Seminar on Health Skills organised by SIHS

Listen to Dr. Rajiv Yeravdekar on 94.3 Radio One on 20th February 2016 at 09.00 am to 10.00am

SEMINAR ON HEALTH SKILLS

Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences, a constituent of the Symbiosis International University (SIU) organised a Seminar on health skills on 16^th Feb 2016.

The Chief Guest for the event was Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Honourable Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India.  Padma Bhushan Dr S. B Mujumdar, Founder & President, Symbiosis, Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis, Dr. Rajani Gupte, Vice Chancellor of the Symbiosis International University, Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar, Dean FoHBS, SIU, Mr Ashish Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC) and Ms Shubnum Singh, Chief Executive, Max Institute of Health Education and Research were present on the occasion.

Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy mentioned that if 500 million young population of the country has to get employment opportunity there is a need to make skills training aspirational. The country's economy needs people with operative skills and we must send a message that acquiring a skill - which does not take a very long time - is guarantee to a reasonably well paying job.

Mr Rudy said for a long time India's policy laid a great stress on education thus making higher education aspirational as a way to find employment. Most investments were thus made in education with very little coming to skills training. "We created post graduates and doctorates who can't drive a nail into a wall or don't know how to apply first aid to a persons who has met with an accident," Mr Rudy said, adding that even in the skills training areas that available barely eight or nine with a mandate to ensure employment in government factories attract the most number. 

Referring to the healthcare sector Mr Rudy said there are reasonably good facilities for education and training of doctors, paramedics or nursing staff but there is no provision to train dozens of other areas of work where healthcare sector needs staff. 

The government has now defined 6700 national occupational standards and is in the process of determining the parameters for training, evaluation and certification for these occupations, Mr Rudy said. "There is demand for a variety of skills across the world. Make in India will not come through if we don't create 'Makers in India," Mr Rudy added.

Dr S. B. Mujumdar Chancellor, SIU said India with its young population has an edge over other countries where population is aging. "This demographic opportunity will convert into demographic dividend if we create a strong base of skills training," Dr Mujumdar said.

Dr Yeravdekar in his introductory remarks elaborated on the present and proposed facilities for healthcare sector skills training at the Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences.

Hon’ble Minister interacted with various stakeholders viz. hospital, medical devices & equipment, NGOs, training partners, Home healthcare providers, representatives of National bodies, members of the various professional bodies, research organizations etc.

Around 450 delegates comprising of healthcare professionals, service providers, representative medical equipment's and devices producing companies, beneficiaries and policy makers from across the country participated in the event. 

AHPI GLOBAL CONCLAVE @Mumbai.

Dean FOHBS Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar & Col Deshpande HOD with MBA HHM students. 

The students participated in Poster Presentation

Dr Rajiv Yeravdekar co-chairing a session on  Role of Equipment, IT & Pharma Sector in Healthcare Safety & Affordability along with Dr. Ravindra V Karanjekar, Group CEO Jupiter Hospital during AHPI Global CONCLAVE

National Seminar on Health Skills 2016

National Seminar on Health Skills 2016
16th Feb 2016

SIHS is  organising  National Seminar on Health Skills on 16th Feb 2016.

Capt. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India. has consented to the Chief Guest .

The seminar will be presided over by Prof. (Dr.) S B Mujumdar ,Founder and President of Symbiosis Society

Managing a Crisis: Communication in Outbreaks and pandemics Dr. Supriya Bezbaruah

On the 4^th of February, 2015, a lecture in Managing a crisis in Health emergences and communication in such times was held for the MBA-HHM and B.Sc B.M.T students of SIHS at Ambedkar Bhavan.

This session was conducted by Dr. Supriya Bezbaruah who is a Project Manager, South-East Asia Region, Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework Partnership and Communications Officer, Communicable Diseases Department at the World Health Organization Regional Office For South-East Asia (WHO-SEARO).

Madam started the lecture with a game of Chinese whispers to demonstrate how warped a message can get when not communicated correctly. As a health provider you may think your message is perfectly clear but there is a high possibility of it getting distorted due to people’s listening skills, perception &  interpretation, hence it is important to know your audience, especially when it involves risk communication in outbreak of a disease for prevention and control. Sustainability in risk communication is something that should be done.

