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Perfusion practice and education.. Where do we stand ?
Where are we?
Has clinical perfusion practice in India headed towards repetitive and recycling of the already learnt?
Are we staying content with what has been offered to us by the outsiders?
Should we be thinking on the lines to be the givers of the world from now on?
These are the questions I have been pondering for a long time.
Little less than three decades of my perfusion practice, a lot has changed for better but I have seen very little on the scientific contribution. The presentations and articles over the years had always been mostly about technical case reports with minimal or no research content. Here, I am not talking about the advanced gadgets we have, but how much have we utilized them for scientific research and data analysis. Very trivial. Because of that we have not been able to actively contribute in this front. I am afraid, is it too late or can it still be turned around? Personally I refuse to concede as yet. I know cost cutting, nation’s economy, and corporate package competition, cut throat consumable price negotiation and now the present Covid-19 crisis will limit the prospects to initiate research or anything for that matter. But we can still try.
Our country possess scientific intelligence and knowledge. We can be the world leaders. We have a lot of potential around.
Innovation has leaped to a newer dimension giving us advanced Artificial Intelligence and complex algorithms incorporated gadgets which help amplify research in cardiopulmonary bypass. NIRS, blood parameters monitors, better bio markers and lab diagnostic tools have drastically advanced with a wider scope of knowledge to operate on congenital and adult conditions less known years back. A lot more is on the way to come. It is time to grasp the opportunity to do some serious research and be the givers instead of takers. I count on the young brains today. They are willing to experiment and move to the next level. With better motivation and channeling they can explore newer areas in the field. I wish to see our young minds not to be monotonous and imitative.
For that to happen Perfusion Education must fall in line with the international standards. The standard of education needs to be channeled through scientific projects and research. This could be done by readjusting curriculum making it more research oriented.
Way back in 2009, I had written to the University of Utah to collaborate with perfusion schools with in India. The university replied,
As for the nature of the educational collaboration between our schools, that is open to negotiation. We would like to learn what your educational needs and goals are and we will try to develop a program or curriculum that will help you meet your needs and goals.
• We can deliver via distanced learning classrooms (Blackboard) any didactic curriculum
• We can offer that curriculum at any level your students need, (BS level or MS level)
• the duration and cost of these course is open for discussion based on the size of the project.
• If you have high-speed internet connection and computers with internet access and web browsers and supporting software they you have the resources you need to access our blackboard learning environment.
ISECT can start lobbying and reach out to the universities abroad for curriculum assistance. At least we should throw the first stone . With the recent COVID-19 crisis, most of the learning is online. I hope education institutions will be looking to reaching out their businesses online and that will open the doors for us to collaborate with them. All that is required is collective thought and push for it.
Sunil J Mekala
Cardiac Perfusionist
Almoosa Specialist Hospital
Al Hassa , KSA
Mr. Sunil Kumar J. Mekala