This Institute is a recognised centre for the Indo-Australian college of critical care. This critical care course examination conducted in 2 parts-Primary and Fellowship, both by Australian and Indian faculty, the training period for which is 2 years.
The first batch started in 2004 January. One of our student (Dr. Meeta Mehta) has graced this Institute by standing first in the Primary Exam conducted in Dec 2004.
Article 1
As on Thursday April 8 2004 Mid Day, Mumbai
By Hemal Ashar
A hospital is a new learning centre for semi-urban docs
It is fitting that a cardiac medical facility shows such heart . Every month, the Shrimati S R Mehta Institute in Matunga opens its doors to docs from semi-urban areas around Maharashtra.
Learning Hub
A group of six doctors use the hospital as a centre to update their knowledge and avail of high-tech infrastructure to brush up their skills so that they can take the latest back with them and serve the patients there.
The learning experience lasts for one week, with a new set of doctors coming in every month. The visiting doctors treat everything from cardiac problems, which comprise 80 percent of their work at home, to treating strokes, tuberculosis, asthma, and a host of other medical problems back home due to a paucity of medical care.
Reverence
Dr B Shinde from Mangaon district in Raigad looks on intently at the Mumbai institute as a patient's X-ray is brought out and discussed by delighted doctors who notice that the "lung has cleared up considerably."
Dr B Gokhale from Goregaon in Raigad district will take the knowledge he has gleaned back with him,while Dr M S Jakhate from Dhulia and Dr S Shah from Malegaon will be wiser when they reach home. Dr A U Deshmukh from Amravati and Dr R Mundhe from Aurangabad will rise even higher in the esteem of their people when they return.
"People in these smaller places revere doctors as gods. We are often 'recognised' on the road like stars are in bigger cities. We are seen as ideal citizens. We have to always be careful of how we portray ourselves so, it even becomes difficult for us to wear a pair of bermuda shorts and eat at a roadside 'chaat' stall," they laugh.
Brushing up
Says Dr J Parikh, director, cardiac cath lab and chief cardiologist of Shrimati S R Mehta Institute, who initiated this monthly exercise in November 2003. "Doctors from smaller places are very skilled. However, they may not have access to high-tech facilities back home, so they have an opportunity to practice on a dummy over here. The thrust is on brushing up on knowledge, getting access to advanced technology, sharing ideas with the institute's medical staff and updating their knowledge, all which they can put into practice back home."
Thanks to the initiative, the Matunga institute sees a meeting of minds and stimulating intellectual exchange as visiting docs avail of the latest machines and technology in cardiac care. Another pleasing fallout of the visit is the fact that for a week, they can stroll in bermuda shorts down city streets as they are anonymous in Mumbai.
Article 2
As on Saturday July 3 2004 , Mumbai
By Rinky Kumar
Rural doctors to get updated for free
Medical practitioners from rural areas in Maharashtra can now update their knowledge on the latest developments in the field.
Srimati Sushilaben R. Mehta and Sir Kikabhai Premchand Cardiac Institute or S. K. Mehta Institute, located in a bylane off Gandhi market at Sion, is the only institute in Mumbai to conduct free monthly training sessions for doctors from the interior regions of the state.
Each batch consists of seven doctors from areas like Nanded, Satara, Aurangabad and Solapur. The doctors get hands-on training to handle emergencies, to read electrocardiograms better, to treat acute heart attacks and hypertension.
They are also trained to think of new modalities and to identify when patients should be sent to big hospitals for further treatment.
The cardiac institute bears the lodging and boarding expenses of the doctors who come for the training. Dr Govind Bhattad, a consulting physician who runs an intensive cardiac care unit in Nanded and is currently attending the training session said, "I became a doctor in the 90s. Before attending the session, I was unaware of the latest developments. As a result, I could not implement new techniques when treating my patients."
He said there are inadequate resources to learn about new medical developments in Nanded. He added, "There are only primary level facilities in Nanded. We do not have facilities even to conduct an angiography. If we apply our newly acquired knowledge, then there are chances of 80 per cent of the patients surviving, whereas earlier only 50 per cent patients survived.
He has planned to install new cheaper instruments in his clinic, which he learnt of from the course. It is mandatory for doctors in the United States to give an exam every year in order to review their licence and their knowledge about the latest developments in medicine.
But such kind of practice is non-existent in India. Dr Bhattad said, "This training not only enables us to evaluate our knowledge on medical innovations but also enhances it."
Dr Priti Araujo from Goa, a chief consultant at Apollo Hospital who is attending the training session said, "This is a practical way to learn about pacemakers and ventilators."
Dr Jagdish Parikh, an interventional cardiologist who conducts the training session, took the initiative to educate doctors only from those areas where continued medical education is not available.
He said, "Expertise on minor techniques will enable doctors to provide quality treatment to patients. Such kind of knowledge cannot be imparted to doctors in the course of a seminar or a public lecture. They need to absorb and practise what they have learnt."
Top
Phone No: 91-22-2403 5454-59 Fax: 91-22-2409 4732