Madam also touched upon the current scenario of outbreaks, the latest in the news being the Zika virus. Prior to this it was H1N1, SARS in South Africa and, closer to home, dengue. She shared her experience saying that the first step in any outbreak is ensuring the healthy stay healthy and the sick do not get any sicker. An example of an Ebola survivor was stated, about when he had no trace of the virus in his blood he was taken to Delhi for further testing and traces were found in his urine. Seeing this and not being sure about the course of action he was quarantined.

She continued her session talking about the “sensitive side” of an epidemic. As educated people familiar with the sciences of the situation we accept precautionary measures. But for people who do not know the gravity of the situation, it can be a very confusing and frightening experience. Political sensitivity is also of utmost importance when dealing with politicians and the media. During a scare, people often react without thinking and that escalates matters.

This is where communication comes in. For example, in an immunization schedule, if it is properly communicated to people, the acceptance rate will be higher.

Madam continued to talk about some of the proactive communication being used today, about how with the world being a global village, communication channels have changed and the major economic impact most epidemics have on a community, citing examples of SARS and Ebola.    

Madam concluded her lecture citing “Lessons learnt from the past”. These included points she found from dealing with various outbreaks and how she learnt to look at situations differently.

Madam concluded saying – humans are emotional, hence, when dealing with such situations it in important to not only think with your head but also with your heart. We need to hear less and listen more.

All in all, it was a very insightful lecture and the students of both faculties went back with a new ideas of importance of correct communication system during an out-break of a disease. 

Interdisciplinary Seminar on Health Economics

On the 28^th of February, an Interdisciplinary Seminar on Health Economics was scheduled for the MBA-HHM 2015-17 batch at the SIHS Auditorium.

The session started with an opening address by the HOD, MBA – HHM, Col. Dr. Vijay Deshpande who introduced the topics for the day.

This was followed by our 5 guest speakers for the day:

NO.	GUEST SPEAKER	TOPIC
1	Dr. Jyoti Chandiramani	Introduction to Health Care Economics
2	Dr. Abhijit Deshpande	Private Equity in Health Care
3	Dr. Anjali Radkar	Pattern of Morbidities & Cost of Healthcare of Urban Elderly
4	Dr. B. S. Powdwal	Effects of Health Insurance on Healthcare Economics
5	Mr. Vishal Amolik	Health Care Economics, Indian Scenario

Session 1:

Introduction to Health Care Economics, an Overview – Dr. Jyoti Chandiramani

The session started with Dr. Jyoti Chandiramani talking about the basics   of Economics and its relation to the healthcare sector. Ma’am is the Director of Symbiosis School of Economics and the Dean of the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in SIU.

Madam’s lecture focussed on the fact that the demand for healthcare greatly outweighs the current supply. This is due to the ever increasing birth rate and reducing death rate not only in India as a country but worldwide. Health care economics is a social system that studies the supply and demand of health care resources and the effect of health care services on a population and helps us change the systems according to this evolving trend.

Some of the other points covered during the lecture were the difference between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, the social sectors involvement in the same and how the Human Development Index (HDI) – which was first put forward by Nobel Laureate Prof Dr. Amartya Sen and Mr. Mahboob Ul Haq, an economist – has drastically shifted its trend.

\She ended by talking about the Millennium Development Goals and their targets and how with a 1.54% p.a rise in the sector achieving these goals may soon be possible. The session was then open for questions from the students. Madam’s lecture gave us a bird’s eye view of what the economic scenario is currently and where we feature in the same.

Session 2:

Private Equity in Health Care – Dr. Abhijit Deshpande

The second speaker was Dr. Abhijeet Deshpande who holds a Ph.D in Management and Diploma in Marketing from the UK. Prior to being the Director of the Board of University Development, sir headed the MBA-HHM department at SIHS.

Sir’s lecture was very relevant to our current programme and he included points about marketing as well. In brief, he discussed the BCG matrix, Product mix and the importance of considering the Length, Breadth and Depth of any product before it is launched. He also shed light on terms like Cash cow, market decline, etc.

