EYECON – 14

7, 8, 9 NOVEMBER

52nd Annual Conference Bihar Ophthalmological Society ,

SasaramPRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

Dr N.P.VermaPatna Medical College

Patna

Honourable Chief Guest, Dignitaries on the dias, Colleagues, Members of B.O.S., Local Organizing Committee, Members of Press, Ladies & Gentlemen

With utmost humility, I herewith takeover the responsibility of President B.O.S. It’s your love, warmth and friendship that have helped me to reach this position. I am indebted to all our Past Presidents, Secretaries and Senior colleagues for their wonderful contribution to raise B.O.S. to its present status. My sincere thanks to Dr.Arvind Jaiswal for bringing me from sidelines of B.O.S. to its hot seat.

I chose Ophthalmology as my career only because of Late Dr.B.P.Kashyap who always prodded me to join this discipline. The second man who has influenced me most is Dr.P.C.Gupta.When he joined Ranchi Medical College as an Associate Prof., we all were dazzled by his academic and surgical brilliance. He was my idol. In fact, I chose P.M.C.H. for my residency only because of him.Sadly, I didn’t get his unit. Yet, I worshipped him as Eklavya.

While in Patna, I became close to Prof. J.N.Rohtagi, a perfect gentleman, with whom every year, I used to go to BRC in different parts of Bihar, each Sunday. He is the man who aroused my interest in Squint and whatever Squint, I know or practice; it’s only due to him.

The grandeur of a Professor of a Medical College brought me to the footsteps of medical College. I love teaching; that’s why I chose Medical College teaching as my profession. When I turn around and look into the past, I see—top brass of Medical students joining as Medical teachers, which gave them prestige and power in society as well as money in later stages of their life.

What about the scenario of present Medical Students? Undergraduate students prefer private coaching classes rather than regular teaching by teachers (with exceptions of course). After passing M.B.B.S., Internship becomes customary. They just mark their attendance and sit in Library or join some coaching institutes for P.G. degree. So they don’t get any practical experience. Fortunates are those, who clear P.G.entrance exam in first go. But even they remain unsatisfied if they don’t get the subject of their choice. They join P.G.course but wait for the three rounds of counseling, in the hope that they may get their subject of choice in the final counseling. Meanwhile, they don’t have any interest in the Dept., to which they have been admitted against their wishes. So the work in that Dept. suffers and also their one year is lost in hope only; which may or may not be realized ultimately.

In the second year of P.G.; once they accept their fate and start working in the Dept., most of them are concerned with surgery only, with no attention to the diagnostic skills. They want to jump in the arena of operative field, without being prepared for it. Only few of them provide post operative care to the patients operated by them. As a result, teachers also lose interest in teaching them.

GOOGLE BABA AND YOUTUBE DADI

Students have nowadays Google Baba and YOU tube Dadi—who are at their beck and call every minute of day and night; unlike regular teachers,who,when asked about a problem sometimes don’t answer immediately and call them next day to clear their doubts. But, remember, practical tips by teachers remain useful even today, even with net and mouse, being your Aladdin ka Chirag!

After three years of P.G.Course, students get their P.G.degree,but they lack the experience and the confidence to jump into the clinical practice. So,they join fellowship programmes for 2-3 years. These programmes are organized by famous ophthalmic institutions—where they gain practical experience. In this way, 2-3 years of their productivity is lost. We can prevent it by providing them good teaching environment & practical training.

At the other end of the spectrum, are those P.G.s for whom the first choice was Ophthalmology, which they got. So,they devoted their full time and energy from the very first day of their entry into the Dept. They labored hard, eager to learn always and they are very successful today in the society. To name a few, whom I have seen growing during their P.G.in P.M.C.H.,they are—Drs.Partha Biswas, Pranav Ranjan,J.G.Agrawal,Arnav Mitra,N.C.Gandhi—they big names today in State, Regional &National Ophthalmological World.I always wish that our P.Gs should surpass us.

CME Programmes

Round the year,now,CME Programmes are held,usually monthly,sometimes even fortnightly. But ,remember the topics of those CMEs;they remain almost the same- Phaco, Glaucoma, Dry Eye, New generation antibiotics etc.-all being sponsored by Pharmaceutical Companies and Instrument Manufacturers. Where do we have a talk about Refraction?Auto refractometers have ,no doubt,revolutionized the field of refraction. But, is there no place for the art of Retinoscopy? Shouldnt we talk about that also? Do we ever talk about Neuro ophthalmology, Orbits, Oculoplasty, Squint, and R.D.at these forums? It’s rare. These are also a part of Ophthalmology;but they have been left behind in the mad rush of marketing. Therefore we should have an eye for them also, while deciding the topics of CMEs. Marketing Companies are there to help us in providing better services to the patients, but they shouldn’t be the one to decide the topic of discussion.

