So, still felt a little frustrated with India today, but I resolved to cut down on the self-pity and whining, which made the day a lot more enjoyable for everyone around me, hopefully. We started the morning at around 8:30, which is pretty late for us – so much for catching up on sleep over Winter Break...
Once we gathered on the bus, we headed to visit a hospital called Narayana Hrudalaya in the city of Bangalore to talk to Dr. Devi Shetty, a world renowned surgeon who is famous for making procedures that are usually incredibly expensive, affordable and available to the middle class and other poor citizens in India. We ended up getting to the hospital a bit late…some people had a hard time waking up, post-Hard Rock Café, and so the day got off to a tense start.
Not too fun, but everyone's moods improved dramatically once we got to speak with Dr. Shetty. He proved to be an incredibly intelligent, eloquent and outspoken man and all of us, I know, were so happy to have had the chance to meet him. Another example of Indian hospitality for you! This man, known around the world for his ground-breaking work in the medical field, took an hour out of his day to talk to a bunch of college kids who aren’t even medical students – we were so impressed. Dr. Shetty spoke to us about the state of the medical industry in India versus America and it was a humbling talk. We spend close to $100,000 on open heart surgery in the States, while it is a fraction of the cost in India. Heart surgeons in America will perform around 3,000 surgeries by the end of their career while heart surgeons in India will perform that same number by the time they’re in their 30s. The number of heart surgeries performed and their related costs are no coincidence – I guess there really is something to economies of scale.
One thing Dr. Shetty mentioned that really struck a chord with me was that you can’t put a price tag on life, and this is one reason why he is working so hard not only to make surgeries available at an affordable price to the general Indian public, but also to create a sustainable health insurance mechanism for the masses. He spoke about his plans for building new hospitals with architectural features that will help keep overhead costs lower (i.e. building single-story buildings with windows to prevent the need for air-conditioning in the summer) and it really made me wonder – America, with all our money and all our resources and power, has done nothing of the sort. Have we even tried? Is profit really that much more important to us than the welfare of others? Oftentimes, the answer to that is yes, which is upsetting, to say the least. Dr. Shetty also brought up the idea of universal healthcare, saying that it was necessary to ensure healthcare could be made affordable to the masses, and showed us how he was making it work today, on a micro-scale with farmers and construction workers and again it made me wonder – what right have we as Americans to still sit on our pedestal and tell other countries they’re not as wonderful as we are, when really, we are lagging behind in so many ways? Oh well. All in all, the talk was fantastic and eye-opening. My only regret was that I forgot to record it!
After listening to Dr. Shetty’s talk, we had the opportunity to tour Narayana’s hospital complex, which I thought was brilliant. Instead of having specialists all over the city or hospitals understaffed under one roof, the hospital complex has multiple centers dedicated to different specialties such as the heart center, the oncology center and the recovery center. All of the offices still function under one system, which makes referrals and other consultations streamlined and efficient – it was wonderful to watch. The hospital is able to have conference calls with hospitals around the world to offer collaborative consulting – we called in to a hospital in Nigeria while we were there as an example of the facility’s capabilities! All I can say is, knock on wood, should I ever need medical assistance, I know where I’m going. Dr. Shetty also mentioned during his talk that only about 7-8% of the patients the hospital saw were from out of the country and that didn’t make any sense to me. I suppose there are still a lot of (incorrect) perceptions held in the West that hospitals in Asia aren’t as safe or as developed as hospitals in the West. Not true! When asked about the success/failure rate of Dr. Shetty’s Narayana Hospital, we were told that results were comparable or BETTER than American or British hospitals. There are also absolutely no barriers for foreigners who want to get treated at the Narayana Hospital – all you need is an Indian visa. Truly incredible! I’m so glad we had the opportunity to meet such a wonderful and inspiring man and visit such a wonderful facility – I truly hope that he succeeds in all he does, and that his successes become lessons for us over in the States.
