Vol.No.54. No.27 FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY JANUARY 02, 2017

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Special Prayers : January 01 - 07, 2017

Sunday Services : January 08, 2017

6.00 pm : Scudder AuditoriumDr. Anna B. Pulimood

6.30 pm : Hospital ChapelDr. Sunil T. Chandy

State-level Workshop on Tuberculosis for Nurses

he Department of MedicalNursing, College of Nursingand Infectious Diseases,

organised a workshop titledUpdate on Tuberculosis: NursingPerspectives on 20th December, 2016at the College of Nursing. Dr. ShirleyDavid, Professor and Head, MedicalNursing Department welcomed thegathering in the presence ofDr. Abimanesh, Assistant Professor,

Department of Infectious Diseasesand Mrs. Emily Daniel, AdditionalDeputy Dean, College of Nursing,who each offered their felicitations.

Topics such as Disease burden,Overview of Disease Condition,Diagnostic tests, Treatment, RevisedNational TB Control Programmeand Environmental Control werepresented by a panel of experts inthe field.

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TContinuing Nursing Education in Construction of Classroom Tests

commenced with a word of prayer byRev. Subir Lal Nath. Dr. VinithaRavindran, Deputy Dean, College ofNursing welcomed the delegates andoffered the overview of the workshop.

he Fundamentals of NursingDepartment along with the

Continuing Nursing Education &Research Department conducted aone-day workshop on ‘Constructionof Class Room Tests’ on 12th

December, 2016. The workshop Continued on Page 2

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Psalm 16:8

Congratulations:

Mr. Joseph Dian Bondu, Lecturer, ClinicalBiochemistry, won the 1st prize for oralpresentation and Mr.Yesudas Sudhakar,Lecturer won the 2nd prize for posterpresentation in the 7th Annual Research Dayheld on 10th October, 2016, at the ScudderAuditorium, CMC. Mr. Bondu also won the1st prize for oral presentation in the 2016Endocrine Society of India Conference.

Mrs. Janani Iswarya, Lecturer, ClinicalBiochemistry, won the Best Poster Award atthe 43rd Annual Conference of the Associationof Clinical Biochemists of India (ACBICON2016) held in Mangalore from 12th to 15th

December, 2016.

Dr. Padmanaban V., final year post-graduateregistrar, Department of Biochemistry,received the Best Poster Award for hisresearch work titled "Serum hepcidin levelsin diabetes mellitus". This piece of work,done under the guidance of Drs. MollyJacob and Joe Varghese (Departmentof Biochemistry), in collaboration withDr. Jasmin Prasad (Department of CommunityMedicine), was presented at ACBICON 2016.

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Stories from CMC's Services

Participants were then engaged in two group activities, namely, a visit to the Microbiology Lab and adiscussion on Nursing Management.

Fifty nurses from Tamil Nadu attended the workshop, which was awarded 6 credit hours by the Tamil Nadu Nurses& Midwives Council. The scientific content of the workshop was found relevant and beneficial bythe participants.

State-level Workshop on Tuberculosis for Nurses Continued from Page 1

Mr. A lives in a village ten kilometers from Bagayam and has sufferedchronic severe psychosis for most of his adult life.Despite the best efforts of his mother and the psychiatrists at CMC,continuing disease dictates that he remains angry, harbors false,grandiose beliefs and obstructs all efforts to ensure adherence totreatment. Social support dwindled steadily as his father passed awayand his mother grew older. Psychotic beliefs and behaviour alienatedhim from his neighbours. His wife abandoned him.

Continued from Page 1Continuing Nursing Education in Construction of Classroom Tests

The programme aimed at providing comprehensive information for teachers of nursing, on setting a standard questionpaper. The resource faculty for the workshop included experts from the medical and nursing faculty of CMC. Thiseducational workshop included various interactive sessions on purposes and principles of constructing classroomtests, designing and scoring essay questions, short answers and objective type questions, reviewing and revising thetest items, and guidelines to prepare a blue print.

A group activity was conducted, where the delegates designed a blue print and set a model question paper basedon their learning from the workshop. The workshop was accredited by the Tamil Nadu Nurses and MidwivesCouncil and Mrs. Sathya Jones, Professor, St. Jones College of Nursing, Vellore was the observer from the Council.

