Mysore activities January 02-10, 2012

John Adams

 

MYSORE --  02 – 10 2012

SUMMARY OF FOUR SCREENING TRAINING CLINICS IN MYSORE

 

DATE	HOSPITAL	DAYS	VIA	PAP	BIOPSY	CRYO	LEEP	CANCER		MD / RN TRAINEES
08/2010	St. Josephs	4	159	43	15	5	2	1		8
12/2010	Cheluvamba	4	202	47	31	2	2	2		7 (1 as co-teacher)
07/2011	JSS	4	263	46	50	14	5	7		5
01/2012	St. Josephs	4	198	57	50	8  (Broken Cryo gun)	7	1		8
TOTAL		16	822	193	146	29	16	11

We completed our fourth four-day VIA screening and training clinic in Mysore on 07 January. Once again, we were highly impressed with the organizational support provided by all the staff at the Public Health Research Institute of India. They provided a total of 21 staff for patient education, registration, informed consent, record keeping, nursing and patient flow management. We had to make a late switch from JSS Hospital to St. Josephs Hospital due to a government mandated polio vaccination program that was announce just before we departed for India.

 

During the camp, we saw a total of 198 women. 58 of the screenings were inadequate and Pap smears were sent to JSS Medical College Pathology Department. 53 patients were judged positive and 50 biopsies of the possibly affected areas of these women were also sent to JSS. Eight Cryotherapy treatments were performed for moderate lesions and seven LEEPs were performed for more severe lesions. We saw one "definite" case of cervical cancer and one possible case.

 

The original intention on day four was to bring in a large cohort of HIV+ women. Unfortunately there was a late glitch and so we only got to see a handful of HIV+ cases. As a result, Day four was shortened and we saw about half as many patients as on the other three days.

 

At the end of the camp, we certified five of the trainee doctors as qualified to perform and to teach VIA and Cryotherapy. We concluded that a fifth camp is necessary in order to certify any of the doctors in LEEP.

 

In our follow up meetings at PHRII after the camp, they reaffirmed their intention to continue to develop the VIA screening camps on a monthly basis in the Mysore area. We also held a "pluses and deltas" review of the camp with all staff at PHRII and identified several areas for clarifications and improvements. In another meeting of the PHRII management and clinical group (nurses, trainee doctors, administration), we focused on planning for the development of a longer-term cervical cancer screening and prevention program – with the vision of making Mysore the "capital" of cervical cancer prevention in all of India.

 

On 09 January, Dr. Rhoda Nussbaum, PINCC-India Medical Director, gave an excellent CME presentation on cervical cancer, which included an actual colposcopy demonstration on three patients back stage, with video coverage into the auditorium. A first for PINCC-India to be sure!