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Transparency in Modern Medicine

2/21/2014

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Today I was mid chart review when an assistant approached me and beckoned me to follow him.  He looked official in his wife uniform so I went ahead and tagged along.  We ended up in the Medical Superintendent's office where Professor was with several other people.  There was pit in the bottom of my stomach, what did I screw up or what cultural faux paus did I make.  Instead, I had the pleasure of meeting several administrative gentleman. I can't remember their names but one was the head of the Internal Medicine Department the other the Head of Surgery and I have no idea who the third was.  They heard I was at the hospital and wanted to meet me.  It was entertaining watching them interact with each other and then trying to interact with me.  The head of medicine gentleman had such a thick Indian accent I had to let the Professor translate for me.  We then spent 20 minutes trying to explain how college and medical school works in the US.  It is confusing in the US to figure out medical school , internship, and residency.  I can only imaging how much more confusing it is for them!  Then they asked me how much medical care costs in the US say for an office visit. Good luck figuring it out. My honest answer of it depends didn't seem to satisfy them. However I don't exact numbers it depends on the region, the hospital, your insurance company, if it's raining outside ( just kidding). Transparency is yet to be a staple of American medicine from my point of view. We had coffee and there were several side conversations that took place.   In the back of my mind I am always wondering, are they talking about me and if they are I hope it is good.   One thing is that I don't find myself dwelling on that aspect, so what if they are talking about me.  Let them talk.

An interesting conversation that did take place was about the passing of law to split Andhra Pradesh (the state in India I am in) into two different states.  In India the land is divided into states based on the linguistics of the area. This new split from what I can gather was based on politics.  The big uproar about the split is that the new state will include the current capitol of Hyderabad.  The people in this area feel they have spent their time, money, and resources to build up the capitol and now it is just being given away to start over anew.   (Keep in mind this is my very rough translation of the events, please correct me  if anyone knows more)  One thing I can say for sure about India, the people are passionate for their country and passionate in their conversations!  There is constant action when talking whether it is the tilting of the head side to side or waving of the arms, it is constant action when carrying on a conversation. I may not be able to understand the words but I stay entertained. 

The now previous state of Andra Pradesh.
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    Author

    My name is Meg and I am currently a Geriatrics and Palliative Care Fellow at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.  I started this blog several years ago as a way to remember and talk about what I experienced while studying abroad in Rwanda during the summer of 2009.

    The blog has now continued and still serves as a way to let my friends and family know what I have been up to and a way for me to open up.

    Disclaimer: The contents on this site represent my personal opinions, views, and experiences.  They do not reflect the views of my employer or sponsor program.

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