Perfusion India: The Story of Bijender Singh Bali [3]
To Save Lives.. You must Love LIFE… (click image)
An Interview With a Perfusionist from India…
Thank you Bij for allowing this interview to happen. I appreciate the effort you have taken to respond with such thoughtful and enlightening answers.
So let us continue.
Q 3:
Discuss the physician perfusion relationship. Is it relaxed, formal, how do you interact when you need to give meds or make adjustments while on bypass?
The relationship is quite informal and relaxed. Every time an intervention is required during conduct of c.p.b like adding medications or adjustment of flows, its done with a consensus between the perfusionist and the concerned physician.
Q 4:
What is your impression of medicine in America (please be honest) as compared to medicine in India.
MEDICAL PRACTICE IN US
- No cutting corners, no shortcuts permitted
- No reuse permitted
- Committed expertise available at all level
- Superior Infrastructure
- Lesser ambient infection
- Effective drugs-no suspect generic medicines
- No shortage of funds- No shortage of material or technology
- Salvage pathways available if the heart is giving up.
MEDICAL PRACTICE IN INDIA
- Missed diagnosis-late presentation
- Ill informed general practitioners-”let him get bigger”
- Economics – limited and not easily available resources
- Inadequate nUMBER of specialists, centers
- Huge distances, no patient transport
- Lower birth weight
- Malnutrition
- WE ARE ADEPT AT SHORTCUTS
- Fatalism
A Response to the last Question
This is an impromptu response to your answer to the last question.
So are you saying that open heart surgery in America is the result of superior resources and availability ? Or is it that sheer numbers are overwhelming India in terms of immediate interventional cardiac healthcare resources?
In what areas do you feel that cardiac surgery in India excels or separates itself from the American model?
I ask this question not as a rhetorical, rather as a contrast and comparison of two separate cultures and how they address the same issues.
This is NOT a “which country does it better question”, rather an enunciation of a reasonable inquiry as to your position on perfusion in India where surely there are areas in your practice where you feel that the proficiency of your delivery exceeds ours as well as other countries?
It is a position statement that all perfusionists I believe can relate to…
I walk in with a plan to be the best.
I am sure you are like me- I don’t walk into a room and think to myself- that today- on this day- I am the second best perfusionist to handle this case.
If I ever feel like that- then I think I need to quit the profession.
When I show up- I plan to own it. I absorb the case and the parameters in front of me- and become the difference of being proactive versus reactive.
There is no question in my mind that you feel the same way.
🙂
