Bringing the Specialty of Pediatric Urology to India
For pediatric urologist Pramod Reddy, MD, a longstanding wish to give back to his home country has come true. In September 2006, he and Curtis Sheldon, MD, director, Division of Urology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, traveled to Nadiad, India, to establish a formal collaboration with Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital (MPUH).
Dr. Sheldon and Mahesh Desai, MD, managing trustee and chairman of the Department of Urology at MPUH, signed a memorandum of understanding for a five-year educational exchange that will establish MPUH as a regional / national center of excellence for pediatric urology. Another goal of the partner hospitals is to achieve recognition for the specialty of pediatric urology in India.
Getting Started
To launch the exchange, Dr. Sheldon and Dr. Reddy performed surgery on eight patients, reviewed research underway at MPUH, and were the main speakers at India's first pediatric urology conference.
This education initiative is the culmination of Dr. Reddy's search for a lasting way to contribute to the quality of health care for children in India. "I didn't want to go there, perform surgery and then leave. Who would take care of the children afterwards? Pediatric urology is not a recognized specialty in India, and adult surgeons are not trained in the procedures we do or the follow-up care."
With encouragement from Dr. Sheldon and Richard Azizkhan, MD, surgeon-in-chief, Dr. Reddy began searching for an institution that could partner with Cincinnati Children's on a program to train pediatric urologists. He learned about MPUH and met Dr. Desai about three years ago and began talking about this project.
Learning From Each Other
Under the agreement, the Division of Urology at Cincinnati Children's will reserve its international fellowship position for a urologist from India. Candidates will be selected by the Urologic Society of India. Fellows will spend up to two years at Cincinnati Children's, and then will be obligated to return to India for at least three years to pass their knowledge to the people in their home country.
In addition, senior faculty from MPUH will have the opportunity to be visiting professors at Cincinnati Children's, and through teleconferencing, staff at MPUH will be able to participate in educational programs held here. Dr. Reddy notes that the program will be a two-way exchange of knowledge. Indian urologists have expertise in the management of stones and in minimally invasive surgery that will be beneficial to surgeons at Cincinnati Children's, he says.
