The Sankara Nethralaya Academy’s 9th batch of Hospital Management program receives enthusiastic response.
Mr A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar is briefing about SN Academy
The genesis and milestones of Sankara Nethralaya and The Sankara Nethralaya Academy (TSNA) were detailed by Mr. A Mahalingam, Deputy Registrar, TSNA when he presented a virtual tour of both the institutions functioning under the visionary leadership of Dr. SS Badrinath – The Founder – The Sankara Nethralaya Academy and Chairman Emeritus – Sankara Nethralaya, Medical Research Foundation.
Dr. Pramod S Bhende – Director Medical Affairs – Sankara Nethralaya is addressing the Healthcare Management Program Candidates
Dr. Pramod S Bhende – Director Medical Affairs & Deputy Director – Department of Shri Bhagwan Mahavir Vitreo retinal Services of Sankara Nethralaya – Inaugurated and addressing the Hospital Management Program Candidates and he strongly underlined the need for professional administrators to be in symbiotic relation with doctors to run the health care sector whose demand for quality services at low costs is increasing, in an effective manner.
Prof S. Ramani, Principal, SN Academy is addressing the the Healthcare Management Program Candidates
Addressing the participants Prof S. Ramani, Principal the SN Academy highlighted the importance of training in healthcare management. Healthcare industry is the booming sector and demands of trained personals are needed in each section of healthcare field.
TSNA the academic arm of its illustrious parent institution and world class eye care provider is committed to sharing the knowledge and experience of its parent institution to enhance the overall functioning of the Medicare industry, by improving every one of its multiple facets.
The need for better and more professional management of hospitals and better healthcare delivery became imperative in view of greater awareness levels and rising expectations of patients and their families, entry of Indian and overseas players into the health care industry, India especially South India becoming a preferred healthcare destination of patients from all over the world and the disturbing increase and complexity of ailments.
Shri PR Ravindran – A Chartered-cum-Cost Accountant and former Chief General Manager – Sankara Nethralaya is lecturing the participants
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy launched its Weekend Certificate Course in Hospital Management program (CCHM) in primarily to enhance the capabilities of healthcare professionals and to help them overcome the internal challenges and succeed in a tough marketplace.
The Objective of the program was to provide hospital management professionals with a broad perspective of the topics related to management with emphasis on better health care delivery.
The pedagogy and content of the CCHM program are health care specific and designed to address the concerns of hospital administrators / executives / supervisors and equip them with the knowledge required to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
The course is designed to increase the overall understanding of management issues and concepts by mid-level and senior managers to help them make well–informed decisions.
The course has since its first batch attracted mid and senior level professionals from small to high profile, multi-specialty hospitals and all of them have unilaterally found it to be of great relevance and purpose to their vocation and so far 180 healthcare executives from 176 organizations enrolled and passed this unique program
The course will be conducted over 12 weekends ( Saturdays – between 2.00 pm to 5 pm) at the Sankara Nethralaya Main campus, College road, Chennai – 600 006)
The maximum number of students per batch has been kept at 20 to enable closer interaction and personalized, in- depth discussions between the faculty and students.
The Course was well received with senior management personnel’s like Directors, Medical Professionals, Management Executives from reputed healthcare institutions in the city enrolling in it.
The First week session is Financial Management in Healthcare by Shri PR Ravindran – A Chartered-cum-Cost Accountant, with more than 37 years experience – handled this subject and made them understand the art and science of finance to the non finance members.
Lions Club and Sankara Nethralaya take a giant step towards a common ideal and cherished cause
As two seasoned players in the battle against blindness the Lions Club and Sankara Nethralaya are only well aware that the enemy strikes across a wide area and a vast population and the only way to mount the counter offensive is by enhancing the quality and size of the relief army. As a nation with the dubious distinction of having the largest diabetic population the Lions Club realized that the assault against diabetes caused blindness or diabetic retinopathy called for a more concerted and stronger effort.
