Monday, August 2, 2010
Ready to go in Mysore
Dr. Ruth Shaber and her daughter Maddy arrived in Mysore at 4:00 am today and we all have spent most of the day at the Public Health Research Institute's headquarters getting ready for the first ever PINCC clinic in Mysore. We have also toured the St. Joseph's Hospital in Mysore, which is by far the most modern and cleanest and best equipped venues we have seen in our PINCC work anywhere.
This afternoon, about 30 local docs will come to PHRI to hear Dr. Rhoda's introduction to PINCC and VIA talk. We are already getting the vibe that we may be busy in Mysore for a very long time. This would be really nice, since we have close friends living here, and Mysore, as a city, is so far superior from our Western perspective, to all other Indian cities. It is a real joy to be here.
Dr. Purnima Madhavanan has also arrived, just after hurriedly moving into her new home in Ann Arbor. She is the one who created PHRI and asked us to bring the PINCC program to Mysore. This morning she introduced us to all her research staff, lab workers, and interns. The range of research they are doing here on women's health across the boards is sooo impressive and definitely world class. What a remarkable place we are in!
I will send some photos with my next post. We left the camera in our sleeping quarters after lunch! Nuts!
This afternoon, about 30 local docs will come to PHRI to hear Dr. Rhoda's introduction to PINCC and VIA talk. We are already getting the vibe that we may be busy in Mysore for a very long time. This would be really nice, since we have close friends living here, and Mysore, as a city, is so far superior from our Western perspective, to all other Indian cities. It is a real joy to be here.
Dr. Purnima Madhavanan has also arrived, just after hurriedly moving into her new home in Ann Arbor. She is the one who created PHRI and asked us to bring the PINCC program to Mysore. This morning she introduced us to all her research staff, lab workers, and interns. The range of research they are doing here on women's health across the boards is sooo impressive and definitely world class. What a remarkable place we are in!
I will send some photos with my next post. We left the camera in our sleeping quarters after lunch! Nuts!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Blog for India July 25-August 1, 2010
John Adams
July 25-August 1:
Rhoda and I left San Francisco on the afternoon of July 25 on BA flights to Bengaluru via London Heathrow. We were so blessed to be the recipients of two of the BA grant tickets and so we were able to sleep significantly on both flights. When we arrived on time at Bengaluru airport, our usual driver, Khan, met us and whisked us up to Puttaparthi in under two hours. The National Highway that has been under construction for years is finally complete so the final leg of the journey is now a piece of cake. The entire trip was smooth as silk!
We spent the first three days in India recovering from jet-lag, getting patient information, registration and clinical impression materials photocopied, and making phone calls to both of our clinic sites for this trip, to coordinate plans and make final arrangements. John also made arrangements for his involvement at the Sri Sathya Sai University in Puttaparthi during the latter portion of this trip, after the two PINCC clinics have been completed.
We begin with the inaugural training at a new clinic in Mysore called the Prerana Women’s Health Initiative, 4-7 August. We have had numerous conversations with the lead doctor at Prerana, Dr. Vijaya. Dr. Vijaya also came to Puttaparthi last December to observe the PINCC VIA screening process at the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital and managed to get herself up to speed enough to begin doing VIA in January in Mysore (although we didn’t know initially that this was going on). The Prerana Women’s Health Initiative is a clinic established by Dr. Purnima Madhavanan, MD, MPH, PhD.
Dr. Purnima, who is now on the faculty of the nursing school at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has also journeyed to Mysore for this new PINCC initiative, to ensure that we get off to a highly successful start. Several Mysore doctors, and a few nurses, will be joining the training in addition to the Prerana medical staff. Dr. Ruth Shaber, a Kaiser Permanente gynecologist and former Director of Kaiser’s Women’s health Program, and her Daughter Maddy, will join us in Mysore on August 2
On 8 August, Rhoda and I and the Shabers will be driven back to Puttaparthi, where we will carry out the third training at the SSSMH on 9-12 August. So far, three of the SSSMH volunteer gynecologist doctors have been certified in LEEP. At least one of these three is coming back for additional experience this time. Dr. Narasimhan, Director of the SSSMH, has already welcomed us most graciously back to India and has also indicated that he would like all of the SSSMH volunteer gynecologists trained by PINCC – so this could be a long term engagement!
Since many of the SSSMH gynecologists are very senior and long-practiced physicians, it is our hope that someday, perhaps a few of these women will be capable of serving as trainer-doctors to work with Dr. Rhoda at future PINCC-India clinic sites.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Preparations for the East Africa Trip
Patiently waiting for September 2nd to fly to Uganda and begin our mission.
I have been going over details such as possible risks and dangers and
treatments and information we will be providing. My first set of
vaccinations has been administered, my tickets are bought, my safari
plans are underway, my necessary supplies are bought...I am as
prepared as I can possibly be, all I need is to actually get there so
our work can begin. I am so excited; I cannot even imagine what
amazing experiences are in store for me...
I have been going over details such as possible risks and dangers and
treatments and information we will be providing. My first set of
vaccinations has been administered, my tickets are bought, my safari
plans are underway, my necessary supplies are bought...I am as
prepared as I can possibly be, all I need is to actually get there so
our work can begin. I am so excited; I cannot even imagine what
amazing experiences are in store for me...
Sunday, July 11, 2010
How PINCC Got to India
John Adams
Dr. Rhoda Nussbaum and I have made one or two trips to India each year since early 2003, to the ashram of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in Puttaparthi (Andhra Pradesh state) to support our spiritual growth.
