The Durga Puja is not just a religious ceremony for Bengalis. To them, it is a cultural extravaganza, a carnival, and a riot of happiness that knows no caste, creed, color, religion […]
Cochrane Presents Interactive Learning Courses
Cochrane is a British non-profit, non-governmental organization formed to organize medical research findings so as to facilitate evidence-based choices about health interventions faced by health professionals, patients, and policy makers. They have […]
Research Mentorship for MBBS/MD Students in India: The Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Program
There are very limited opportunities for Indian medical students and even residency trainees, to engage in high quality mentorship program focusing on development of research skills. The newly launched DIPS program is […]
Another NEJM Gem: The Doctor’s Dilemma
I always rather enjoy the narrative perspectives that the NEJM publishes every week, and some of those hit very close to my heart. The Doctor’s New Dilemma talks of how Modern Medicine today […]
ICMR STS 2016 Declared: BDS Students Supported No Longer
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has opened up calls for its Short Term Summer Research Studentships (STS). The details are available on their website. The ICMR-STS is one of the […]
A Response to Anandabazar’s Indictment of Doctors-in-Training: Attitude vs Aptitude or Students vs System
So, I have been meaning to blog for a while now, but as all my online blog-ey friends know, I have been suffering from a massive attack of Bloggers’ Block. However, I […]
JIMA: Largest Medical Journal in Print Closes Shop
The Journal of the Indian Medical Association seems to have ceased publication in March, according to this newspaper article, which caught my attention recently. There was some conflict leading to the March […]
The Parable of the Farmers Plagued by Rats: AKA Publications in Advancing Medical Careers
There was a small island kingdom, inhabited by a peaceful race of people who prospered through the advances they had made in agriculture. One day, they were visited by a shipful of […]
US Budget FY 2014: Did the US Govt Make USMLE Tougher for IMGs?
Right at the outset, I shall admit that this is a topic that is a little beyond my “safety net” of knowledge and hence, I may be slightly off-target with some of […]
The Family Physician: A Dying Romantic Idea
I have been known to lament the loss of the prestige of the basic medical degree (MBBS) in India. While you may or may not agree with it, the truth remains that […]
Aaron Swartz Commits Suicide: The Dark Knight Falls
From Aaron’s last blog post: Thus Master Wayne is left without solutions. Out of options, it’s no wonder the series ends with his staged suicide. A year younger to me, and yet, […]
Brown Bag Sessions: Food for Thought
We have been contemplating the concept of having a Brown Bag session once in two weeks in our department for quite a while now, and we set the ball rolling today with […]
Talking to the Streets for Health: Street Theater as a Public Health Tool
Prior to coming to Delhi, I did not have much exposure to the power of the theater as a mode of dissemination of public health messages. It does sound strange when I […]
Literature Search Workshop at UCMS: Extra-Curricular Academics at the MEU
The Medical Education Unit at the University College of Medical Sciences, where I am now doing my residency, is a small, but super-active group of people, and they presented today a workshop […]
Facebooking Your Faculty: To be or not to be?
Few emerging technologies have taken by storm the world as much as Facebook has. Although a plummeting share price has theoretically halved Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune (it has come down to $18.75 from […]
Protocol Writing Workshop 2012 and Falling in Love… with UCMS!
As residents, one of the most important things that we have to do is complete a dissertation, or thesis in course of our training. This is one of the credits we need […]
Despatch from Narela: Another Rural Posting Experience
It has been quite a long hiatus since I last wrote here, and a plethora of changes have affected my life since then. I hope to write about them sometime, and start […]
On Being A Gadfly
Although this is the age of Evidence Based Medicine, in large parts of our country, the “E” in EBM does not stand for Evidence, and more often than not, means “Eminence”. Medicine, […]
National Doctors’ Day & The Perils of Being an Indian (Junior) Doctor
“There is no greater reward in our profession than the knowledge that God has entrusted us with the physical care of His people. The Almighty has reserved for Himself the power to […]
And the AIPG Fiasco Continues
The 5300-odd rankers in the AIPG were breathing a sigh of relief when the notification for counseling for Post Graduation seats was declared, along with dates and ranks and the rank cards […]
Another AIPG Controversy
Rumors and hearsay have been a dime a dozen since the bombshell of an AIPG dropped on us and since the results were postponed, there seems to have been an explosion of […]
Mistakes in Medicine: The Brian Goldman TED Talk
This TED Talk has been on my radar for quite some time now, but thanks to my exams and study schedules, I have not been able to get around to going through […]
Is MBBS Becoming a Vestigial Degree?
“There are, in truth, no specialties in medicine, since to know fully many of the most important diseases a man must be familiar with their manifestations in many organs.” —William Osler, The […]
The Map of the Cat Conundrum: Richard Feynman and AIIMS November 2011
Well, that sounds like an odd assortment of topics to group under the same heading, does it not? Well, today I had the misfortune of experiencing first hand what Feynman had described […]
Trendelenberg vs Trendelenburg: What’s in a name?
I have a slew of exams lined up and am recovering from a (suspected) repetitive stress injury of the right wrist. Combined, they have managed to keep me offline long enough to […]
Charles Beevor: The Sign of a “Bloody” Jerk
Forgive the hyperbolic title. Do not take offense and read on before hating on me. Please note the post script for added justification for this inflammatory title, if you so feel. Thanks. […]
Google+ for Google Apps, Open Lab and Exam Musings
So this is a bit of a mishmash of a post. Google Plus is finally being opened up to the Google Apps users! Phew. That settles the hash of using my old […]
OAW 2011: So You Hit A Paywall?
This is in celebration of the Open Access Week, which is celebrated all across the globe between October 24 – 30 every year. This year, since I am no longer in medical […]
House MD 8×02: Transplant
As big a fan of the House MD show I am, let me start off with the disclaimer that I consider this to be one of the worst ever episodes of House […]
Medical Student Research: The First Year Quandary
The problem with the Indian Medical Curriculum is that it is too intense, as it should be, no complaints there, but it offers no leeway to people who want to test out […]