The Lions Club launched its ‘Lions Diabetic Retinopathy skills transfer training program’ aimed at providing the required expertise and special knowledge to diagnose and treat diabetic retinopathy the second largest cause of blindness after cataract in the country, with its old and trusted ally ‘Sankara Nethralaya on 7th of April 2015, observed as ‘World Health Day’ at the Sri VD.Swami Auditorium, Sankara Nethralaya main campus. Starting the proceedings on a vibrant note Lion M.V Raghunathan one of the chief architects of the initiative extended a warm welcome to the distinguished Chief Guest of the day His Excellency Shri K.Rosaish, the Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu, fellow Lions, dignitaries and participants, he recalled the association between Lions and Sankara Nethralaya since the early days and described that the partner institution was built with honesty, integrity and a burning passion to serve by Lion Dr S.S.Badrinath.
Senior Vitreo-Retinal Consultants Dr. Rajiv Raman and Dr. Suganeswari gave informative and interesting inputs on the ailment against which the initiative was being launched, they had a high word of praise for Lion Dr. Chandrasekhar Shetty and Lion S.N.Harinarayanan for their critical role in evolving the program. Dr Rajiv Raman described that the program would be based on the key steps of screening, training and treatment. Acknowledging the praise and kind words showered on Sankara Nethralaya Dr S.S.Badrinath underlined that it was the great teamwork of his colleagues that took the credit for the same. He gave an account of the staggering figures involving diabetes and its concomitant diabetic retinopathy which came to light through a epidemiological study conducted with Dr. Rajiv Raman as the principle Invesigator .Dr SS.Badrinath recalled that his association with the Lions Club dated back to his days in the US when Lion Srinivasan most gracefully accepted his request and helped in procuring a ‘Photocoagulator’ a critical device in treating vitreo-retinal patients at the Voluntary Health Services (VHS). He expressed his deep gratitude to Lion Raghunathan, Lion Lady Mrs. Raghunathan and their son living in New York for their most generous and continued monetary and moral support of Sankara Nethralaya’s community eye care initiatives, he thanked Dr. Chandrasekhar Shetty whom he described as a trusted advisor of Sankara Nethralaya for his timely guidance and to Lion S.N.Harinarayanan who spent all his day at the Sankara Nethralaya, serving patients and helping staff with their assignments. Highlighting that India’s medical professionals are among the best in the world he called for training,training and more training to make them effective and give the nation a great working medical model. He expressed Sankara Nethralaya’s desire in starting training centers on the lines of the Sankara Nethralaya Academy in various places in the country.
Delivering the guest of Honour address Lion ‘Bob’E.Corlew expressed his joy at being a part of such a great training initiative as the ‘Lions Diabetic Retinopathy Skills Transfer Training Programme’ he observed that ‘Sight’ has been a Signature initiative of the Lions for more than 100 years ever since the legendary Helen Keller made a historic appeal. Describing the Lions Club as the world’s number one NGO he gave highly impressive statistics of the work done by the Lions in India in terms of running their own hospitals, funding healthcare, preventive medicare, disaster relief etc. He commended the government of India for its brainchild ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) which paved the way for Corporations to serve the public in a large scale. He handed over the award won by an Indian boy in the US for the best painting depicting world peace to His Excellency the Governor.
Delivering the Chief Guest’s address His Excellency the governor of Tamil Nadu Shri K.Rosaiah expressed that he was highly pleased to inaugurate an initiative of such medical significance to the nation, terming diabetes as a ‘gateway’ to many other ailments he appealed for healthy food habits and regular physical exercises to keep fit. He underlined the criticality of the skills and knowledge transfer program with his observation that only 7 to 8% of vitreo-retinal surgeons in the country are thoroughly trained in diagnosing and treating diabetic retinopathy which occurs in such large numbers in the country. He complimented the Lions Club for choosing Sankara Nethralaya which he described as a world renowned institution as its partner in the program. The distinguished Chief Guest closed his address with congratulations to Lion Raghunathan, Lion SS.Badrinath, Lion S.N.Harinarayanan and Dr. Tarun Sharma, wishing the skill transfer initiative all success he quoted a Sanskrit couplet which implied that ‘The right help to the right person, at the right place at the right time without expectations is the most noble deed, drawing a parallel to the knowledge transfer program.
