All Over Kolkata

August 10. 

Anmol at the Victoria Memorial

Last week, we ran all over Kolkata and West Bengal, but I'll focus on Kolkata for now. Before India became independent, Kolkata (previously known as Calcutta) was the British capital of India, so the heritage from the British rule over India is evident in the city’s architecture and infrastructure. Because the city used to be an economic and cultural hub, India’s most spirited, visionary, and heralded intellectuals, artists, and scholars hail from Kolkata. Dr. Arun K. Singh, director of the Neonatology Department of the Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), is no exception. His willingness to share his holistic insights about healthcare delivery were refreshing and inspiring. Three great points from our conversation with Dr. Singh stuck with me. 

1. Innovation cannot be tested in isolation - Simply put, an innovator really needs to understand  how his creation will fit into the total health care system, which goes much beyond the intended function of the device. 

2. Every detail matters - In one study, Dr. Singh discovered that the bioburden (# of bacteria) in his Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) was actually higher after the floors were mopped. Dr. Singh eventually discovered that the mops were stored in the washrooms. Go figure!

3. Would you use that on your child? - Innovation in a resource constrained setting is not about cutting corners at the cost of quality of care. In other words, if I'm not comfortable using my device on my own child at Hopkins, then it is not acceptable in a developing nation either. 

We then got to visit the SSKM NICU, where, despite the large volume of very ill babies, doctors, nurses, and staff constantly triaged, adjusted, and readjusted to deliver the top-notch care to each baby. Some people think invention comes out of necessity; well these guys live it every day. We also got to tour the soon-to-be-finished seven story building that will be completely dedicated to Neonatology and Neural Development at SSKM. It's expected to become the premier neonatology facility in the nation once it is complete. As Dr. Singh put it, Neonatology is not only about saving a child's life, but also about ensuring proper quality of life for each kid.   

August 11. 

The next day we got to meet Dr. Tripathi and his Clinical Pharmacology students at the School of Tropical Medicine, which was established by the British in 1921 to provide education to british doctors in India that was on par with that provided in England. This is the first time I heard about the burden of tuberculosis in the developing world, and most importantly the rising incidence of multi-drug (MDR) and extreme-drug (XDR) resistant strains of TB. Truly scary stuff because there is pretty much no treatment for patients suffering from XDR TB. 

After that we went to the Labor & Delivery unit at SSKM, where I almost fainted. It may have been an after effect from being scared about TB or maybe because it was the first time I've seen a woman while she's in full-fledged labor. YIKES!

Being on foot is not better than being in car in Kolkata

Finally got to ride a rickshaw! (in Delhi actually)

On a fun note, traffic in Kolkata is just as bad or maybe even worse than it was in Mumbai and Delhi. It might be because the day-time population of the city is estimated to be somewhere around 30million people! Even though each trip (no matter how short) took a least 30 buttocks-clenching minutes, thanks to Ranjen (our crazy driver) we made it in one piece!

Rasgulla. Delicious milk sweet  from Kolkata.