Vol.No.53. No.27
FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
JANUARY 04, 2016
DIST ANCE EDUC ATION CONV OC ATION 20 15 DISTANCE EDUCA CONVOC OCA 2015
The Annual Convocation of the Department of Distance Education was held on December 12, 2015, at the Scudder Auditorium. This convocation saw 284 doctors graduating from various Distance Education courses of which 195 doctors are from Family Medicine (M.MED in Family Medicine affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University and Post Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine [PGDFM]), 40 doctors from the PGDFM for recent MBBS graduates run with the Department of Medical Education and 45 doctors from the Distance Fellowship in Diabetes management (DFID) run with the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. The Chief Guest at the Convocation was Prof. Dr. Bipin Batra, Executive Director, National Board of Examinations, New Delhi. In his address, Prof. Batra threw light on the evolving medical education system in India, its strengths and areas of improvement. He commended the Christian Medical College Vellore for taking forward what is now being advocated globally as the 3rd generation of medical educational reforms, much ahead of time in India, therein creating socially accountable medical graduates and specialists in this framework. The Associate Director, Dr. Thomas Kuriakose urged the graduands, who have now become part of CMC, to follow the college motto, ‘Not to be Ministered unto but to Minister’ and to be servant leaders. The Vice Principal, Dr. Joy Michael delivered the inaugural address. Dr.C. Eapen, Medical Superintendent, Dr. Nihal Thomas, Course Director, DFID, Dr. Jachin Velavan, Coordinator, Distance Education, and Dr. Dhayakani Selvakumar, Course Organiser, PGDFM for recent MBBS graduates gave charge to the students. The overall vision of the Distance Education Department is to train and capacity-build HRH (Human Resources for Health) at all levels of healthcare with a goal to strengthen healthcare delivery systems in India and other developing countries and to bring sustained health
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you for ever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14 :15 - 20
Special Prayers : January 03 - 09, 2016 Archives
: Dr. Reena Mary George and Staff
Dodd Memorial Library : Dr. V. Newton and Staff Gault Library
: Dr. V. Newton and Staff Dr. Joyson Soundrarajan and Staff
CSI Trichy - Tanjore Diocese Council Members : Rt. Rev. Dr. G. Paul Vasanthakumar Dr. M.P. Kalaiselvan Hospital
: CSI Hospital, Trichy and others.
Sunday Services : January 10, 2016 6.00 pm
: Scudder Auditorium Mr. Hugh Skeil
6.30 pm
: Hospital Chapel Rev. D.P. Joseph Devaraj
We welcome : Dr. John Jose E, Associate Professor, Department of Cardiology Unit-I, on his return from sabbatical leave. Obituary : M r. M . S . D e n z i l , S e n i o r G r a d e E l e c t r o n i c Mechanic-II, Bio Medical Engineering Department on December 26, 2015 in Pakala, Chittoor District. Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved members of the family at this time of grief and loss.
transformation with a special objective to facilitate healthcare access to the poor and marginalised, in the spirit of Christ. All courses are run as blended learning programmes with a goal to build the capacity of General Practitioners (Private and Government Doctors) with minimal displacement from their workplaces and to enable them to manage more patients at the primary level, reducing referrals and to pass on the benefits to the patients of weaker section of the society. 13 Mission hospitals across the country functioning as contact centers, under the supervision of national and international faculty, form the pillars of these programmes, resulting in transformation in three aspects: Professional excellence, Ethics and values and Culture of patient care. T Y IN MISSION HOSPIT AL A CUL ORIOUS SER VICE A W ARDS F OR FFA MERIT CULT MERITORIOUS Dr.Garnipudy Samuel Solomon is a CMC Alumnus from the undergraduate batch of 1970. He spent 6 weeks of his internship at Karigiri Hospital and was instantly attached to the place and the Leprosy Specialist services. In 1977 after finishing his internship he joined SLR & TC Karigiri as a Junior Medical officer in surgery. He was subsequently sponsored by Karigiri Hospital to train as an Orthopaedic Surgeon at CMC, Vellore. He completed his D.Ortho in 1981 and MS Ortho in 1984. He was also certified in Training Methodology and Education Technology by Liverpool University’s school of Tropical Medicine in 1984. He was awarded an M. Phil in 1996 by the BITS Pilani / Tulane University USA / CMC consortium. A passionate surgeon, trained under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Brand and Dr. Earnest Fritschi, he was able to perform any and every kind of surgery in leprosy reconstruction and rehabilitation with excellent results. He has over 25 research publications in prestigious Leprosy journals and has presented over 50 scientific papers in a variety of forums. In 1998 he was invited by the Government of China and the Leprosy mission International to evaluate the Chinese National Leprosy programme. In 2001 and 2002 he evaluated the surgical needs of leprosy patients in Himachal Pradesh and single-handedly did surgical reconstruction on 150 patients. He thereafter went to China twice as a