Nation’s leading infrastructure company joins hands with Sankara Nethralaya to bring great value to its proud neighbourhood
‘Mahindra Life Spaces’ the creator of Mahindra World City envisaged it to be a perfect blend of world class infrastructure for enhanced life and work balance. Mahindra World City joined hands with Sankara Nethralaya to give a new meaning to this noble objective by enhancing the quality of life and ability to work of the local residents, by bringing back lost vision through world class eye care taken to their door steps. The valedictory function of the 7 day Mobile Eye Screening/Surgical camp (MESU) held on the 14th of March 2015 the concluding day, started on a lively note with a group song ‘the world is a small place, the world is full of laughter’ by tiny tots from the Mahindra World School.
Extending a warm welcome the audience and dignitaries Shri Subrata Sen Gupta, Marketing Manager, Mahindra World City gave an impressive account of the camp, a part of the organization’s CSR initiative aimed at serving the 7 neighbouring villages, he gave the camp figures as 475 screened, 70 cataract surgeries performed and 28 patients with more complex cases referred to the base hospital. He recalled that Mahindra City had recently completed eye screening for more than 1000 students jointly with Sankara Nethralaya, adding jubilantly that Dr SS.Badrinath and his team have been responsible for reviving the vision of millions, to the thunderous applause of the gathering. Welcoming the honourable Chief Guest of the function Dr. S. Geethalakshmi, Director of Medical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, Dr. Gajendra Kumar Varma, Senior Consulant , Sankara Nethralaya lauded her as an innovator, best teacher, best administrator and recalled her stellar role in WHO’s waste management program which won her great laurels. He had a high word of appreciation for Shri Arul Pichai Narayanan Muthu, Director, ARMA Medical Foundation for his role in preventive healthcare and special training accorded for lab technicians. Speaking on the occasion Special Guest of the event, Shri Chandru, Chief Operating Officer of Mahindra World City observed that Sankara Nethralaya and its founder Dr S.S.Badrinath needed no introduction as they are known the world over. He remarked that Sankara Nethralaya has displayed its mastery over the art of taking health care to the villages through the recently concluded camp and urged that its services should be extended to larger areas of the country to serve the society better.
Dr P.S.Rajesh, Head, MESU operations highlighted that MESU was created to take high quality eye care to the doorsteps of patients living in interior villages, he traced the inception and operation of the advanced outdoor facility with impressive figures of beneficiaries, he underlined that one of the beneficiaries of the just concluded camp was a polio patient who would have found it very difficult to travel to a base hospital, which captured the spirit of the MESU. Speaking on the occasion Dr. SS.Badrinath congratulated the work of the MESU team and the Mahindra city team as remarkable, he thanked the management of Mahindra World City for their gracious hospitality during the week long camp. He utilized the opportunity to give an interesting insight into the vision impairment scenario in the country, the impressive role of the blindness control society in bringing this down significantly, how cataract remains the single biggest threat to healthy vision, concentration of doctors in the urban areas and the pioneering role of MESU in taking quality eye care to the villages.
Delivering the Chief Guest’s address Dr S. Geethalakshmi lauded the role of public spirited institutions like Sankara Nethralaya and Mahindra World City in providing health care to the needy and how such partnerships greatly complemented the government’s measures towards providing healthcare, to a great extent. Shri Elumalai, Panchayath President expressed his profuse thanks to Sankara Nethralaya and Mahindra City for bringing world class eye care to the villagers living in the region. The momentous event came to an end with a touching Vote of thanks by Shri K. Arul Kumar, Coordinator MESU Operations, Sankara Nethralaya.
Sankara Nethralaya’s Senior Oculoplasty surgeon appeals for a ‘New Face’ for acid attack survivors.
The Acid Survivors Foundation India (ASFI) the leading NGO formed for the prevention of acid burns and providing support services to acid attack victims, by way of legal aid, after care and rehabilitation, launched its ‘Southern Chapter’, in the city recently. The function was attended by Dr. SS.Badrinath, Chairman Emeritus and Dr. Nirmala Subramanian, Professor Emeritus and Senior Surgeon at Sankara Nethralaya’s Orbit, Oculoplasty, Reconstructive and Aesthetic services. Speaking on the occasion Dr. Nirmala Subramanian among the nation’s veteran plastic and reconstructive surgeons made an emphatic appeal to social work organizations to support, encourage and give confidence to acid attack survivors to enable them to ‘face’ the world.
