2015 - The year which lead me from a job to a career

There is a not of unrest amongst doctors these days.The growth of private corporate hospitals is  making it difficult for private practices to survive.Managers in these hospitals are looking for turnovers and quarterly growth. Doctors are stuck between good medical practices and economics of getting that paycheck.

This is beautifully sum up in an article http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2012/04/27/why-do-so-many-doctors-regret-their-job-choice/.Though it's in American context,some applies to us as well.
"The transformation of the field from independence and professionalism to being commoditized and feeling like you’re just another worker is disheartening to some,” says Howard Forman, a professor at the Yale School of Management who researches diagnostic radiology, health policy and healthcare leadership.

I myself had a successful job at a corporate hospital for ten years. My passion for pediatric ENT took me to Spastics Society of Karnataka and Indira Institute of Child Health,working as an Honarary.

I started doing ground work on pediatric deafness when I started the pilot of Universal hearing screening at K C General Hospital in 2013.I worked with NRHM .(National Rural Health Mission)

Finally the decision of leaving a corporate OPD practice came and it was not easy. I still need to go to a corporate to operate as I perform high end surgeries like Cochlear Implantation.I also perform Endoscopic Sinus surgery and do Base of skull work with Neurosurgeons.

Within 6 months of leaving corporate and starting our Anganwadi and government school screenings,we were rolling.We were the finalists in the prestigious BMJ South Asia Award in Healthcare Advocacy Category.

There is a long road ahead..

I want to see a day where Newborn hearing screening is made Mandatory in India nad every child is screened regularly till age 6 years.

Along with above,I wish to support as many under privileged hearing challenged children as I can and help them to be mainstreamed.

All of above is only possible with the support of my team and well wishers

Age appropriate Speech and Hearing in children

Hearing and speech together forms almost 40% of all disabilities in children, early diagnosis is the key for habilitating these children.

1-5:1000 children are born with some degree of hearing loss. 5-10% of pre-schoolers have speech problems. Hearing is critical for learning speech, language and communication. Apart from hearing loss, other causes of speech delay include learning disabilities, structural abnormalities like cleft palate, autism spectrum disorders, expressive speech delay to name a few.Early diagnosis for disabilities means diagnosis at birth or below three years.If the diagnosis is delayed,i.e. after 6-8 years,it is difficult to mainstream.

Below is the age appropriate hearing and speech chart from birth to 5 years. 

I must mention that if a child achieves about 70 % of these milestones, it is satisfactory. If any concerns, child should be assessed by a doctor immediately. Hearing screening should be done in all babies at birth. Hearing loss can be confirmed as early as 3 months of age and habilitation should be started as soon as the diagnosis is confirmed.