Dr. Surajit Giri Respected Seniors, Dear Friends and Colleagues
At the outset, I would like to dedicate this website to members of Assam branch of ISA.
I thought about the website as there is no common platform to share and communicate with members of Assam branch of ISA. Now a day we all have Internet on our fingertips and we are heading towards 4G era. With a simple CLICK, we are connected with everyone without having to ring people personally. Hope this website will help unite everyone and increase our recognition as a strong community.
I am also extremely thankful to all members of Assam state branch of ISA for selecting me as their Secretary.
In the last ten years, I have experienced and witnessed delivery of Anaesthesia and working of anaesthesiologists/anaesthetist from corporate hospitals to rural level. It is important that we all work together and improve our profile and profile of the specialty. Lets come out of closed-doors of operating room. Mere slogan about presence of anaesthetist and their role in perioperative field is not enough, we have to be more active in showing our importance and presence.
Over years, I have seen that anaesthesiologists/anaesthetists are not united. We have to take inspiration from outside world, even small businessmen selling chicken, fish etc are united. Every year they increases the rate of chicken and fish during Bihu festival and all traders in the market follows the same rate without any questions? They are not more educated then us, If they can do it, why can't we? Why there are gross discrepancies in fees structure in the same local area? Surgeons and hospitals takes advantage of this divide and exploit us, we have to stop this!
WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT NO SURGERY IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT ANAESTHESIA!
If we all are united, no surgeon can operate on patients and they will have to listen to us and same is the case with the hospitals. No hospital can run without us.
Hope together WE can achieve this all.
Lets celebrate the World Anaesthesia Day (WAD) every year with the PUBLIC not just in our theatres cutting cakes
We need make the public aware about our branch and our importance in perioperative period. We are essential part in every step of peri-operative care, but the PUBLIC does not know our importance. Nobody will help us to make the public aware; it is WE who have to increase awareness amongst the public. Small articles in local and national newspapers, leaflets and even public meetings are of great value. It does not require a huge investment, simple 5000 INR is sufficient or you can take help of pharmaceutical companies, they are ready to spend on awareness programs.
SO, INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS AND AVOID DEPENDENCY ON SURGEONS. Hope one-day patients will come to hospital and ask for a particular anaesthetist.
We are aiming to have a legal cell of Assam branch that will help anaesthesiologist/anaesthetist in crisis. This will involve a small fees per annum for all members. As day-by-day litigations are increasing, this legal cell will help the anaesthesiologist/anaesthetist to fight their cases. I have spoken to few of the lawyers and many are happy to help in such cases but for that you may have to pay a large premium. If we manage to start the legal cell with annual contribution from all, we will be the first in our country to provide this facility.
We are also looking for an e-newsletter of Assam branch. I always feel ashamed when I see the academic activities of other state branches like Tamilnadu, Kerela, Andhra, UP or Gujarat. Let us all try to be an excellent branch by 2020. Hope to publish the first newsletter this year.
We all should work with dignity. At least we all should demand 40-50% of surgeon fees in ASA 1-2 cases, as we paly equally essential role in patient care as the surgeons. I rather feel our fees should be equal to surgeon's fees as both surgeons and anaesthetist face the same risks during any operation. But I know this will take time. In ASA 3-4 patients we should charge according to the severity of the patients disease and it should be uniform in the town or city irrespective of the experience of the anaesthesiologist/anaesthetist.
We should always charge extra for pre-anaesthetic & post-operative visits, ICU rounds and post-operative pain management (nerve blocks and epidurals etc.). Remember, if we provide it free of cost without extra charges there would not ve VALUED. Another new thing is nerve blocks for children with fractures (like axillary) in front of parents in the operating room and charging them extra for this service. Because they pay, they will remember you and if they see how their child became pain free and happy, they will tell other parents as well. Let patients and their relatives see the results in front of their eyes, they do not see how you give anaesthesia or what you do in operation theatres and therefore they do not realize your importance. They think that everything is done by the surgeon and we are nobody. They need to see and understand our roles.
Next big question is why one should be a life member? What benefits will one get from life membership? We should PLAN and PREPARE terms and conditions for all life members and we the state branch should be able to give support and help to all Assam Anaesthesiologist/Anaesthetists when in need. Once the legal cell is started, they will also get legal help for free when faced with legal issues.
Thanking You All For Your Support