Chief recaps his professional journey at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of leading eye hospital.
Lotus Hospital and Research Institute the premium Coimbatore based eye care center celebrated its silver jubilee year with great fanfare, the event was observed as an international conference on retina and uvea titled ‘Eye Trendz- Retina & Uvea 2015’ at the Vivanta by the Taj on the 28th of February and 1st of March 2015 at Coimbatore. The two day conference witnessed the presense and participation of leading national and international ophthalmologists from the fields of uvea and retina. Dr.SS.Badrinath, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Sankara Nethralaya was invited as the guest speaker to deliver the ‘Lotus Oration’ on the momentous occasion. The man whom the institution stepping into its 25th year considers as a ‘Our Teacher and Doyen of Ophthalmology’ took the audience on an interesting 4 decade journey with his talk titled ‘My Journey through VR Surgery’ tracing the eye care scenario from the past to the present, he also announced an ambitious joint initiative between the Lotus Hospital and Research Institute and Sankara Nethralaya in the form of collaborative research in new and enabling technologies in the realm of ophthalmology.
An old friend and well wisher initiates and supports State of the Art eye care in a semi-urban pocket bordering Chennai.
The House of GRT and its founder Shri G.Rajendran have been long time friends of Sankara Nethralaya and hold its founder and Chairman Emeritus Dr. SS.Badrinath, in the highest regard; they have risen to the occasion most magnanimously and supported many cost free eye care initiatives most generously. The group has also made a handsome donation towards meeting the cost of constructing an entire floor at the Sri A.Sivasailam block, Sankara Nethralaya’s State of the Art eye care center to be inaugurated soon at the old Lady Willingdon Hospital Campus. A group with a strong commitment to serving the poor and needy, the house of GRT expressed its desire to take quality eye care to the town of Tirutani and its neighbouring villages through eye screening and on the spot cataract surgery enabled by Sankara Nethralaya’s ‘Mobile Eye Surgical Unit’ (MESU), the ground work by the two organizations for the same started in right earnest, well in advance of the camp.
In keeping with the saying ‘do a good thing and many good people will follow you’ the local chapters of well known service organizations like the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Catholic Society of Canada and the Tiruvalur District Blindness Control Society rose to the occasion most admirably and a comprehensive eye screening camp was conducted by Sankara Nethralaya’s outdoor eye care team. The Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) reached the GRT Institute of Engineering Technology at GRT Mahalakshmi Nagar, Tirutani, the venue of the camp on the morning of the 15th of February 2015 and started the eye screening on the same day. The camp was very well received and a total of 796 local people were screened, high quality cataract removal surgery followed by implantation of intra-ocular lens was carried out and vision revived for 155 patients at the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit (MESU) by the outdoor eye care team, between the 15th and 24th of February 2015. The beneficiaries of the screening camp included the residents of Tirutani town, neighbouring villages and the students and faculty members of the GRT educational institutions.