Later on, we had the chance to visit a family in Bangalore which was an incredible experience. I got paired up with Alana and Alan, which was a little unexpected, but only because we had hardly ever hung out before. In a lot of ways, I was glad that I had the chance to participate in the project with them today. We took a car with Jarred’s team and dropped them off before heading to our own family’s apartments. I thought it was awesome that there were families who were willing to take the time out of their busy schedule to talk to us, and that was very sweet.
Dr. Anand and Dr. Ellstrand had mentioned that they had picked a pretty accurate cross-section of the population for us to interact with so we would get a fair view of how Indian families live. Essentially, we had no idea what to expect at all, and were a little nervous about what to say and the questions to ask them. We ended up getting paired with an upper middle class family who lived in an apartment complex near the Bangalore’s Industrial area. Our family consisted of a married couple, most likely in their early 30s who had one daughter. Both parents were very well educated and very well traveled having lived in or worked in England and the United States, and their daughter, who had just turned five, was already able to speak three languages, which definitely put us to shame. Both parents worked and sent their daughter to a pre-school, much like many parents do in the States.
Once we arrived, they graciously let us into their homes. We remembered to take off our shoes (!) and bring them souvenirs, which I think they enjoyed! One thing we noticed was that they didn’t open their gifts in front of us, which seems to be a typical Indian custom. Dr. Anand mentioned that this is so they don’t embarrass other guests who may have brought presents that aren’t as “expensive/valuable”. They did offer us food, which we politely declined thanks to etiquette lessons from Dr. Anand, but they insisted, and so we had some coffee and other refreshments. Both parents had just returned from work and so had no yet had the time to cook, but the fact that they thought to provide food was more than wonderful!
Because of their background, they were able to provide a very candid picture of India, which was truly appreciated. One thing that I noticed that surprised me was how willing they were to move around based solely on where their professional paths would take them. We had asked them if they would have a problem leaving India if they needed to, and they really had zero qualms about it. Another interesting point that was brought up was about relationships in India. I had some idea about how important parents’ decisions are when it comes to getting married as I come from a somewhat traditional Asian family background, but I had no idea the level of involvement that Indian parents have! Our married couple told us that arranged marriages are still relatively common, which was so hard to believe. Apparently, it’s not that strange to have your parents put an ad in the newspaper about you announcing your readiness to be wed, and to have that ad answered by parents who might be interested in having their child marry you! In fact, that was how our couple had met! They went on one or two dates, one of which I believe was supervised (wut) and then basically had to decide whether or not they were willing to commit the rest of their lives to each other at that point…incredible! One good thing though is that from what I understand, Indian parents are pretty good about not forcing you to marry someone they’ve chosen if you really don’t want to, so at least there’s an “out” that can be taken if need be. It just struck me as incredible the level of trust and respect children had, and still have, for their parents even for our generation. Even the thought of arranged marriages would never fly in the States – different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
One of the cultural points I noticed was that the husband of our family seemed a lot more comfortable speaking with Alan, while the wife was more comfortable speaking to Alana and me. When Alana and I asked the husband questions for example, he would answer them while looking at Alan and vice versa. I suppose gender roles still play an important role in Indian culture. Another interesting thing we encountered was just how knowledgeable the couple’s daughter was about Western stories and TV shows. She had a Barbie as Rapunzel bicycle and loved watching Dora the Explorer and would spout random Spanish phrases which was adorable. About three hours after we arrived, the little girl got sleepy and a little cranky, so we excused ourselves. The husband was kind enough to follow us downstairs and wait for our ride with us. Along the way, we spotted plenty of pizza boxes about side apartment doors – I guess Indian families really aren’t that different than we are.
Eventually our ride arrived and we went back to IDSA. We went to speak with Dr. Anand and Dr. Ellstrand to debrief, and got our instructions for the next day before finally heading back to the apartment and hanging out, watching TV and chit chatting. I LOVE our apartments and the fact that we haven’t moved away from them after being in them for like, 16 hours. It’s been good.
