The austere interiors of a Primary Health Centre (PHC) model at the artificial village at AP PEDICON were a shock to children from private schools here. Students of several private schools visited ‘Pedikanupalli’, the artificial village created at the venue of the Andhra Pradesh Paediatricians Convention, here on Friday.
The PHC is the place where people in rural areas have to go to when they are ill or have a medical emergency. The PHCs are in no way similar to the plush corporate and private hospitals that are easily accessible to people living in the city.
A team of delegates led by the convention’s organising secretary Majety Madhavi explained to the children about the various measures people living in the rural areas need to take to protect their health and hygiene. The health care available to the people living in the rural areas was also explained to them.
The children also enjoyed the pastoral atmosphere created at the venue of the convention. The bullock-carts that have virtually vanished from the roads were a big attraction.
As per the schedule workshops were conducted at the Siddhartha and NRI Medical Colleges and also at the IMA Hall.
Three stalwarts from the field of paediatrics spoke about “STEER” (Sensitising to Think Enable Excellence and Rationality). Y.K. Ambekar, Rajesh Chokhani, and Anand K Shandilya, three eminent paediatricians and authors of several books in the specialisation, spoke about the importance of developing clinical skills to diagnose the ailments, at Siddhartha Medical College.
The experts were against doctors simply ordering different types of investigations to find out the ailment. They gave various clinical tips that would help doctors distinguish between ailments that have very similar symptoms. Paediatric surgeon Anil Kumar Parchuri was the moderator.
Three stalwarts in the field S. Thangavelu and E. Mahendra from Chennai and Satish Deopujari from Nagpur conducted a workshop on ‘Poisoning and Antimicrobials’ at NRI Medical College.
Workshops were conducted on ‘Paediatric Intensive Care’ in Rainbow Children’s Superspecialty Hospitals, ‘Neonatal Intensive Care’ in Andhra Hospital, and ‘NRP – Workshop for Nurses’ in IMA Hall.
The big attraction at the convention on Saturday is the public interaction with teachers and parents on adolescent care with M.K.C. Nair, Trivandrum, from 3.30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