clinical consultant and operated on leprosy patients for project Grace International. In 2010 he was made “Honorary Fellow” and in 2014 awarded the “Vidya Ratina” by the “Ancient Sciences and Archeological Society of India” for using some of Sushruta’s techniques in nasal reconstruction. With his knowledge of the insensate foot and expertise in dealing with it, he was able to extend this skill to Diabetics with problematic feet. Having spent these and a half decades in Karigiri he has been instrumental in passing on his skill to Medical and Allied Health Professionals through state National and International as well as WHO recognized courses. He has also taught basic skills management of Leprosy patients to about 200 Occupational and Physiotherapists every year, from colleges in South India from 1990 onwards. His keen interest and knowledge of computers and sound medical background was a fruitful mix. This led to his setting up at Karigiri Hospital, the local area Network and Hospital information system with the help of funds from ASHA a diversion of USAID. He later took over as Head of INFOCOMM of the Karigiri Hospital and actively kept it up to date and growing with the global advancement of the science. He was then taken on by SIEMENS International Information Systems as a consultant to help them develop their version of Global Hospital Administration Software. He was also given the onerous task of heading the department of training as well, from 2002 onwards. With his excellent communication skills in several languages English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Punjab, he was able to take this Training and Learning exercise to exemplary levels. He was diligently involved in conducting workshops on Medical Education for the Dr. M.G.R Medical University prior to the University having its own Department. In 2014 he superannuated from the Schieffelin Leprosy Research and Training Centre, Karigiri (presently known as the Schieffelin Institute of Health Research and Leprosy Centre Karigiri) after 37 years of dedicated service, going the extra mile and making a difference to those afflicted and affected by Leprosy. In recognition of his faithful service in the mission field, Christian Medical College is proud to honour Dr. G. Samuel Solomon with the 25 years meritorious service.
T CHAD C AMPUS TED A COMMUNIT Y G YM INA UGURA AT UGURATED The Department of Community Health inaugurated a New outdoor gym in the premises of the CHAD hospital on October 27, 2015 as part of an externally funded project providing community based services for Non Communicable Disease control. The equipment which includes an arm wheel, shoulder wheel, leg stretcher, air walker and hip twister will be open for use by both patients as well as staff. After setting up services for screening for diabetes, hypertension and cancer (breast, cervix), the need for health promotion related activities both in the community and for those involved in educating others (primary healthcare staff) was recognized and this new facility is the result of that. The outdoor gym equipment facility will be open for patients and staff during the working hours in order to promote and demonstrate physical activity. This venture is in line with the WHO’s healthy settings approach for enabling lifestyle modifications at workplace as well as home. Similar gyms are being planned for a few villages in Kaniyambadi Block, to be installed in common locations, similar to the Corporation parks in Chennai. We hope that more of such facilities will be made available in our institution and town, increasing the opportunities for healthcare workers to be physically active and reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases. Since its inauguration, the facility is being used enthusiastically by both patients and staff. W ORLD DIS ABILIT Y D AY In commemoration of the World Disability Day on December 3, 2015 the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation organized a poster competition themed “Explore, Express and Evolve: a creative journey” for the patients and a rangoli competition themed “Encourage, Enrich and Empower” for the caregivers at the Rehabilitation Institute, Bagayam, CMC, Vellore. The patients along with their relatives and the staff were divided in to four groups to participate in the poster and rangoli competitions. They came up with creative and innovative ways to express their views on the themes given to them. They were judged by Mrs. S. Sheela Kalaiarasan, Pharmacist, Department of Psychiatry, CMC, who is passionate about arts and crafts and Mrs. Emma Koshy, Project Director, Seb’s project - India, Vellore. The colourful and cheerful celebration concluded with prize distribution for the best poster and rangoli. In addition to this celebration a new initiative to sensitize churches towards people with disability was organized. This programme was an extension of the “Engage Disability” national conference that was organized in New Delhi on September 2014. Various church volunteers and pastors were invited to the programme and the focus was on strengthening the Christian response towards disability. The meeting was attended by 20 members from different churches in and around Vellore. Presentations were made on the existing programmes in CMC for caring and integrating the differently abled in the community. This initiative was a preliminary step exploring