TEACHING WHOLE OPHTHALMOLOGY IN A SINGLE CONFERENCE

What happens if we are served Bihari,Punjabi,Bengali,Gujarati,Assamese,South Indian,Thai &Continental cuisines at the same time? Most of it goes waste. Apart from the main dish, if we are given one or two substitute dishes, then it won’t be wasted, rather it will be relished.

In Conferences, we try to accommodate all subject and all speakers; so, after an hour or so, the halls become vacant and the delegates are seen in Trade Fair or relaxing with a cup of coffee. Therefore, there should be a specific theme for every conference to keep the interest of the delegates alive.

CATARACT, GLAUCOMA, DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AND EYE CHECK UP IN SCHOOLS

WHICH ONE ??

We are tackling the problem of Cataract and Glaucoma nicely-creating awareness about Glaucoma in general masses and walking on the path towards making Bihar a cataract free zone, bringing the backlog to zero. But we are not paying sufficient attention to Diabetic Retinopathy. A mass awareness campaign should be started and continued for general population, Physicians and Village doctors with the active cooperation of Ophthaalmologists &Retinologists to catch this dragon in its infancy only-as India is going to be the Diabetic Capital of the world. Eye check up, refraction, prescription and free distribution of glasses is being done on a routine basis in rural areas and well orchestrated by Bihar Govt.

SQUINT

The eye ailment, which remains neglected most, is Squint-one eyed blindness. Majority of parents don’t pay any attention to it due to CHALTA HAI attitude. They become serious only when the girl attains marriageable age or the boy goes for job and gets disqualified because of Squint.

General Ophthalmologists also don’t give correct advice to the patients in this regard because of misconceptions and a sort of detached attitude towards Squint. We should fight to tackle this problem in childhood only so that Binocularity is gained and maintained and no person is ashamed of his /her facial features due to Squint and has to cover his /her face in public or avert the gaze of inquisitive and taunting society.

EYE BANKS

Recently Eye Banks were started at IGIMS and Rajendranagar Superspeciality Hospital. Eye Banks cannot function successfully unless there is a strong movement for eye donation. This can only be achieved if the work is undertaken by N.G.O.s with a missionary zeal so that Corneas are made available to the Eye Surgeons, who can transplant it and reduce the incidence of Corneal Blindness in our state.

MAINTENANCE OF EQUIPMENT

Costly and sensitive modern gadgets& equipments must be properly maintained to assure trouble free service. Many essential types of equipment are lying useless in various institutions because of minor defects and fault in their upkeep, so that large no. of patients are not being properly attended to. Solution is-training a body of technicians for continued maintenance of the instruments even after warranty period.

INCLUSION OF EYE CARE IN SCHOOL SYLLABUS

Large percentage of visual handicaps and blindness result from ignorance, superstition, quackery, poverty and delay in attending to simple and curable ailments. These can be prevented if a chapter on Eye Care is included in School Syllabus.

FORMULATE CODE OF ETHICS & EVOLVE MEANS OF ENFORCING

Ethics is a moral code and its purpose in Medicine is to protect the patient. The concept of ethics varies with the individual. Pecuniary gains and enhancement of the ego shouldn’t be permitted to interfere with this goal. Let us discuss it before the Law and Public take us to task.

Ophthalmology is a science that preserves the gift of sight—one of Almighty’s most precious bestowals to man. We, the chosen few, who practice this art should dedicate ourselves to our work, freezing our differences working like thousand heads with one motive.

MY DREAM PROJECT

My dream project is—Giving a permanent address to Bihar Ophthalmological Society. We have some funds, rest we can take as loan from bank and purchase a flat in Patna to be the headquarter of B.O.S. where we can organize our academic activities round the year at very low cost. We can also collect funds from our fellow brethren for this crusade.

CO OPERATION OF MEMBERS

It all needs your active co operation, which I am sure I will get with God’s Grace during my tenure. You have chosen me as your President and brought me to the limelight. Holding your hands, hope, you will carry me also to fulfill this dream of B.O.S. which I shared with you today.

REMEMBERING THE JOURNEY

At this hour of personal glory, the image of my parent’s flashes before my eyes. It was my father’s wish that I should become a doctor. My mother was a source of inspiration for me always. Whenever I was sad due to debacles in my professional life, she used to say: “Have patience, son! Your labour will be aptly rewarded. It may be delayed but it will never be denied”.

I am also grateful to my wife, who has stood by my side always; in hours of struggle and despair.Never demanding, she kept faith in me even at those times, when I myself had none for me.

How can I finish my oration, without thanking my computer savvy kids—Dr.Saumya Verma and Er.Smriti Verma,who helped me in giving lovely shape to this presentation

In the end, I appeal to all of you to give a big hand in all these efforts so that B.O.S. may attain newer heights in ophthalmic world, regaining its lost glory of the era of Dr.Dukhan Ram,Dr.P.N.Sinha and Dr.D.K.Bose.

BOSDr N.P. Verma

Let all of us move on our chosen path—FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

TAMSO MA JYOTIRGAMAYA