Once we gathered on the bus, we headed to visit a hospital called Narayana Hrudalaya in the city of Bangalore to talk to Dr. Devi Shetty, a world renowned surgeon who is famous for making procedures that are usually incredibly expensive, affordable and available to the middle class and other poor citizens in India. We ended up getting to the hospital a bit late…some people had a hard time waking up, post-Hard Rock Café, and so the day got off to a tense start.
 |
| En route. |
 |
| In the hospital's waiting area. |
 |
| Check-in/waiting area. |
Not too fun, but everyone's moods improved dramatically once we got to speak with Dr. Shetty. He proved to be an incredibly intelligent, eloquent and outspoken man and all of us, I know, were so happy to have had the chance to meet him. Another example of Indian hospitality for you! This man, known around the world for his ground-breaking work in the medical field, took an hour out of his day to talk to a bunch of college kids who aren’t even medical students – we were so impressed. Dr. Shetty spoke to us about the state of the medical industry in India versus America and it was a humbling talk. We spend close to $100,000 on open heart surgery in the States, while it is a fraction of the cost in India. Heart surgeons in America will perform around 3,000 surgeries by the end of their career while heart surgeons in India will perform that same number by the time they’re in their 30s. The number of heart surgeries performed and their related costs are no coincidence – I guess there really is something to economies of scale.
One thing Dr. Shetty mentioned that really struck a chord with me was that you can’t put a price tag on life, and this is one reason why he is working so hard not only to make surgeries available at an affordable price to the general Indian public, but also to create a sustainable health insurance mechanism for the masses. He spoke about his plans for building new hospitals with architectural features that will help keep overhead costs lower (i.e. building single-story buildings with windows to prevent the need for air-conditioning in the summer) and it really made me wonder – America, with all our money and all our resources and power, has done nothing of the sort. Have we even tried? Is profit really that much more important to us than the welfare of others? Oftentimes, the answer to that is yes, which is upsetting, to say the least. Dr. Shetty also brought up the idea of universal healthcare, saying that it was necessary to ensure healthcare could be made affordable to the masses, and showed us how he was making it work today, on a micro-scale with farmers and construction workers and again it made me wonder – what right have we as Americans to still sit on our pedestal and tell other countries they’re not as wonderful as we are, when really, we are lagging behind in so many ways? Oh well. All in all, the talk was fantastic and eye-opening. My only regret was that I forgot to record it!
After listening to Dr. Shetty’s talk, we had the opportunity to tour Narayana’s hospital complex, which I thought was brilliant. Instead of having specialists all over the city or hospitals understaffed under one roof, the hospital complex has multiple centers dedicated to different specialties such as the heart center, the oncology center and the recovery center. All of the offices still function under one system, which makes referrals and other consultations streamlined and efficient – it was wonderful to watch. The hospital is able to have conference calls with hospitals around the world to offer collaborative consulting – we called in to a hospital in Nigeria while we were there as an example of the facility’s capabilities! All I can say is, knock on wood, should I ever need medical assistance, I know where I’m going. Dr. Shetty also mentioned during his talk that only about 7-8% of the patients the hospital saw were from out of the country and that didn’t make any sense to me. I suppose there are still a lot of (incorrect) perceptions held in the West that hospitals in Asia aren’t as safe or as developed as hospitals in the West. Not true! When asked about the success/failure rate of Dr. Shetty’s Narayana Hospital, we were told that results were comparable or BETTER than American or British hospitals. There are also absolutely no barriers for foreigners who want to get treated at the Narayana Hospital – all you need is an Indian visa. Truly incredible! I’m so glad we had the opportunity to meet such a wonderful and inspiring man and visit such a wonderful facility – I truly hope that he succeeds in all he does, and that his successes become lessons for us over in the States.
