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How one handles life situations is telling – Commercial Appeal
Published: June 07, 2010 Last week, my oldest daughter graduated from high school and began her journey as a young adult. As a proud parent and the commencement speaker, I shared some life lessons with the class of 2010. Here is some of what I said: Read More
Big steps help end infant mortality – Commercial Appeal
Published: May 10, 2010 For every 1,000 babies born in Memphis, 12 die. This is double the national rate and similar to that of some developing countries like Sri Lanka and Jamaica. Read More
Examining Physicians Part 3: High or low, room to improve – Commercial Appeal
Published: April 27, 2010 I rehearsed my lines as I drove up to an office in Midtown. I was meeting with a doctor who had been rated poorly by his patients. Memphis is one of three cities where Consumers’ Checkbook, a nonprofit national consumer organization,…
Examining Physicians Part 2: The good doctor: High-scoring Memphis physician practices patient-centered care – Commercial Appeal
Published: April 26, 2010 Dr. John Buttross reached over his office desk to shake my hand. He has a warm smile and a salt-and-pepper mustache. Buttross was rated one of the top primary care doctors in Memphis on a doctor-rating survey recently made public at…
Examining physicians: How do you feel? Better choices, care are goals – Commercial Appeal
Published: April 25, 2010 Doctors play a unique role in our lives. They ask us to undress, and then they lay their hands on our bodies. They give us drugs that alter our minds. We trust our doctors as much as we trust our spouses — sometimes more. Read More
Close friend’s passing raises questions beyond the scientific – Commercial Appeal
Published: April 12, 2010 A close friend of mine, Tapan Thakur, died last week. As I tried to go about my routine of seeing patients or having dinner with my kids, no more than five minutes would pass before my thoughts would revert to him. Read More
Health care reform from one doctor’s perspective – Commercial Appeal
Published: March 19, 2010 I don’t want to discuss the polarizing politics of the health care reform bill, which is now a law. Rather, I want to answer one fundamental question that my patients and my peers have asked me. “What’s in it?” Read…
Bundled payments might cut hospital costs without reducing quality of care – Washington Post
A decade and a half ago, when I started my solo practice, I would say to my routine HIV patients, “Let’s see you back in three months.” I was eager to fill clinic slots; also, because of my lack of experience, I felt safer seeing my patients more…
Pleasant thoughts can help you sleep – Commercial Appeal
Published: March 08, 2010 At 9 p.m. most nights, I put my reluctant 10-year-old son to bed. He frets and frowns, saying “I can’t sleep when I am alone,” but readily agrees when I offer to stay. Read More
Video : H1N1 Declaration Gives Hospitals Flexibility – CNN
President Obama’s declaration that the swine flu is a national emergency is supposed to give more flexibility for how the outbreak is handled. So what exactly does that mean? Fredricka Whitfield put that question to Dr. Manoj Jain, an infectious disease…
With Swine Flu Returning, Families Can Reduce Risk of Transmission – Washington Post
Last winter, a few months before the first outbreak of H1N1 flu, my 13-year-old became ill, first with a cough and runny nose, and then with low-grade fever and nasal congestion. It was not severe enough to have her miss school, but we had her skip indoor soccer…
For Doctors, Rationing Care Is Standard Practice – Washington Post
Published: August 04, 2009 A seasoned pulmonologist shakes his head. “Let’s face it, we already ration care.” And, pausing ever so slightly, he begins his story. “This family of an 80-year-old gentleman came to me a few days after he was…
LETTERS : An Insidious Infection in Indiana – The New York Times
To the Editor : “Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health,” by Nicholas D. Kristof (column, March 12), addresses a topic of paramount importance, the epidemic of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) in our community. Mr. Kristof draws an association between the…
Even ‘Snake Oil’ Can Help Patients Heal – Washington Post
Published: March 17, 2009 “Our conference was being held over lunch, but Pat, a middle-aged health-care consultant, did not touch a bite of her food. When I asked if something was wrong, she revealed her lifelong battle with Crohn’s disease, an…
Want to Live a Bit Longer? Speak Up. – Washington Post
Published: February 17, 2009 “Did you know that women live longer than men?” I asked my wife. Of course she did — and not just because, like me, she is a physician. Anybody who walks into a nursing home can see the imbalance. Most people’s…
A Skeptic Becomes A True Believer – Washington Post