Sir then moved on to talk about private equity being a part ownership of any sector and how capitalization has a huge impact on the same. He discussed various business models and spoke about Mutual fund investors and venture capitalists. An example of the same was given – EYEQ, which is an ophthalmic care facility providing quality eye care at affordable prices to patients in small towns across India.

The lecture was concluded with sir taking in brief about the capital market and the shares available. “Due to the significant growth in subsectors and the volume decline between the years 2012 and 2013 the future looks promising” was Dr. Deshpande’s expert opinion.

As a final note, sir encouraged us to focus heavily on finance during these 2 years as according to him it is the crux of any industry. His advice and pointers gave us all the resolve to do more than just what is expected of us.

Session 3:

Pattern of Morbidities & Cost of Healthcare of Urban Elderly – Dr. Anjali Radkar

Dr. Anjali Radkar from Gokhale Institute was able to deliver a lecture very relevant to our course as she herself had done the study on Morbidity patterns and healthcare expenditure for the same in the Urban Elderly. She holds a Ph.D in Population Studies from the International Institute of Population Sciences and is the Associate Professor at the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.

Ma’am spoke very passionately about the study she had conducted and gave us all inputs regarding how to go about conducting similar programs. Ma’am spoke in detail about the steps involved in conducting a study of this magnitude and shared her experiences with us – both the positives and the issues she faced during the course of the study. She explained the importance of which sample population is to be taken and how to go about comparing results.

Ma’am also spoke about the ICPD in Cairo, 1994 and how expenditure is allotted to the healthcare sector. She spoke at length about the Maternal Mortality Rates, Perinatal Mortality Rates and the impact of the same on the community. She shed light upon how of migration of younger worker population from the rural areas to the urban areas and their subsequent stay in urban slums changes the dynamic of the respective cities and hence affects the country as a whole.

On the whole, Madam’s lecture was a first person’s view on what to expect when conducting a study and it was very insightful for all of us planning to take up similar projects in the near future.

Session 4:

Effects of Health Insurance on Health Economics – Dr. B. S. Powdwal

Dr. B.S. Podwal is the Vice President and Head of Enterprise Fraud Prevention Unit at Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance. Additionally and very impressively sir is also an IASSC Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Sir provided a look into the insurance scenario globally and in India. He provided a comparative look between the methods used in developed nations, undeveloped nations and currently developing nations. Sir spoke in length about the Medicare and Medicaid Health Services. He shared his opinion on the same.

According to sir, the NHS had a huge role to play in the declining economy of the USA as it not only has to pay the 401K on retirement but also takes responsibility for paying unemployment welfare. In a country like the US it manages to stay afloat but a similar plan wouldn’t work in a country like India which has a huge population and limited funds.  However, sir did stress on the importance of Health insurance and stated that it should be mandatory for every citizen. In a position such as ours, the best bet would be to look at group insurance.

The global economic scenario is completely interlinked and hence any change in the economy of any country will impact the others in some way or another. An example would be the recent recession in the USA which, although far away, still led to a drop in the value of the Indian Rupee.

Sir ended on a positive note, giving examples of Telemedicine and robotic surgery and said that this would probably be instrumental in providing the required care to needy sectors and fill in the gap of required professionals in various areas.

Session 5:

Health Care Economics, Indian Scenario – Mr. Vishal Amolik

The final speaker for the day was Mr. Vishal Amolik. He was very keen to share his experience and present his views on the Indian Public sectors role in Healthcare Economics. Sir has an M.A in Economics and is an assistant Professor at MU College of Commerce. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D in Business Economics.

The lecture started with sir talking about the importance of the “3 A’s” of Healthcare – Availability, Accessibility and Affordability. He shared the current government initiatives being undertaken to provide the same. He explained in detail the government’s current role in the industry and their progress.

Sir then moved on to a topic of great controversy – “Public v/s Private Debate in the Health care Sector”. He stated the importance of health for all and shared his views on why healthcare is the industry to look at for the maximum growth within the next few years.

He ended by saying that it is time that the ever growing need for healthcare should be met. He then provided solutions and ideas for a Public – Private partnership in healthcare provision.

The final vote of thanks was delivered by Brig. Dr. Anil Pandit which was short and sweet and the perfect conclusion to this insightful session.