The ‘Geetham Hall’, GRT Hotel, Tirutani, the venue of the inaugural function was packed to capacity on the 18th of February, Dr SS.Badrinath extended a warm welcome to the gathering and thanked them for the overwhelming response, he introduced the honourable Chief Guest of the day Shri K. Veera Raghava Rao IAS, District Collector, Tiruvallur and thanked him for gracing the occasion. Speaking on the occasion, guest of honour Shri T.V Antony, distinguished civil servant and former Chief Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Government recalled his more than 35 years association with Dr SS.Badrinath. He recalled Sankara Nethralaya which he had seen as a small set up at the time of its inception, adding that it looks like a sprawling university today, he attributed this stupendous growth to the enthusiasm and dedication of Dr SS.Badrinath and Dr. Vasanthi Badinath, remarking in lighter vein that given his agility and energy he would estimate Dr SS.Badrinath to be around 40 years of age, the former Chief Secretary recalled that he remembered the noble couple constantly running for the cause eye care without any rest, from the time he knew them and expressed his amazement that they have not slackened their speed to this day. The former Chief Secretary underlined that 6% of the State’s total population of 50 crores; amounting to a staggering 42 lakhs are visually impaired and it is only through such relief camps conducted in the rural areas that this problem can be solved. Delivering the Chief Guest’s address Shri K.Veera Raghava Rao, IAS, Collector of Tiruvallur observed that he considered it a honour to be a part o f such a noble initiative and share the dais along with stalwarts like Shri T.V Antony, whose illustrious career in Civil Service began even before he was born and Dr. SS.Badrinath whose selfless service to society began when he was a small boy, as the district collector he thanked the organizers for the great initiative being carried out in his district. He recalled the outdoor eye screening camps of Sankara Nethralaya in the earlier days when patients found needing treatment would be taken to the Sankara Nethralaya main hospital and treated and dropped back and complimented the Mobile Eye Surgical Unit as an innovative initiative which has simplified the entire process. He thanked the members of the Rotary, Lions Clubs and Society for Prevention of Blindness, students of the GRT College and the House of GRT for striving hard to make the function a grand success. The chief guest closed his talk with the observation that there was no retirement for service minded people like Dr SS.Badrinath and Shri T.V Antony which is richly illustrated by the fact that they were enthusiastically participating in the day’s event.
Head of Sankara Nethralaya’s Neuro-Ophthalmology department receives twin honours at prestigious topical meet
A Poster presented by Dr S.Ambika, Senior Consultant and Head of Sankara Nethralaya’s Neuro-Ophthalmology Department was ranked in the 1St place at the ICTRIMS-2015, a high level topical seminar held under the aegis of the Indian Academy of Neurology and the Madras Neuro Trust on the 14th and 15th of February 2015, to update on Neuromyelitis Optica and Multiple Sclerosis and related disorders, the event also witnessed the senior Neuro professional’s contributions as a faculty at the prestigious event being awarded with a certificate of appreciation and acknowledgement by the highly impressed committee members.
Life and achievements of a long time friend of Sankara Nethralaya, dynamic SN OM Trustee and wife get chronicled into Houston’s glorious history.
Texas based ‘The Foundation For India studies’ (FIS) dedicated to the objective of highlighting and promoting India’s contribution to the world in the field of languages, literature, arts, sciences, engineering, politics, economics and spirituality has embarked on an ambitious initiative titled ‘The Houston Indo-American Oral History Project’ in collaboration with the Houston Public library (HPL) and Houston Community College System (HCCS) to develop a centralized oral history archive on the experiences of first generation Indo-Americans settled in Houston, through first person narratives. The archive would help researchers, educationists, historians better understand the life, experiences and contribution of early settlers from the sub-continent and next generation Indians to trace their roots.
Shri Sam Kannappan and his wife Shrimathi Kannappan among the most prominent, versatile and multifaceted early Indian settlers with a glorious record of contributing both to their motherland and their country of adoption and to fellow American Indians were interviewed as part of this project.
The interview was later covered by ‘Voice of Asia’ the largest Asian American weekly in Texas.
We take great pride and pleasure in sharing the same with our readers.
Sankara Nethralaya team’s informative joint submission adjudged as ‘Best Poster’ for year 2015, at prestigious ophthalmic meet
An in-depth analysis of vascular abnormalities in the eye, illustrated through a series of real time cases, authored by Dr. Nishat Bansal, Research cum Vitreo-Retina Fellow and co-authored by Dr. Muna Bhende, Senior Consultant and Dr. Jaya Prakash.V, Consultant, Vitro-Retinal Services, Sankara Nethralaya and presented as a poster titled ‘Peripheral Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy – A case series’ was selected as the best physical poster and chosen as the winner of the E.T Selvam award for the ‘Best Poster’ at the 73rd All India Ophthalmic Conference held recently at New Delhi.
A world renowned expert’s insights on ‘Paediatric ophthalmic disorders’ throws new light on the subject.