Sai Baba is a service, or "Seva," oriented holy man who has created an extensive educational system (K-Ph.D. – all free), an extensive health care system (two general hospitals, two super-specialty tertiary care hospitals, and a Mobile Hospital – all free), and extensive projects to provide reliable and safe drinking water to over a thousand cities and villages in southern India. Whenever we visited the ashram, Dr. Rhoda would do "Seva" in the local general hospital, and I would teach in the local MBA program.
During each visit, while volunteering in the gynecology section of the hospital, Dr. Rhoda found that she was seeing several cases of advanced cervical cancer on each visit, which was rather unsettling, since she had only observed one such case during an almost 30-year practice in San Francisco. Of course in developed countries, Pap smears have become ubiquitous, and as a result, cervical cancer rarely occurs. However, in less developed countries like India, there are no Pap smears in the village areas, and so there is a great deal of cervical cancer.
After one such visit, in early 2008, Rhoda began searching for a way to respond to the frequency of this completely preventable disease. During this search, she learned that Dr. Kay Taylor, with whom she had served as a resident many years earlier, had already laid the groundwork and established PINCC, which at that time was providing screening in Africa and Central America. Kay invited Rhoda to come along as a volunteer physician (and me as a volunteer "go-fer") on the next trip to Kenya and Tanzania. We did join this trip, to learn the process and logistics, in order to propose bringing the PINCC program to southern India.
When we returned to the USA, in late August 2008, Dr. Rhoda was very excited about bringing the PINCC process to India and set about to make it happen. After much persistence, it became clear that the place to start was the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital (SSSMH). After many exchanges of contracts and logistics between us, PINCC and the SSSMH director, Dr. Narasimhan, we set off for Bangalore in late July, 2009 with Dr. Kay Taylor and Pat Sax, to bring the PINCC process to India for the first time.
The SSSMH operates with a Director, a small support staff, and a large pool of volunteer doctors, all of whom speak the language of Andhra Pradesh – Telegu. Three teams of 20 or so doctors of varying specialties join the mobile hospital for four days each, from the 1st to the 12th of each month. The mobile hospital visits the same village on the same date each month, and each of the 12 villages visited serves as a "magnet" for surrounding smaller villages – so about 180 villages receive free medical care each month!
Our PINCC team, Dr. Kay Taylor, Dr. Rhoda Nussbaum, Pat Sax, and me, travelled with the mobile hospital August 1-12, 2009. During this period we initiated training with 12 gynecologists, in three teams of four, and in the process, we screened about 350 women and conducted 27 Cryo and LEEP procedures. We were highly impressed with the organization and level of competence of the entire SSSMH operation. Dr. Narasimhan, as the Director, and his key staff members, are the embodiment of love and service! We all felt that this first foray into India was a huge success, and we all appreciated the quality of care and service being provided by the SSSMH. At the end of this tour, Dr. Kay named Rhoda PINCC Medical Director for India, and me Program Administrator for India.
Following the August visit, several of the doctors were comfortable enough, after only one cycle of training, to begin VIA screenings and to carry out Cryo procedures.
Dr. Rhoda and I returned to the SSSMH December 1-12, 2009, for a second round of screening and training, along with Dr. Zena Levine. During this second round, we screened an additional 250 women, performed 28 Cryo and LEEP procedures, and certified four of the more experienced physicians.
As I write this we are deep in the preparations for our third screening / training sessions with the SSSMH, and also to opening a new PINCC program for the Prerana Reproductive Health Clinic in Mysore!
PINCC-India, August 2010
PINCC-India will swing into action again in August.
John Adams, Administrator, PINCC-India
John Adams, Administrator, PINCC-India
We will be providing the third round of screening and training for the volunteer gynecologists who serve the Sri Sathya Sai Mobile Hospital (Andhra Pradesh state) August 9-12. The already trained doctors have continued to conduct VIA and to perform Cryo and LEEP treat...ments on a monthly basis. Dr. Narasimhan, the SSSMH Director, is eager to offer the VIA training to all 30 or so of the gynecologist volunteers, so we will be traveling with the Mobile Hospital for awhile yet!
Prior to this, we will begin work a new site at the St. Joseph Hospital in Mysore, providing screening for village and tribal women in western Karnataka state, and training for six doctors and two nurses. This site is being sponsored by the Public Health Reasearch Institute of India (PHRI) and the Prerana Reproductive Health Clinic of Mysore.
Friday, July 9, 2010
MORE HEADLAMPS DONATED TO PINCC BY BLACK DIAMOND
Special thanks to PINCC volunteer Jane Stringer and Roch Horton at Black Diamond Equipment. Jane, freshly returned from her recent PINCC volunteer tour in Central America, let Roch know of the success of the campaign and how appreciative the health care providers in El Salvador and Nicaragua were to receive the Black Diamond headlamps. Thanks Roch and Black Diamond.
Friday, June 4, 2010
The last one (no, really)
PINCC volunteer NP Christella Guzman celebrates with hospital nurse
Rosita Sifuenta Yanac at the end of our day today in Lima.
Rosita Sifuenta Yanac at the end of our day today in Lima.
Penultimate trip post ... Really
trained today.
The End
Hope you enjoyed following our progress throughout 3 countries.
If you're a new visitor, please read the older posts to get a sense
of our last three weeks.
We're back at the hotel, and this iteration of Team PINCC is
scattering to various places.
Please stay tuned to this blog for more PINCC updates.
-- Larry Shushan
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PINCC in El Salvador
2010