Published: February 10, 2009 I was skeptical when my hospital embarked several years ago on an initiative to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections in our intensive care unit. These are infections that originate from the tubes and catheters inserted into…
Once Detected, HIV Can Be Manageable – Washington Post
Published: December 09, 2008 Ten years ago, an intelligent, reserved software engineer — a woman with the complexion of Halle Berry and the physique of a marathoner — came to my infectious-disease clinic, accompanied by her fiance. They’d been…
Patients Can Join the Fight Against Flu Without Firing a Shot – Washington Post
Published: November 25, 2008 Last month at a luncheon marking International Infection Prevention Week at the National Press Club, some speakers reminded me of a shameful and frightening statistic: Almost 60 percent of American health-care workers do not receive the…
Elective Surgery Is One Thing, Elective Politics Another – Washington Post
Why the Presidential Race Should Skirt The Doctor’s OfficePublished: October 28, 2008 A few weeks ago, as I was making rounds on the oncology floor, one of my patients asked, out of the blue, “Hey, Doc, who you gonna vote for?” I would have expected…
Equal Treatment for the Uninsured? Don’t Count on It. – Washington Post
Lack of Compensation Can Tempt Doctors to Tailor Their Care to a Patient’s CoveragePublished: October 14, 2008 When I walked into the hospital room of a 19-year-old woman, a foul smell all but overwhelmed me. I called a nurse to assist me and saw her, too, catch…
Hospital Clash Puts Patients in the Middle
Published: September 16, 2008 From the patient’s point of view, doctors and hospital officials can seem to be a monolithic medical power structure. But in fact, physicians and administrators often do not see eye to eye.Read More
Some numbers to count on – Times of India
Published: September 14, 2008 Often at a family gathering or a social event the conversation moves to the issue of “how to live longer?” And I respond in no uncertain terms. “The elixir of long life is pretty simple — exercise, eat well, avoid stress, stop smoking and…
Hand Washing: Time Well Spent – Washington Post
We Need Carrots and Sticks to Reduce Infection RatesPublished: August 05, 2008 One morning on hospital rounds, I saw a physician colleague enter the intensive care unit where a patient lay intubated and sedated. With his hands unwashed and ungloved, the physician…
The Germs Are Potent. But So Is a Kiss. New York Times
Published: August 05, 2008 “I have been waiting to see you, and I want answers now,” my patient said angrily as I entered her hospital room. Like a silent guard, her husband stood three feet from her, costumed in olive-green gloves and a bright yellow paper gown. Read…
Family Adjusts to Rules of the Road – Washington Post
Published: July 15, 2008 Last summer, my oldest daughter, Sapna, passed a multiple-choice driver’s exam, secured a learner’s permit and asked to sit in the driver’s seat. This was a source of concern for me. As an epidemiologist, it is my job to look…
Praying with the patients – Times of India
Published: June 22, 2008 Iam a doctor of Indian origin working in Memphis Tennessee, which is often referred to as the buckle of the Bible belt. My patient is an elderly man with end-stage congestive heart failure, kidney failure and now an infected dialysis line, and…
Doctors Can Be Doubters – Washington Post
My patient is an elderly man with end-stage congestive heart failure, kidney failure and now an infected dialysis line, and he is unlikely to live more than six months. The Bible lies on his bedside table next to his hospital breakfast tray and the morning newspaper….
Heavy drinkers, smokers face Alzheimer’s risk – Times of India
Published: May 11, 2008 Occasionally forgetting where you left your car or scooter keys or being unable to recall the name of a distant acquaintance are normal memory lapses. However, frequent spells of forgetting names and places or repeating stories, phrases and…
Musical way to recover from illness – Times of India
Published: April 30, 2008 Does music affect living beings? And more relevant to doctors and patients, does music help recover from an illness? A series of experiments on animals has shown that a stimulating and an enriching environment can significantly enhance…
A Doctor’s Viewpoint Changes When the Patient Is His Father – Washington Post
Published: April 15, 2008 Each morning as I head for my morning rounds, I routinely hurry through the hallway alongside the cardiac catheterization lab not noticing what goes on inside. But, this morning it was different. On the table, under the x-ray beams, with a…
Quality Improvement Projects in India
Books
Mindfulness
The Mindfulness Model
Management of Infectious Diseases
Roadmap for Quality Improvement
Plan-Do-Study-Act Cycle Rejuvenates a Marriage
MAHAVIRA – The Hero of Nonviolence
Cook Books