Yesterday’s medical camp was truly a testament to the power of unity and commitment to a cause. Everything, from planning for sufficient tables and chairs to acquiring the appropriate drugs to making sure the doctors were comfortable, happened only because of the dedication and sincerity of Sangam India’s volunteers.

This camp, being the first health-related event in MGR Nagar, was held to high expectations and high standards. Residents of the slum have been requesting health-related assistance, so the camp was also timely. We were honored to have the presence of highly esteemed doctors that we hold in very high regard. In the pediatrics department, we had Dr. Julius Scott, Dr. Vilvanathan, Dr. Mullai Vasanthan, and Dr. Latha. Anthropometry (height, weight, head circumference, and other measurements) were done by our volunteers.  Internal medicine was handled by Dr. Emmanuel Bhaskar, with reinforcements provided by anesthesiologist Dr. Usha J. and postgraduates Dr. Tripthi Sugumar and Dr. Prithwijit Bannerjee. Dermatologist Dr. Renita Rajan and gynecologist Dr. Anbumalar also contributed their services. Special thanks to psychiatrist Dr. Sherab for coming all the way from Vellore for our camp.

Over 150 patients were seen at the camp, which ran from 10 AM to about 1230 PM. Several cases needing close follow up, including congenital heart defects and blockage of the nasolacrimal duct were identified by the pediatricians as well as the internists. We will be following  up with these patients and ensuring that they receive the care they need.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Canstop for providing us with a screen for our gynecology cases and to Paadhai for helping us arrange the camp. We also sincerely thank Mr. Yusuf, Dr. John Samuel and Dr. Renita Rajan for providing us with drugs for the camp. Most of all, we would like to thank the doctors and our volunteers. It is truly inspiring to see how beautifully everyone was able to work together for the sake of a cause greater than any of us. Many of the volunteers present were inspired by the thoroughness, kindness, and patience that each of the doctors displayed towards the patients.

Please let us know if you are interested in participating in any future camps. We are looking forward to conducting ophthalmology and ENT camps in the near future and any support or assistance you can provide is always welcome. And as always thank you to our donors and our supporters for giving us the boost that we need, ensuring that the work can go on.

This entry was posted by nivedita on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 8:48 am and is filed under Healthcare, events, medical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.