The 12th edition of the ‘Dr. Nagamani Dharmapuri Endowment Lecture’ dedicated to high level discourse on paediatric ophthalmology and facilitate a vibrant exchange of the latest developments in the field, was observed with great intellectual fervor at the Sri V.D. Swami Auditorium, Sankara Nethralaya main campus on the 14th of February 2015. The presence of such stalwarts of the medical profession like the guest speaker of the day Professor Gerald Shultz, Associate Professor, Loma Linda School of Medicine, California, special invitee Dr. Namitha K. Bhuvaneswari, Director and Superintendent, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital,Chennai, Dr. Mohan Rajan, Chairman & Medical Director ‘Rajan Eye Care Hospital’ underlined the significance of the event.
Delivering the welcome address Dr. Sumitha Agarkar, Deputy Director, Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology, Sankara Nethralaya observed that the most generous gesture and thoughtful of sharing the latest findings in the field of paediatric ophthalmology by establishing an endowment in his wife Dr. Nagamani Dharmapuri’s name underlined the noble couple’s commitment to their homeland and was a true example of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s call for the free exchange of knowledge. She recalled that great stalwarts have addressed the audience year after year on this momentous day and gave an account of the impressive work done in paediatric ophthalmology by Sankara Nethralaya.
Dr S.Meenakshi, Senior Consultant, Peadiatric Ophthalmology and Director Academics, Sankara Nethralaya introduced the esteemed the guest speaker of the day, Professor Gerald Shultz as a world renowned ophthalmic geneticist with special interest in anterior segment, she gave an interesting account of his professional affiliations, books authored and lectures delivered at the most prestigious ophthalmic centers in the world. This was followed by a ceremonial honouring of the dignitaries by the Chairman Emeritus and Vice-Chairman of Sankara Nethralaya. Giving a brief note on Dr.Mohan Rajan guest of honour of the day Dr T.S.Surendran observed that he did not want to give a formal intro of a person who was so familiar to the Sankara Nethralaya family, he thanked him for the great assistance to Sankara Nethralaya by mobilizing substantial funds and introducing organizations like Cognizant Technologies. In his characteristic style and in keeping with the cricket mania that had gripped the city he gave interesting tidbits on how Dr. Mohan Rajan was an all rounder in the game of cricket and cricketing idols like Mathew Hayden and Sachin Tendulkar were his patients. Dr. T.S.Surendran completed his talk with his observation that the Madras Ophthalmic Association and Sankara Nethralaya were the left and right eye of Dr. Mohan Rajan.
Delivering the guest of honor address, Dr. Mohan Rajan paid rich tributes to his Alma Mater, Sankara Nethralaya, its illustrious founder and Chairman Emeritus and his Guru Dr. SS.Badrinath. he fervently appealed to the Fellows and students assembled to make the best use of the world class amenities and teaching available at Sankara Nethralaya, he cited his wife Dr. Sujatha Mohan and himself as great beneficiaries of the same, he complimented Sankara Nethralaya as the only ophthalmic center in the world which had reached excellence in clinical care, research and education, adding that ophthalmic history in the country will be chronicled as ‘before Dr. Badrinath’ and ‘after Dr. Badrinath’ the man who made it a reality. He had a high word of praise for Dr. TS.Surendran’s dedication and single handed perseverance which had raised the paediatric department at Sankara Nethralaya to glorious heights.
The illustrious guest speaker of the day started his oration on ‘Genetic and acquired paediatric disorders’ on a lighter note with fond recollections of a tall and handsome Dr. SS.Badrinath whom he recalled sitting with his vitreo-retinal colleagues in the front benches and listening intently to the lectures, he added that while Dr SS.Badrinath moved to the renowned Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, he moved to military service which is mandatory for US citizens. Dr Shultz declared that young Dr SS.Badrinath had a dream and a passion adding that ‘We are here today because of its fulfillment’. What followed was a most interesting and informative talk on the role of genes, chromosomes, inherited/acquired ophthalmic disorders, genetics of hereditary cataract, importance of prenatal screening, genomic infections and corneal opacities. impact of sexually transmitted diseases in uveitis, embellished with real time case studies. The learned professor had a high word of appreciation for the work done in the role of sexually transmitted diseases in causing uveitis by Dr. Jyotirmay Biswas, Director Uveitis and Opthalmic Pathology department, Sankara Nethralaya.
The highly charged and momentous day came to an end with a vote of thanks by Dr. Srikanth observing that the Sankara Nethralaya family was both humbled and inspired by the in-depth oration.