Looking at Surgery Through a Wider Lens
Looking at Surgery Through a Wider Lens
I recently received a letter from a physician in rural India, diplomatically stating that much of what we publish on Medscape Surgery is irrelevant to him and his colleagues, given the settings in which they practice and the resources -- or lack thereof -- available to them in a country where approximately 400 million people have no access to basic medical care. He went on to say that in today's world, with scarcity of resources and increasing populations in developing societies, surgery is being increasingly modified to meet the needs of these populations within their resource constraints.
To begin to address these issues, the Association of Rural Surgeons of India (ARSI) was formed 10 years ago with the aim of making medical and surgical care accessible to the "have nots" in their country. The ARSI attempts to improve rural surgery and as a consequence the surgical care of India. This group of approximately 250 surgeons goes into suburban and rural areas in small towns and establishes small hospitals that are sustainable within the local communities. An example of innovative thinking and practice implemented by this group is the use of mosquito net mesh for hernia repairs.
As the site editor for Medscape Surgery, I spend a lot of time reading about and reporting on the latest technological advances. They are in fact so numerous that it is impossible, even within the specialty of surgery, to stay apace. This letter from India forced me to sit back and take pause to reflect on these advances -- how easy it is to take them for granted in the routine of our everyday lives, but also how context-dependent they really are.
In the United States, we are certainly not immune to poverty, disease, malnutrition, or adversity -- but it is not the norm, and with a strong government, relative wealth, and the latest research and technology essentially at our fingertips, it's not difficult to lose sight of the conditions our colleagues and their patients must contend with in underdeveloped and disenfranchised countries and nations.
One of the aims of Medscape is to bring you the latest scientific developments and leading opinions that shape your field of practice. And we do so daily, admittedly through a Western lens. But we also have a broader worldview, realizing the importance of efforts that are taking place everyday -- not just in the most prestigious universities or highly funded research laboratories -- but also in simpler settings that nonetheless offer significant, sometimes profound, insights into the care and cure of patients around the world. I applaud ARSI and similar organizations for their common purpose and determination.
If you have comments or questions about the site, please contact me at surgeryeditor@webmd.net.
I recently received a letter from a physician in rural India, diplomatically stating that much of what we publish on Medscape Surgery is irrelevant to him and his colleagues, given the settings in which they practice and the resources -- or lack thereof -- available to them in a country where approximately 400 million people have no access to basic medical care. He went on to say that in today's world, with scarcity of resources and increasing populations in developing societies, surgery is being increasingly modified to meet the needs of these populations within their resource constraints.
To begin to address these issues, the Association of Rural Surgeons of India (ARSI) was formed 10 years ago with the aim of making medical and surgical care accessible to the "have nots" in their country. The ARSI attempts to improve rural surgery and as a consequence the surgical care of India. This group of approximately 250 surgeons goes into suburban and rural areas in small towns and establishes small hospitals that are sustainable within the local communities. An example of innovative thinking and practice implemented by this group is the use of mosquito net mesh for hernia repairs.
As the site editor for Medscape Surgery, I spend a lot of time reading about and reporting on the latest technological advances. They are in fact so numerous that it is impossible, even within the specialty of surgery, to stay apace. This letter from India forced me to sit back and take pause to reflect on these advances -- how easy it is to take them for granted in the routine of our everyday lives, but also how context-dependent they really are.
In the United States, we are certainly not immune to poverty, disease, malnutrition, or adversity -- but it is not the norm, and with a strong government, relative wealth, and the latest research and technology essentially at our fingertips, it's not difficult to lose sight of the conditions our colleagues and their patients must contend with in underdeveloped and disenfranchised countries and nations.
One of the aims of Medscape is to bring you the latest scientific developments and leading opinions that shape your field of practice. And we do so daily, admittedly through a Western lens. But we also have a broader worldview, realizing the importance of efforts that are taking place everyday -- not just in the most prestigious universities or highly funded research laboratories -- but also in simpler settings that nonetheless offer significant, sometimes profound, insights into the care and cure of patients around the world. I applaud ARSI and similar organizations for their common purpose and determination.
If you have comments or questions about the site, please contact me at surgeryeditor@webmd.net.
