Sunday 6/23:
Today we took it easy for the most part. Arsen and I have grown a bit tired of visiting temples for religions neither of us practice, so we declined an invitation to attend a temple in Mangalagiri. After lunch we took a small rest from India and took in Man of Steel in english at a local theater. The movie was great. We were taken by surprise when there was an intermission. The theater used it as an opportunity for more advertisement. As many people left their seats for a refill on refreshments, others stayed and were peppered with ads for everything from toothpaste to windmills.
After the movie we went back to Lotus for dinner.
Monday 6/24:
Today we had a discussion regarding clinical pharmacy. Arsen and I were a bit taken back by the discussion as clinical pharmacy is just not practiced in India. Mr. Nayak had a book and did a lot of reading from it. He paused at times to get our thoughts regarding our very brief experience in the matter.
Today was perhaps our biggest opportunity to affect change at NRI. Arsen and I did our best to suggest incremental steps that pharmacy could take to advance the profession towards clinical pharmacy. We suggested things like prescription labels, expanding the EMR used to allow for chronic drug/disease state management, counseling, and many other things. The biggest hurdle for pharmacy at NRI is coming to the realization that changes in practice should drive regulation and not the other way around. I think if NRI staff needs to get a pioneer mentality and forge ahead when their peers may be reluctant to. When the hospital experiences success, others are likely to follow.
Dasaradh ran me up to Mangalagiri on his motorcycle to check on some clothes I had sent for dry cleaning (apparently I sent a pen through the laundry again). They aren't ready yet, so we got Mango's instead. I guess I'll get another bike ride out of the deal too. :)
Tuesday 6/25:
Today we got a lesson in Indian civics. We learned the structure of the healthcare system from the top (cabinet level) officials on down. At the cabinet level, the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare are combined. Under that they split off and have separate power structures. Each state also has programs at that level.
We also discussed the definition and function of hospitals.
In the afternoon session, we found out we would be getting a companion in the evening. A nurse from California (Laudy) was on her way to spend about a week observing and teaching the nursing staff.
Dasaradh invited Arsen and I to try out his bike on the NRI campus. We nervously agreed. I drive a manual transmission back at home, so I'm familiar with how clutches and gears work. It took a bit to get used to using the clutch with your hand and shifting with your foot though. After 2 laps, I think I got the hang of it.
We met Laudy shortly after returning to our room. She seems really interested in improving the practice of nursing at NRI.
Wednesday 6/26:
Mr. Nayak was on leave today, so Arsen and I were given free reign of pharmacy. We spent time in 3 of the 4 pharmacy locations. We first went through all the drugs at the Operation Theatre Pharmacy and spent time quizzing each other on the MOA's of the sedatives, anesthetics, and reversal agents found here.
We also went down to the Main Pharmacy and Central Stores Pharmacy and did the same. We would quiz each other on US brands for the generics we found and have taken up a habit of updating a spread sheet of the drugs we forgot or those not available in the US.
Laudy took us out to Lotus tonight. She said it would most likely be her only trip out during her brief trip as we are scheduled to leave in 2 short days and she didn't want to go out without company. We also took her out shopping in Vijayawada as she wanted to purchase candies for the nurses who would be attending her lecture tomorrow.
Thursday 6/27:
Refu nenu welthnanu- Tomorrow I am going.
We got a few more Telegu terms this morning and solidified our plan of action for tomorrow (departure day). In addition to Telegu, Mr. Nayak explained some of the cultural and language differences between Telegu (regional language in Andhra Pradesh) and others used in the country such as Hindi and his native language (from Orissa to the north of Andhra Pradesh).
Arsen got a pretty sweet writing sample from him and another pharmacist. They wrote "My name is ______" in Telegu, Hindi, and Orissa. It was so cool to see how people separated by such seemingly small distances were so vastly different. Telegu looks nothing like Orissa when it is written. I'm sure if Arsen and I were exposed to either language in spoken terms, we would not be able to tell the difference.
After we finished our duties, Arsen, Laudy, Ramesh, Dasaradh, and myself made the 1.5 mile walk up to Mangalagiri and hit the market for more mangos.
I downloaded a pace counter the other day in an attempt to keep track of my hallway walking (I'm craving cardio exercising with all of the carbs I've been eating all month). With our walk to Mangalagiri, I'm now at 2 straight days over 10,000 steps.
Arsen and I are super pumped to pack and begin our long journey back to the states tomorrow. I can't wait to kiss the ground outside of Dulles Saturday night. This whole experience has been a struggle in some senses. It has been a bit disheartening to see the progress pharmacy hasn't yet made over here. In other ways it has been incredibly rewarding. I will return to the US with a newfound gratitude for everything I have been blessed with.
I urge all family and friends who have followed my journey to keep checking this blog for the next stage of Project Hope at the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy. Even now, two great friends of mine are in the Dominican Republic preparing to continue their education in the same way Arsen and I have over the past month. Jillian Sweeney and Derek Etube will be blogging from the Dominican for the next month or so. I'm sure Arsen will have things to say following this post, but I'm signing off, and leave you in their capable hands.
Tom
P.S. Tomorrow I will say Eroyu nenu weltnanu- Today I am going.