Attended by fifty-three participants from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the programme addressed a pivotal subjecteffectively.

CMC pays a home visit to Mr. A's neighbourhood

CMC celebrates Christmas with Vellore Town CommunityThe Vellore Community Christmas dinner is an annual CMC event that dates back to the time of its founder AuntIda. Prominent citizens of Vellore town are invited to a dinner with the CMC faculty, to create an opportunity forfellowship and to acknowledge them for the various ways in which they partner with the institution.

This year, around 200 such individuals came together on the lawn of the recently constructed Eden Garden. Theoccasion was graced by some important members such as our District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, theMLA and the CSI Bishop. There was a wide representation from the different organisations in Vellore such as theJudiciary, Public Administration, Water Board, Electricity Board, and academic institutions to name a few. Hotels,Textile industries and other business organisations were also well represented.

Greeting the gathering, the Director, Dr. Sunil Chandy, expressed his appreciation to the many individuals andgroups with whom CMC partners and upon whom it relies for the continued fulfillment of its mission. He called uponall those present to join forces to work towards a smarter Vellore with calmer traffic and cleaner streets.

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One day, he climbed an electric transformer and sustained severe burns across his chest and arms. To this day, heis unable to explain his actions. Sometimes he believes he was burnt by his persecutors.When the district government hospital referred Mr. A. to Chennai for further treatment, his mother brought him toMental Health Centre because she was unable to make the journey without help.The story of CMC’s response to Mr. A’s need demonstrates the many ways in which professionals and thecommunity can collaborate across boundaries of specialisation and role. Mr. A was admitted to the PsychiatryWard, because his psychosis would have been difficult to manage elsewhere. Under the directions and advice ofthe Plastic Surgery and the Infectious Disease teams, Psychiatric Nurses enabled the healing of all burns apart fromthe site of entry of electricity on the right forefinger. Not only was the required grafting done by the Plastic Surgeryteam in their ward, treatment charges were written off and food was provided free for patient and mother.Back in the Psychiatry Ward, relatives of fellow patients offered to collect free food from New Life Centre forMr. A and his mother, since she could not leave his side. Clothes, utensils and toiletries were donated.Mr. Chandrasekhar of Udhavum Ullangal, provided transport between home and hospital and brought in anindigenous healer to bolster hope when the prognosis appeared worrying.After discharge, when Mr. A refused to come to hospital for review, the Psychiatric Team made home visits. Sincesymptoms had settled partially, a nurse living in the neighborhood found the courage to administer essential depotantipsychotic injections at home.This is one of many ways in which CMC not only provides essential, scientific, socio-economically tailored medicalcare, but also enables the coming together of contributions from the community within its healing processes and systems.

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CMC persists in its mission through the Demonetisation period

Close to two months on since the discontinuation of high denominationcurrency notes, health care services in India have had to re-strategise theirmonetary operations. An administrative team of CMC met on 9th November,the first day following demonetisation, towards mobilizing resources andeasing the payment process for its patients and staff.

Receipt of advance from patients needing hospitalization was limited toRs.10,000 irrespective of the total cost of treatment. Inpatients were allowedto settle outstanding bills with whatever legal tender they had at hand. Refundsfrom these down payments, post-treatment, were made out as cheques (for patients were from distant places) andas credit notes that could be redeemed in other transactions within the hospital. Increased provisions were madeto facilitate the use of debit and credit card for all transactions, and the CMC ‘Chris Card’, the in-housee-Health Card.On the medical services front, acutely ill patients needing critical care in the ICUs, emergency surgery, etc. andwomen and children were granted adequate concession or free treatment, as determined by the treating team, ifthey did not have cash ready. Also, in instances where ready cash could not be fronted, doctors minimised electiveinvestigations to pare down patients’ expenses. The CMC Pharmacy continued to accept demonetised currencynotes of Rs.500 as per government regulations.