Later on, we had the chance to visit a family in Bangalore which was an incredible experience. I got paired up with Alana and Alan, which was a little unexpected, but only because we had hardly ever hung out before. In a lot of ways, I was glad that I had the chance to participate in the project with them today. We took a car with Jarred’s team and dropped them off before heading to our own family’s apartments. I thought it was awesome that there were families who were willing to take the time out of their busy schedule to talk to us, and that was very sweet.
Dr. Anand and Dr. Ellstrand had mentioned that they had picked a pretty accurate cross-section of the population for us to interact with so we would get a fair view of how Indian families live. Essentially, we had no idea what to expect at all, and were a little nervous about what to say and the questions to ask them. We ended up getting paired with an upper middle class family who lived in an apartment complex near the Bangalore’s Industrial area. Our family consisted of a married couple, most likely in their early 30s who had one daughter. Both parents were very well educated and very well traveled having lived in or worked in England and the United States, and their daughter, who had just turned five, was already able to speak three languages, which definitely put us to shame. Both parents worked and sent their daughter to a pre-school, much like many parents do in the States.
Once we arrived, they graciously let us into their homes. We remembered to take off our shoes (!) and bring them souvenirs, which I think they enjoyed! One thing we noticed was that they didn’t open their gifts in front of us, which seems to be a typical Indian custom. Dr. Anand mentioned that this is so they don’t embarrass other guests who may have brought presents that aren’t as “expensive/valuable”. They did offer us food, which we politely declined thanks to etiquette lessons from Dr. Anand, but they insisted, and so we had some coffee and other refreshments. Both parents had just returned from work and so had no yet had the time to cook, but the fact that they thought to provide food was more than wonderful!
Because of their background, they were able to provide a very candid picture of India, which was truly appreciated. One thing that I noticed that surprised me was how willing they were to move around based solely on where their professional paths would take them. We had asked them if they would have a problem leaving India if they needed to, and they really had zero qualms about it. Another interesting point that was brought up was about relationships in India. I had some idea about how important parents’ decisions are when it comes to getting married as I come from a somewhat traditional Asian family background, but I had no idea the level of involvement that Indian parents have! Our married couple told us that arranged marriages are still relatively common, which was so hard to believe. Apparently, it’s not that strange to have your parents put an ad in the newspaper about you announcing your readiness to be wed, and to have that ad answered by parents who might be interested in having their child marry you! In fact, that was how our couple had met! They went on one or two dates, one of which I believe was supervised (wut) and then basically had to decide whether or not they were willing to commit the rest of their lives to each other at that point…incredible! One good thing though is that from what I understand, Indian parents are pretty good about not forcing you to marry someone they’ve chosen if you really don’t want to, so at least there’s an “out” that can be taken if need be. It just struck me as incredible the level of trust and respect children had, and still have, for their parents even for our generation. Even the thought of arranged marriages would never fly in the States – different strokes for different folks, I suppose.
One of the cultural points I noticed was that the husband of our family seemed a lot more comfortable speaking with Alan, while the wife was more comfortable speaking to Alana and me. When Alana and I asked the husband questions for example, he would answer them while looking at Alan and vice versa. I suppose gender roles still play an important role in Indian culture. Another interesting thing we encountered was just how knowledgeable the couple’s daughter was about Western stories and TV shows. She had a Barbie as Rapunzel bicycle and loved watching Dora the Explorer and would spout random Spanish phrases which was adorable. About three hours after we arrived, the little girl got sleepy and a little cranky, so we excused ourselves. The husband was kind enough to follow us downstairs and wait for our ride with us. Along the way, we spotted plenty of pizza boxes about side apartment doors – I guess Indian families really aren’t that different than we are.
Eventually our ride arrived and we went back to IDSA. We went to speak with Dr. Anand and Dr. Ellstrand to debrief, and got our instructions for the next day before finally heading back to the apartment and hanging out, watching TV and chit chatting. I LOVE our apartments and the fact that we haven’t moved away from them after being in them for like, 16 hours. It’s been good.
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