Report of 11 Dec '05
Hello from a spot of sunshine (it's been cloudy all day) -
We just had a vat of chocolate ice cream and are on sugar overloads. I have a friend visiting: Desmond and I studied together at Temple, a great school in a wonderful city, Philadelphia. We figured out it's been 17 years since we saw each other and I am greyer and Desmond is heavier. C'est tout - otherwise the gabbing is non-stop and today we went to lunch w/ Vinu, which was a blast. In case anyone is wondering where Tina and Ahana are, they are w/ Tina's parents in Mysore. Traditionally, the woman goes to her parents' place for the birth of her first baby, a move intended to give her some rest from the onerous duties at her in-laws' place, where she'd live. Tina chose to have Ahana in Chennai, and they have gone for some TLC and rest to Mysore.
The big news this week was that the Medical Council of India came through w/ their final word that I have to do a screening exam that all foreign medical grads do. India is so overpopulated and medical seats are in such demand that quite a few kids go to whichever country will have 'em and study medicine. They must then pass this exam so that they can practice here, it being ostensibly to ensure that they have the basics down. I was all set to do the exam, then emailed the National Board of Exams and looked at the website that MCI gave me, and both addresses were completely incorrect. That was the straw that broke the camel's back: MCI is a bunch of inept, corrupt, obsolete folks, sitting in Delhi and passing on archaic laws to all who'd have 'em. The medical system in India is a tremendous dichotomy: I've worked w/ brilliant graduates whom I'd trust my mother to and have, and some of them have qualified to work in the United States (some such folks are on this email list); there are also med students who have, right at exam time, come to my parents w/ their parents, a pack of cookies or a jar of pickle, and the visiting parents would implore my parents to pass their child. My parents are the epitome of non-corruption, and I remember my mother clearly telling her student's mother, "If he studies, he will pass. However, I haven't even seen him in class," and she handed the pickle back. There have been several inept candidates who have passed at various med schools in India because they are the vice-chancellor's nephew, an associate examiner's cousin's daughter, a minister's child - you get the picture. Such grads are then unleashed on an unwary, unknowing and unsuspecting public. The exam that is to be passed is some lengthy thing dealing w/ basic sciences (the Henderson-Hasselbach equation, embryology, etc.) which I have been tested rigorously on, and without the benefit of pickle, many years ago. I am tremendously happy with my American education, and consider it as coming from one of the most prestigious medical systems in the world. To equate it to Uzbekistan's, or to consider it inferior to that of this country (India), is an outright insult; let's be realistic about that - as much as I love my country. So I am going to refuse to take the exam and am girding for a fight, especially because the American Board exams (which we pass at the end of our residency training) are recognised post-graduate degrees here. My point is that if the post-graduate degree holds up here, the undergraduate medical degree obtained en route to it must also be valid.
The Banyan is good. We have a patient who had a lymph node removed from her neck and is suspected to have TB, from the biopsy results. Ms. B is from another state, and I read her file. She had been threatened by her in-laws who had thought she didn't bring enough dowry. Her father had urged the Banyan to keep her, and also suggested the B file suit against the in-laws to recover the dowry money. He didn't want it back, but told the Banyan to keep it, which touched me enormously. He also didn't suggest that his daughter be sent back to him, and that was the sad part of it: that there'd be such ostracism heaped on the family if a daughter, fearing for her life, went back to her family. I remember conducting mock interviews in undergraduate college, and the captain of the basketball team, an otherwise fearless sort, telling me she could not shame her parents by returning to them even if she feared harm from her in-laws. You know, I have cause to feel fortunate daily, and this time it was tremendous gratitude for my in-laws, esp my remarkable mother-in-law, who'd rather whack her son than see me harmed, who is a fun person to hang out with, whose sense of humor is legendary, who has passed on her lovely temperament to her son, and who has done things like mow our yard and wipe my toddler sons' butts when she's come to visit. That everyone should have such a mother-in-law, this would be good.
The veg market continues to reel with colds, coughs and discounts on vegetables for me. Our tutoring service is also expanding big-time and we are trying to scrounge up extra tutors. One of the kids was supposed to find out the longest beach in the world, and one of the tutors thought Rio de Janeiro; does anyone know? I asked a couple of little ones how they were, esp as their houses had been water-logged w/ the rains; they answered, and then one asked, "How are you?" My heart came yanking out - such courtesy, such respect, such consideration, even in the midst of their sodden state. We will have a party next week to wind up tutoring for the term. Our long-awaited Halloween carnival, postponed due to rains and other reasons, will be on 8 Jan '06, but won't be called that. Hey, if anyone has access to brightly colored (various size) beads and sticks, pls send them to us as our math kit is very pathetic.
Today, we had a talk by an organisation (most impoverished) dealing very effectively with child sexual abuse. It was a spectacular talk, and focused as much on healing as prevention. www.tulircphcsa.org. If anyone has an extra buck, these folks would welcome it; please, please spread this word. Thank you.
Well, I'll wind up this tome. Trust all of you are well. My computer brought up a picture of "Sexy Singles," focusing on a woman's shorts and panning to her head, on which she had a Santa hat. Let me tell you, there are some things I don't miss (at all) about living in the United States.
"Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied." - Otto Von Bismarck
Unw -
Renu
We just had a vat of chocolate ice cream and are on sugar overloads. I have a friend visiting: Desmond and I studied together at Temple, a great school in a wonderful city, Philadelphia. We figured out it's been 17 years since we saw each other and I am greyer and Desmond is heavier. C'est tout - otherwise the gabbing is non-stop and today we went to lunch w/ Vinu, which was a blast. In case anyone is wondering where Tina and Ahana are, they are w/ Tina's parents in Mysore. Traditionally, the woman goes to her parents' place for the birth of her first baby, a move intended to give her some rest from the onerous duties at her in-laws' place, where she'd live. Tina chose to have Ahana in Chennai, and they have gone for some TLC and rest to Mysore.
The big news this week was that the Medical Council of India came through w/ their final word that I have to do a screening exam that all foreign medical grads do. India is so overpopulated and medical seats are in such demand that quite a few kids go to whichever country will have 'em and study medicine. They must then pass this exam so that they can practice here, it being ostensibly to ensure that they have the basics down. I was all set to do the exam, then emailed the National Board of Exams and looked at the website that MCI gave me, and both addresses were completely incorrect. That was the straw that broke the camel's back: MCI is a bunch of inept, corrupt, obsolete folks, sitting in Delhi and passing on archaic laws to all who'd have 'em. The medical system in India is a tremendous dichotomy: I've worked w/ brilliant graduates whom I'd trust my mother to and have, and some of them have qualified to work in the United States (some such folks are on this email list); there are also med students who have, right at exam time, come to my parents w/ their parents, a pack of cookies or a jar of pickle, and the visiting parents would implore my parents to pass their child. My parents are the epitome of non-corruption, and I remember my mother clearly telling her student's mother, "If he studies, he will pass. However, I haven't even seen him in class," and she handed the pickle back. There have been several inept candidates who have passed at various med schools in India because they are the vice-chancellor's nephew, an associate examiner's cousin's daughter, a minister's child - you get the picture. Such grads are then unleashed on an unwary, unknowing and unsuspecting public. The exam that is to be passed is some lengthy thing dealing w/ basic sciences (the Henderson-Hasselbach equation, embryology, etc.) which I have been tested rigorously on, and without the benefit of pickle, many years ago. I am tremendously happy with my American education, and consider it as coming from one of the most prestigious medical systems in the world. To equate it to Uzbekistan's, or to consider it inferior to that of this country (India), is an outright insult; let's be realistic about that - as much as I love my country. So I am going to refuse to take the exam and am girding for a fight, especially because the American Board exams (which we pass at the end of our residency training) are recognised post-graduate degrees here. My point is that if the post-graduate degree holds up here, the undergraduate medical degree obtained en route to it must also be valid.
The Banyan is good. We have a patient who had a lymph node removed from her neck and is suspected to have TB, from the biopsy results. Ms. B is from another state, and I read her file. She had been threatened by her in-laws who had thought she didn't bring enough dowry. Her father had urged the Banyan to keep her, and also suggested the B file suit against the in-laws to recover the dowry money. He didn't want it back, but told the Banyan to keep it, which touched me enormously. He also didn't suggest that his daughter be sent back to him, and that was the sad part of it: that there'd be such ostracism heaped on the family if a daughter, fearing for her life, went back to her family. I remember conducting mock interviews in undergraduate college, and the captain of the basketball team, an otherwise fearless sort, telling me she could not shame her parents by returning to them even if she feared harm from her in-laws. You know, I have cause to feel fortunate daily, and this time it was tremendous gratitude for my in-laws, esp my remarkable mother-in-law, who'd rather whack her son than see me harmed, who is a fun person to hang out with, whose sense of humor is legendary, who has passed on her lovely temperament to her son, and who has done things like mow our yard and wipe my toddler sons' butts when she's come to visit. That everyone should have such a mother-in-law, this would be good.
The veg market continues to reel with colds, coughs and discounts on vegetables for me. Our tutoring service is also expanding big-time and we are trying to scrounge up extra tutors. One of the kids was supposed to find out the longest beach in the world, and one of the tutors thought Rio de Janeiro; does anyone know? I asked a couple of little ones how they were, esp as their houses had been water-logged w/ the rains; they answered, and then one asked, "How are you?" My heart came yanking out - such courtesy, such respect, such consideration, even in the midst of their sodden state. We will have a party next week to wind up tutoring for the term. Our long-awaited Halloween carnival, postponed due to rains and other reasons, will be on 8 Jan '06, but won't be called that. Hey, if anyone has access to brightly colored (various size) beads and sticks, pls send them to us as our math kit is very pathetic.
Today, we had a talk by an organisation (most impoverished) dealing very effectively with child sexual abuse. It was a spectacular talk, and focused as much on healing as prevention. www.tulircphcsa.org. If anyone has an extra buck, these folks would welcome it; please, please spread this word. Thank you.
Well, I'll wind up this tome. Trust all of you are well. My computer brought up a picture of "Sexy Singles," focusing on a woman's shorts and panning to her head, on which she had a Santa hat. Let me tell you, there are some things I don't miss (at all) about living in the United States.
"Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied." - Otto Von Bismarck
Unw -
Renu
posted by Renu Weiss at
9:19 PM
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