On the 8th and 9th of November, Goa Medical College celebrated 25 years of the existence of their Dept. of Neurosurgery. Two students of the Marian Institute, Glinis Braganza and Lyka Da Costa, attended this event and later shared their experiences with the rest of the class.

The event included speakers mostly eminent neurosurgeons like Dr Vijay Kak, Dr Thimappa Hegde & Dr Tandon (Dean of AIIMS) as well as medico legal expert Dr Gopinath Shenoy, Dr Vina Vaswani MD from Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, and Dr Oscar Rebello.

The topics covered included 

• Medical Ethics past, Present & Future
• End-of-Life Situations, Sharing decisions, caring dignity
• Civil & Criminal Liability of Doctors 
• Euthanasia 
• Progress and Prospects of Neuroscience in India
• Personal Vision
• Death & Dying 
• Latest technology in removal of emboli in the brain
• Communication & the patient doctor relationship

HOSPITAL RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

The third session of “Meeting of Minds” was held on the 22 November 2008, at the Marian Institute of Healthcare Management. The speaker of the day was Mr. Ronald May, Assistant Manager, Marketing Department, Manipal Hospital – Goa.

The discussion was on Relationship Management & its various facets, which included:

• Doctor Personality;
• Clinical Acumen;
• Infrastructure and Systems;
• Legacy; and
• Religious models

The other topics were;

• Effective Strategy planning
• Nurturing Hospital Brands
• Future Business models

He also shared with us a few personal experiences & challenges in the field of hospital marketing.

On 15 November 2008, the second session of “Meeting of Minds” was held by the Marian Institute of Health Care Management. The speaker was Mr. Raj Vaidya, Proprietor of the Hindu Pharmacy.

With the main topic being “Medicinal Aspects in Healthcare”, Mr. Vaidya discussed:

• Medicine costs
• Essential Medicines
• RUM (Rational Use of Medicines)
• Pharmacy Therapeutics Committee
• Hospital Formulary
• Standard Therapeutic Guidelines
• Adverse Drug Reactions, Drug Interactions
• Clinical Pharmacist
• Compliance

He also touched upon the lesser known facts about these concepts like the Number of Essential Medicines listed by the WHO as well as in India. He gave the audience a realistic view of the present scenario of the healthcare sector in India.

Naseem Huda conducted a session on Nursing and Health Services on 8 November 2008 at the Marian Institute of Health Care Management.

Ms Huda is a practicing nurse in the U.S. and shared her experiences in this field. She explained the responsibilities of a nurse as including:

• Nursing assessment
• Patient care and medication and
• Maintaining regular records of the status and intervention with each patient
• The interface with technology and the use of EMRs in providing better healthcare and administration

She also spoke about the organization of workflow at the hospital and the patient’s experience from admission to discharge.

Meeting of Minds is a weekend discussion forum held regularly at the Marian Institute of Health Care Management. The students interact with resource people from various areas of the healthcare sector to gain insight into its working and management.