Even patients and families who were exhausted while waiting in theserpentine queues in front of ATMs and cash counters was assuaged; thehospital arranged for free refreshments for them several times a day.Furthermore, financially disadvantaged relatives of in-patients were suppliedmeals in the wards by the Good Samaritan Canteen inside CMC Hospital. TheAccounts Department opened multiple additional counters to pay out refundsto patients; this greatly reduced waiting time and crowding. The institution alsoenlisted the services of banks to help patients get access to some cash and thebanks opened temporary kiosks in the hospital and college campuses. Also,

CMC employees were accommodated in a separate queue at bank counters and ATMs.

At the ATM on the Hospital premises

CMC's Cash Counters

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CMC persists in its mission through the Demonetisation period Continued from Page 3

Despite the cash crunch that hit CMC just as hard as any other institution, staff salaries for the months ofNovember and December 2016 went through without delay, as well as payment of Christmas gift and advance;many employees were remunerated in part as cash.With the exception of a few patients travelling from afar who cancelled their previously booked appointments, allother patients who came to CMC over the past few weeks were well taken care of, making for unhindered serviceeven through a challenging period.Obituary: Dr. TNS Varma

Dr. TNS Varma, Professor and former Head of the Department of Biochemistry, passed away inCoimbatore on 4th December, 2016.

Dr. Varma was born on 18th June, 1930. He obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. qualifications inChemistry from Benares Hindu University in 1950 and 1952, respectively. He then worked as aresearch scholar in the Indian Institute of Science for 2 years (1954-1956). This was followed bya period of work in the Department of Biochemistry in the Faculty of Science of MS University ofBaroda. During this time, he worked on a research project titled ‘Biosynthesis of Citric Acid in

Citrus Fruits’. The results of this study formed the body of work for his Ph.D thesis and he was awarded this degree in 1959.Soon after, he joined the Wellcome Research Unit of CMC, Vellore, as a research assistant, where he studied themechanism of accumulation of vitamin B12 in Euglena Gracillis. After a brief intervening stint as a scientificassistant at the Isotope Division in the Cancer Institute in Chennai, he returned to CMC, where he started work in theDepartment of Biochemistry, as a research officer. He was soon promoted to a lecturer’s position in the department in1961 and subsequently became a Professor in and Head of the Department in 1971, a position that he held till hisretirement in June of 1990.During his years of work in the Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Varma was most actively engaged in teachingfirst-year medical and Masters students in the discipline of Biochemistry. He was an enthusiastic and kind teacher. Hisstudents from the decades that he taught remember him with much affection and respect. Their strong memories includethose of him dressed in his customary whites, of writing elaborate biochemical pathways on the blackboard (to teach in anera with few visual aids) and his attempts (often in vain) to encourage or elicit correct answers during viva voce examinations.Dr. Varma’s academic assignments involved numerous appointments as examiner of MBBS, M.Sc., MD and Ph.Dstudents in many Indian universities. He was a member of the Board of Studies for Basic Medical Sciences of theMahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam, Kerala; he was also on the Board of Studies for postgraduate,non-clinical courses for the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University (1988-1990). He was a member of advisorycommittees of the Union Public Service Commission of India for the selection of faculty members in Biochemistry formedical colleges in Delhi.Dr. Varma joined ongoing research work on Nutritional Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry.His special interests during this time involved studying effects of both deficiency and excess of amino acids oncarbohydrate and lipid metabolism in rats. He published several papers in national and international journals.He was a guide for many Ph.D and MD students during his tenure. He was a founder member of the Guha ResearchConference and a member of the Association of Clinical Biochemists of India.Dr. Varma retired in 1990 and settled in Coimbatore, where his son, Dr. Shashi Varma (undergraduate [1978],postgraduate and super-specialty alumnus of CMC, Vellore) is a cardiothoracic surgeon.The Department of Biochemistry and the hundreds of students that Dr. Varma taught remember him with fondness andlook back on his life with gratitude.

RetirementMrs. S. Sengamalam, Sr. Gr. I Instrument Mechanic, Bio Medical Engineering, retired fromservice on 24th December, 2016, after 28 years in the institution. She became a part of CMC on28th March, 1988. Her husband, Mr. T.J. Sampath, is a retiree from the National Highways. Theirelder son, Mr. S. Aravind is a Professor at IIM, Calicut and their younger son, Mr. S. Rajesh is astudent of MS at the University of Florida. The CMC Community extends its thanks to her for all the

years of service she has rendered to the institution and wishes her a blissful retirement.

