A different world

Attended the first day of a 3-day International Telemedicine conference held in Bangalore. I knew that there wasn't a lot in it for DSP engineers, but the DSP is what makes the whole thing possible, so I went just to see how it's shaping up in our country. Glad I did, because not only do I have a larger picture of things now, I also lived for a few hours in a completely different world.

There were hardly any non-doctors present there. The event was mainly to popularize the far reaching effects of technology with the Hospital Administrators. Telemedicine started 2-3 years back in India, with ISRO chipping in with satellite bandwidth to help move the huge medical data of the patient to the superspecialist doctor sitting smug in his air-conditioned office in a city. The whole reason why Telemedicine is important in India, is because the population is largely rural-centric, and specialization and then super-specialization is almost completely urban centric. Something has to be done to bridge the gap.

So the Telemedicine can be used to
1) Reduce the influx of rural residents to urban hospitals for specialized treatment, by providing them with timely advice through a video conference
2) Reach urban (often international) expertise to rural people. It's not like they don't NEED super-specialized care, just because it doesn't exist in those regions.
3) Save time, money, lives. Not in that order.

At the end of the plenary sessions, I was seized by this huge urge to go grab the mike and give everyone at ISRO and the IT ministry a piece of my mind. Since there were a lot of doctors sitting there, whose time I didn't want to waste ( the conference was held mainly to lead them by the finger and help them use telemedicine, so they'll embrace the change - engineers would get bored in 5 mins flat), I didn't shout. ( Ok.. there were other reasons too...)

But though the technology is evolving, what needs to be worked out is a pliable business model for this whole thing. Software and hardware vendors are ready with telemedicine software and equipment. But all too often, for business interests, their softwares don't speak the same language to each other. All telemedicine equipment and software MUST be made interoperable, and for that, you need to define standards and have them confirm to that. There should be this national grid, where any doc anywhere , any chain of hospitals ( you thought hospitals were just about saving lives? they're business too, for those who see them that way.) should be able to plug in to the national resource anytime and either

1) do his bit towards a patient, or
2) gain some knowledge at any point. ( Video conferencing is a great way to teach specialized things or rare cases to docs across the globe. The conference gave examples of how sharing of rare experiences by old docs has saved many a life).
Now the Ministry of Information Technology has defined standards, but they're largely just following footsteps.

So interoperability is a huge factor that needs to be outlined, guidelined and enforced.

The main thing is that business models of this entire concept are yet to be worked out. There should be a pre-implementation phase, where the needs and resources are assessed, then the implementation, then a post-implementation phase, where there's a hand-holding period and then the software firms gradually ease themselves out of the set-up, providing back up support only after that. The sad thing is, while frameworks for this noble venture are still being worked out, we have medico-legal implications already turning up . Framing laws takes a lot of time. We'll be behind the revolution's curve if we don't prioritize soon. What NEEDS to be done at this point is to set up a stringent skeletal framework for technical concurrence and GET started. Once the benefits reach, other developments can be phased out.

Other than that, it's the fact that ISRO is largely importing technology, that saddened me. I have quite a few friends abroad, who're willing to give up their rich jobs and come down to India to break new ground, but forget financial lure, the Govt's enterprise is so full of dogmatic old people that they're not even willing to hear anyone out. I met a few electronics engineers at the conference, who'd come from some company ( Infinera.. something... darn.. they all sound so like each other...) that'd been roped in to set up the video conferencing equipment, and these guys , working for the last few days with ISRO, say that they've seen what the ISRO guys do.. the usual working day at ISRO is full of breaks, at least 3 half-hour coffee breaks, 1 hour lunch breaks... these poor (outsiders) engineers took 4 days to do a 2 -days job because everyone at ISRO starts packing up by 4:45 and leaves by 5. These engineers are a year younger to me, and were willing to stay up till 10 to do their work.

Hence the brain drain. We'd all heard about it, but to see it happen and feel those vibes of stagnation that the 50-60 year old smug emplyees give out... that's something else. They pat themselves on the shoulder after having brought in what's already in practice elsewhere. What happened to the concept of breaking new ground, sitting here on home turf? It's another sad thing that Macaulay's education system was designed to turn out clerks for the British to use, and still hasn't evolved enough to get the individual to think on his feet. It's still producing people in hordes, only, they're not clerks, they're engineers. What's the big idea putting inexperienced junior teachers to teach us when we step into our branch? Most of these didn't manage to land a job in a software firm.. and are hence teaching. Not like love of teaching is their reason to be there. Our very basics are hollow, and if anyone managed to get the basics right, then he was swimming upstream against the thousands that come out everyyear, with high percentages to show and nothing else of any consequence.

From what I hear now VTU's scrapped the mini project in 6th sem, and has introduced 5 subjects in the 8th sem. I don't even want to talk anymore.

Anyway, getting back to the the vibes in the air at the conference.........

Also in the air was this sense of purpose that every doctor inherently carries with him. It felt good to be surrounded by people who do such direct service. I happened to take in the fact that each one of them goes home gratified at the end of a day, no matter how tiring it is. This line of work ensures instant gratification. Kinda like Teaching.
I'm not saying other professions are not worthwhile, each has its place under the sun.. just that we're measuring how direct/instantaneous the gratification is.

After a grand lunch, there was a hands-on training session, in which they were able to accommodate only 230 out of some 350 delegates, to give each one individual attention for a span of 15 mins to teach them how to work the software. I decided not to deprive any young doctor of his training , and never gave in my name for that. But that left me with nothing to do till 4:30, when the Governer comes for the inauguration. I had more important people to meet, so spent the afternoon and much of the evening with my grandmother's younger sister and her husband, who stay nearby with my cousin.
Had nice chat sessions with them, and took in vibes that accomplished, loving, contented and retired grandparents give out. My grandmother's sister happens to be the first woman doctor in the community that I belong to. Found that out yesterday. Watched a rare live concert of MS ... mind blowing!!
Eventful day. But I'm bunking the next day's session. Will go on the last day ( Saturday).