D epartment
of
M edicine
Con ne c ti ng T e c h n o lo g y , Ed uca t i o n a n d D i s cove ry w ith H um anis m in Me dicine
Vol. 8 Issue 2 Apr 2019
Service Before Self Volunteering is a foundational element of the Department of Medicine, exemplified by Ms. Kay Rangnekar. While growing up in India, Ms. Rangnekar, director of the UT Internal Medicine Center, recalls a household of up to 35 members. Her family, led by her father’s motto of “service before self,” cared for and educated women in need to provide them a foundation upon which they could stand on their own. Ms. Rangnekar identifies her father’s example as the inspiration for her volunteer work today, which is focused upon women in need. Susannah’s House is one beneficiary of Ms. Rangnekar’s efforts. Founded in 2013, Susannah’s House is a program for women in recovery from addiction. What started as a single act of kindness serving Thanksgiving dinner three years ago “just continued” to a monthly service of meal preparation for workshops or group therapy sessions. Ms. Rangnekar was so taken by the mission of Susannah’s House that she invited others to participate in serving meals and donating items. “The best part,” she said, “is that my staff has joined [in this endeavor].” During the month of December, the staff of the Internal Medicine and OB/Gyn Center, led by Beth Carroll, Janice Farley, and Torre Rismiller, organized an “Advent Calendar,” a daily collection of a designated household or food product, the sum of which was presented in mid-January during a lunch with the women of Susannah’s House. Ms. Rangnekar was “overwhelmed with gratitude and joy,” particularly when the staff announced an ongoing monthly collection for the organization.
Her true passion, however, belongs to Smiles for Hope, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 by a local dentist. Ms. Rangnekar worked behind the scenes from the organization’s inception and now serves on its board as a liaison to Susannah’s House. Once a month, Smiles for Hope holds a free dental clinic Volunteer Ministry Center for the women who have “been through tough times and are coming out clean.” Part of their reformed life includes interviewing for employment, during which women, helped by Smiles for Hope, can share their beautiful smile. “You should see the [women’s] smiles,” reflects Ms. Rangnekar with joy, following in the steps of her father to provide a foundation for the future of women in need.
Points of View
about the bond that physicians could have with people they had never met before. As time passed and I became a senior attending physician, I became the beneficiary of patients’ trust. I could not help smiling when my students and trainees felt the same mortification that I had as a resident. One of my fellows presented a patient with interstitial lung disease. He had spent over an hour with a woman in her 40s who had bilateral shadows on her chest CT, shortness of breath, and low oxygen levels. He had taken an extensive history and done a thorough examination, and we discussed a variety of diagnoses for her condition. As soon as we walked into her room, she said, ”Oh, I forgot to tell you about my African grey parrot that I’ve had for 12 years. He’s my baby and he is with me all the time.” We had our diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis! The deflated look on the fellows face was something I could totally relate to. My own experiences have made me careful not to judge residents and fellows for not gathering the special piece of information that patients reserve for senior attending physicians.
As a young resident, I was frustrated when patients withheld crucial information only to relate it to the attending physician. After I had spent a good deal of time taking their history and doing a physical examination, I would synthesize a differential diagnosis, formulate a plan of action, and dutifully present my findings to the attending. Then, as soon as we walked into the Rajiv Dhand, MD, Chair patient’s room, the patient would convey a gem of pivotal information that would clinch the diagnosis! It made me look foolish in the eyes of the team. The attending probably felt that I had not taken an adequate history—otherwise, how could I have missed such an important part of the patient’s story? The patient’s ability to instantly relate to senior attending physicians tormented me throughout my training years, and I often wondered 1