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Upcoming EventMusical Mosaic Concert 7th January, 2017 (Saturday):A selection of choral, vocal and instrumental music to refresh and inspire you at the beginning of a new year.The Handel Manuel Chorus from Chennai, will be conducted by Sharada Schaffter and accompanied by DhruvaSeshadri, along with Coimbatore Chamber Chorale, led by alumnus Faith Ragland.All proceeds go to the Development Office Emergency Fund for economically disadvantaged patients.You can donate through salary deduction, cheque or cash. Donation passes at Rs.100 (students and children below18), and Rs.200, 500, 1,000, 2,000 or 4,000 for adults are available. Please donate generously if you can, but you arevery welcome whatever your contribution level!Further information and passes available at the Development Office - dev.office@cmcvellore.ac.in, Phone: 228 3509.

Congratulations!

The following students have been awarded prizes / medals at the University Convocation which was held on3rd December, 2016.

PG Candidates Prizes / MedalDr. Rohit Ninan Benjamin The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - DM NeurologyDr. Vijay Gupta The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - DM NeonatologyDr. Ruchika Agarwal The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - DM RheumatologyDr. Nemani Sandeep Anil The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - DM Clin. HaematologyDr. Riddhi Das Gupta The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - DM EndocrinologyDr. Prasanna K.S. The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - DM HepatologyDr. Adhiti K. 1. Apollo Gold Medal - MD General Medicine

2. Dr. R. Vijayalakshmi Endowment Gold Medal for Woman Candidate3. Dr. R.V. Rajam's 81st Birthday Commemoration Gold Medal4. Iraiyadimai E.A. Jiavudeen Endowment Prize5. Prof. Dr. G.B. West Endowment Prize - MD General Medicine

Dr. Upasana Kachroo The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - MD PhysiologyDr. Vitsizono Sakhrie Prof. Arthur Daniel Gold Medal - MD Radio DiagnosisDr. Mayur Mayank The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - MD Radio TherapyDr. Nancy Angeline G. Dr. Kesavalu Educational Trust Gold Medal - MD Community MedicineDr. Vijay Kumar Manda The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - MD PMRDr. Minu Rekha B. The T.N. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Medal - MD AnatomyDr. Gaurav Ashish Prof. Mohan Kameswaran Gold Medal Endowment - MS ENT

1. Tutor Gr.IV with BOT (Regular Course) for the Paediatric Orthopaedics UnitSalary scale: As per the institutional rules. Accommodation not provided.Apply with bio-data, certificates and testimonial copies, contact phone number, email ID & address with pincode to the Principal,Christian Medical College, Bagayam,Vellore-632 002. email: princi@cmcvellore.ac.in on or before January 14, 2017 for Item 1.2. Counsellor Gr.V (Project) for the Principal’s OfficeQualifications: M.A / M.Sc. in Psychology + PG Diploma in Counselling (OR) One year work experience in counselling;M.A / M.Sc. in Counselling Psychology, M.A (Pastoral Theology and Counselling).Salary scale: As per institutional rules. Accommodation not provided.Applications to be done only through online application system. Please log on to http://www.cmch-vellore.eduLink: “Vacancies”. Note: Only online applications will be accepted; Hard copies will not be accepted. Applications willclose on January 07, 2017 for Item 2.3. Clinical Research Co-ordinator to work in project on term appointment basis. The project will beimplemented under the Department of Cardiology Unit-III. The name of the project is "Multimodality Imaging in patientswith HIV infection to identify early myocardial Dysfunction".Qualification: B.Sc. Nursing with M.Sc. Research or M.Sc. Nursing or B.Sc. Nursing with Research experience and use ofstatistics data base. Apply with biodata, photograph, certificates, testimonial/s to the Dean, College of Nursing, ChristianMedical College, Vellore - 632 004 on or before January 14, 2017 for Item 3.

Situations Vacant

CMC PROMOTIONS OFFICENew E-mail ID: cmc.promotionsoffice@cmcvellore.ac.in

The CMC Employee Co-operative Society’s 65th general body meeting will be held at 4.40 pm on January 4, 2017(Wednesday), at the Kuttumbiah Hall, ASHA Building.