Today we took it easy for the most part. Arsen and I have grown a bit tired of visiting temples for religions neither of us practice, so we declined an invitation to attend a temple in Mangalagiri. After lunch we took a small rest from India and took in Man of Steel in english at a local theater. The movie was great. We were taken by surprise when there was an intermission. The theater used it as an opportunity for more advertisement. As many people left their seats for a refill on refreshments, others stayed and were peppered with ads for everything from toothpaste to windmills.
After the movie we went back to Lotus for dinner.
Monday 6/24:
Today we had a discussion regarding clinical pharmacy. Arsen and I were a bit taken back by the discussion as clinical pharmacy is just not practiced in India. Mr. Nayak had a book and did a lot of reading from it. He paused at times to get our thoughts regarding our very brief experience in the matter.
Today was perhaps our biggest opportunity to affect change at NRI. Arsen and I did our best to suggest incremental steps that pharmacy could take to advance the profession towards clinical pharmacy. We suggested things like prescription labels, expanding the EMR used to allow for chronic drug/disease state management, counseling, and many other things. The biggest hurdle for pharmacy at NRI is coming to the realization that changes in practice should drive regulation and not the other way around. I think if NRI staff needs to get a pioneer mentality and forge ahead when their peers may be reluctant to. When the hospital experiences success, others are likely to follow.
Dasaradh ran me up to Mangalagiri on his motorcycle to check on some clothes I had sent for dry cleaning (apparently I sent a pen through the laundry again). They aren't ready yet, so we got Mango's instead. I guess I'll get another bike ride out of the deal too. :)
 |
| Dasaradh's Bike |
Tuesday 6/25:
Today we got a lesson in Indian civics. We learned the structure of the healthcare system from the top (cabinet level) officials on down. At the cabinet level, the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare are combined. Under that they split off and have separate power structures. Each state also has programs at that level.
We also discussed the definition and function of hospitals.
In the afternoon session, we found out we would be getting a companion in the evening. A nurse from California (Laudy) was on her way to spend about a week observing and teaching the nursing staff.
Dasaradh invited Arsen and I to try out his bike on the NRI campus. We nervously agreed. I drive a manual transmission back at home, so I'm familiar with how clutches and gears work. It took a bit to get used to using the clutch with your hand and shifting with your foot though. After 2 laps, I think I got the hang of it.
 |
| Arsen driving Dasaradh's bike |
 |
| Riding Dasaradh's bike |
Wednesday 6/26:
Mr. Nayak was on leave today, so Arsen and I were given free reign of pharmacy. We spent time in 3 of the 4 pharmacy locations. We first went through all the drugs at the Operation Theatre Pharmacy and spent time quizzing each other on the MOA's of the sedatives, anesthetics, and reversal agents found here.
We also went down to the Main Pharmacy and Central Stores Pharmacy and did the same. We would quiz each other on US brands for the generics we found and have taken up a habit of updating a spread sheet of the drugs we forgot or those not available in the US.
Laudy took us out to Lotus tonight. She said it would most likely be her only trip out during her brief trip as we are scheduled to leave in 2 short days and she didn't want to go out without company. We also took her out shopping in Vijayawada as she wanted to purchase candies for the nurses who would be attending her lecture tomorrow.
Thursday 6/27:
Refu nenu welthnanu- Tomorrow I am going.
We got a few more Telegu terms this morning and solidified our plan of action for tomorrow (departure day). In addition to Telegu, Mr. Nayak explained some of the cultural and language differences between Telegu (regional language in Andhra Pradesh) and others used in the country such as Hindi and his native language (from Orissa to the north of Andhra Pradesh).
Arsen got a pretty sweet writing sample from him and another pharmacist. They wrote "My name is ______" in Telegu, Hindi, and Orissa. It was so cool to see how people separated by such seemingly small distances were so vastly different. Telegu looks nothing like Orissa when it is written. I'm sure if Arsen and I were exposed to either language in spoken terms, we would not be able to tell the difference.
After we finished our duties, Arsen, Laudy, Ramesh, Dasaradh, and myself made the 1.5 mile walk up to Mangalagiri and hit the market for more mangos.
I downloaded a pace counter the other day in an attempt to keep track of my hallway walking (I'm craving cardio exercising with all of the carbs I've been eating all month). With our walk to Mangalagiri, I'm now at 2 straight days over 10,000 steps.
Arsen and I are super pumped to pack and begin our long journey back to the states tomorrow. I can't wait to kiss the ground outside of Dulles Saturday night. This whole experience has been a struggle in some senses. It has been a bit disheartening to see the progress pharmacy hasn't yet made over here. In other ways it has been incredibly rewarding. I will return to the US with a newfound gratitude for everything I have been blessed with.
I urge all family and friends who have followed my journey to keep checking this blog for the next stage of Project Hope at the Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy. Even now, two great friends of mine are in the Dominican Republic preparing to continue their education in the same way Arsen and I have over the past month. Jillian Sweeney and Derek Etube will be blogging from the Dominican for the next month or so. I'm sure Arsen will have things to say following this post, but I'm signing off, and leave you in their capable hands.
Tom
P.S. Tomorrow I will say Eroyu nenu weltnanu- Today I am going.
Thanks, Tom, for the all the blogs!
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