the role of the church in the prevention of disability and care of the differently abled. Training programmes will be conducted to empower the volunteers to reach out and care for the disabled in the community. There was an enthusiastic response from the participants. GLORIOUS CONCERT 2015 The Karnataka chapter of the CMC Alumni Association was started over 30 years ago, the first state chapter in India. In 1999 they raised over fifteen lakhs towards the CMC centenary project through an evening of Indian classical music. In 2015 they tied up with Bangalore’s renowned Glorious choir, founded by Reji and Esther Chandy, to raise funds for poor patient care at the proposed new CMC hospital at Kannigapuram and bring visibility to the work done by CMC. Glorious performed “Once Upon a Christmas” on the 19th and 20th of December in Ambedkar Bhavan, Bangalore. Dr. Sunil Chandy, Director of CMC, related the history of CMC Vellore and spoke about
its impact on the nation. The melodies of the 70 - member youth choir and the 100 - member children’s choir held the audience enrapt with their message of love, hope and unity. The centrepiece of the evening was a nativity pageant by the children, complete with live sheep bleating in competition with the carols sung by the choir. The Karnataka Chapter is also leading the way in raising funds through CMC’s ‘Buy a Brick’project where well-wishers can donate upwards of Rs.10,000 to have their names on a brick in the Wall of Thanks to be erected at Kannigapuram. Through these initiatives, the Karnataka Chapter has already raised over 40 lakhs for the new patient care facility at CMC. Dr. Alexander Thomas, President of the Chapter and Chairman of the Organising Committee, said, "CMC Vellore has changed millions of lives across the country. We are fortunate to have an opportunity to give back in some measure. We are grateful to the donors for their generosity and thank all those who were involved in the organization of this fund-raiser." We at CMC would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the members ofGlorious, who willingly gave their time and musical gifts, to the audience, donors and everyone involved in organising the event. WORKSHOP ON REFERENCE MANAGER USING ZOTERO In December the Clinical Epidemiology Unit (CEU) conducted both the Reference Management and Data Management workshops in association with the BV Moses Center and Bio-statistics Department. The Reference management workshop had 18 participants. The software was the Zotero programme that is free to use. The participants were taught the basics of referencing and skills in collecting, organizing, citing, sharing and saving references. The Data management workshop had 18 participants. Principles of data management, making clinical research forms (CRF) were taught. Participants learned the use of the Epidata software a free to use excellent programme for making a CRF, reducing data entry errors, data documentation as well as export for data analysis. A brief introduction to PSPP was given. Both workshops are hands on and informal; they were well received. Each are offered 4-6 times a year a half day workshops. RETIREMENTS Mrs. Lilly Jeevan, Staff Nurse Gr. II retired on December 29, 2015 after 24 years of service to the Institution. She completed her GNM course in 1980 from MLL Hospital, Madanapalli and joined CMC in 1981 as a Staff Nurse in Neuro Ward. She worked abroad from 1983 to 1990. She joined CMC in 1993 and served in the Neuro wards till 1996. She then served in the Endoscopy room and has been working in OPD for the past seven years. She is a calm, quiet and hard working. Her husband, Mr. Nithiajeevan is a retired Medical Records Officer. Her daughters, Ms. Alpha Lovely and Ms. Bernice Shiny are married. Mrs. Maheswari Suresh, Staff Nurse Gr. I retired on December 31, 2015 after 25 years of service to the Institution. She completed her Nursing Auxiliary Course in 1981 from CMC and worked here as Nursing Auxiliary until 1989. She later resigned to pursue her MPHW course and rejoined as a Multi Purpose Health Worker in 1991 and worked in M ward till 1998. She completed her GNM course in CMC as a sponsored candidate and joined as Staff Nurse in Private Ward in 2001 and has served there till date. She also completed her “Post Diploma in Renal Nursing” between 2008 and 2009. She is sincere, patient oriented and showed interest in teaching junior staff. She was highly motivated in advancing professionally. Her husband, Mr. Suresh retired as Supervisor from BSNL. Her daughter, Ms. Shyamala completed her MCA and MBA and is working in an IT Company, Chennai and is married to Mr.Sathish, who is also working in an IT Company, Chennai. Her Son, Mr. Amudhan did his B.Tech. and is working in an IT Company, Chennai. CMC thanks them for their many years of dedicated services to the institution and wishes them a blessed retired life. SITU ATIONS V A C ANT SITUA VA 1. Schieffelin Institute of Health - Research and Leprosy Centre, Karigiri – 632 106 invites applications for the post of Pharmacist Qualifications : Diploma in Pharmacy / Bachelor of Pharmacy. Age limit : 35 years. Apply with detailed bio-data along with photocopies of certificates and a demand draft for Rs.50/- in favour of “SIH - R & LC, Karigiri” addressed to the Director, S.I.H - R & LC., Karigiri – 632 106. The last date for receipt of applications is January 09, 2016.