Tag: India

The Cost of Medicine

It is obvious that the patient is dying. She is 92 years old with “multiple medical problems”—so many that my tired intern mind can barely list them on morning rounds. “History of metastatic colon cancer, diabetes, advanced dementia, congestive heart failure. . .” But the family wants everything done—so we do our job efficiently and thoroughly. The attending physician recommends an MRI to clarify the...
[Read More]

Flat World Psychiatry

Earlier this year, I was in Bangalore on a brief vacation, eager to see India’s recent economic progress first hand. I was not disappointed—new flyovers, crowded shopping malls, gleaming glass buildings—the city was almost unrecognizable. One pleasant evening, I was sipping a particularly tart Mojito at one of Bangalore’s many new nightspots. The place was packed—confident and hip young things milled...
[Read More]

My First Day

Dr. Venkatesh, Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Department, had a thick mustache and a permanently disgruntled attitude. “What is schizophrenia, I say?” he asked by way of greeting, as we stood in his small office, sweating in the Bangalore summer. “Sir,” I ventured, “it’s a psychotic disorder in which there are delusions, hallucina-tions, and decreased functioning.” I’d read a few pages...
[Read More]