Friday, April 24, 2009

A great resource to help Indian doctors remain upto date !

One of the biggest problems Indian doctors face is ensuring that their medical knowledge remains uptodate. Unlike US physicians who suffer from an information glut, Indian physicians are often starved for reliable updated medical information.


Most Indian doctors are in private practise and do not have access to a medical library. Even the ones who are affiliated to medical colleges are often far too busy to actually visit the library. Medical books are expensive - and very few are willing to spend money on subscribing to medical journals.


Consequently, many doctors find that their medical knowlegebase is woefully inadequate - and this ignorance can prove to be detrimental to their patients. This is especially true in Tier 2 and 3 towns. Most doctors depend upon their medical representative to update them on the newest drugs ; while others will attend medical conferences once a year to try to remain abreast of what's new. Sadly, both these are extremely unreliable means of acquiring medical information for obvious reasons. Medical reps have a hidden agenda - and a lot of the information they provide is suspect or biased. Medical conferences ( which are often sponsored by pharmaceutical companies in India) are also usually just chances to socialise or go on a holiday, rather than to learn.


Most doctors are aware of their launae - and many are privately quite ashamed of the fact that the only medical textbooks they have are the ones they bought in medical college - some of which are over 10 years old and completely out of date !


Leading doctors have recognised the danger this ignorance can pose to Indian patients, and there have been many calls for making CME ( continuing medical education) compulsory for doctors in India.


The ground reality is that doctors are becoming increasingly worried about the fact that some of their patients know much more than they do about even abstruse medical advances - thanks to the internet. Patients have a lot of time at their disposal - and smart patients can find pages and pages of information on the internet about their problem - often leaving their doctor with an inferiority complex !


So what's the poor doctor to do ? We now have an easy solution for them !


Now, for less than Rs 30 per day, doctors in India can subscribe to the world's largest online medical library, at www.mdconsult.com ! They can try out a risk-free 30 day demo– free of charge ! MDConsult allows doctors to remain uptodate by providing online instant access to the FULL-TEXT of over 50 respected medical books and 50 prestigious medical journals which are constantly updated. This is excellent value for money, because it means they will never need to buy another medical book in their life !

MDConsult also allows access to thousands of patient education brochures which can be handed to patients, to ensure they provide truly informed consent !

MDConsult provides convenience and peace of mind for Indian doctors – on their PC, 24/7 - for only

Rs 9995 per year. Remember, this is a tax- deductible expense !


Many doctors have requested a pharmaceutical company through their medical representative to gift them a free subscription . Many companies have done this for their key doctors as a goodwill gesture - a win-win situation for the pharmaceutical company ( who earns goodwill); the doctor ( who then has access to a treasurehouse of reliable medical information on his PC); and the doctor's patients ( who are secure in the knowledge that their doctor is well-informed and updated !).


What to know more ? Please contact HELP at [email protected].


If you want to subscribe, please send a DD for Rs 9995 only, payable to Health Education Library for People,

Excelsior Business Center, National Insurance Building, Ground Floor, Near Excelsior Cinema, 206, Dr.D.N Road, Mumbai 400 001

Tel. No.: 65952393/ 65952394/22061101,

with a covering letter, and we will email you your username and password in 2 working days !


NB If you are patient and would like to help your doctor to remain well-informed, you might want to consider gifting a subscription to MDConsult to him - it's a great way to say Thank You !

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