everyone here! https://covid19.bodyinteract.com/
It covers different specialities, different environments, and different languages, and it works with and obtains validation from leading medical educators and global institutions, such as the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the European Society of Cardiology. In the month of August in collaboration with AMSA India Virtual Patient Challenge was conducted. The event was one of its kind with participants all over India. The winning team also got the opportunity to participate in the International Virtual Patient Challenge and complete with participants internationally. 113
Asian Medical Students' Association- India
OUR PARTNERSHIPS
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OUR PARTNERSHIPS
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OUR PARTNERSHIPS
Dhoondh
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Asian Medical Students' Association- India
OCTOBER 2020 | ISSUE 9
SOLUTION 1. Wearable 2. LONICS (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) 3-across. Organoids 3-down. Optogenetics 4. Polypill 5. mHealth 6. Telestroke 7. eConsent
8. IoMT (Internet of Medical Things – named after IoT) 9. Telesurgery 10. Interoperability 11. Ransomware 12. Precision 13. SNOMED (Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine)
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CREDITS Research series: Vignesh M Pitfalls of Digital health: Samneet Singh Ethica Perguntas: Suhani Ottendorf Code: Shaswat Misra Crossword: Vignesh M New breakthroughs: Shaswat Misra Wilderness Medicine: Samneet Singh Interview with Navita: Vignesh M Doodles: Shaswat Misra Memes: Samneet Singh
Content: Samneet Singh, Shashwat Mishra, Vignesh M, Design: SriHarmendar Kant, Sanjali Dharamshi, Anushree Rai Proof-reading: Samneet Singh, Shashwat Mishra, Vignesh M, Priyansh Nathani, Asmitha P Reddy, Anushree Rai.
SOURCES
Images: Google images, Canva Pro, Pinterest. Content: Available upon request. Asian Medical Students' Association- India
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THANK YOU YOU THANK FOR READING!
SCAN CODE 119
Which section did you like the most and Why? 1.The learning from the past which have been failed to put into use 2.Current situation of students with online classes YASHWANTH REDDY VIMS&RC What theme/sections would you like to suggest for our next issue? Relevance of survival of the fittest RITIKA RAI Hansraj college Which section did you like the most ? The crossword and other challenge is what I liked the most. It is engaging and interactive Swarna K BGS Global Institute of Medical Sciences Which section did you like the most and Why? Design and contrast colors of the magazine SANJEEV KUMAR VIMS&RC
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