Stanley students' revival of outreach scheme pays off

CHENNAI: It was a proud moment for some professors and assistant professors at Stanley Medical College when the medicos released a souvenir of their 32-weeks experience of rural service in the Alamathi panchayat union, 30 km from Chennai, on Monday. Health secretary VK Subburaj handed over keys of two new buses to be used by the students to visit the villages.
It was a medical outreach programme covering Alamathi and 25 villages that was discontinued in 1984, when the Stanley Medical College hostel bus broke down.Things changed after the alumni met in mid-2008. "There were several old students who spoke about the village. We could not resist the temptation of driving down to the village later that evening. We then decided to revive the programme," says Dr Dinakar Moses, alumni secretary and a teacher at the college.
The scheme was started in the early 50s by a batch of final-year students led by Dr Sivaji Nayak. A philanthropist donated 71 cents (nearly 13 grounds) for the outreach programme. In 1984, the bus that transported students and doctors to the villages broke down. "We did not get a replacement. The files that we had maintained are also missing. But when we took students on a visit, we told them about a small building we had constructed in the area. We told the students that this building could be our base medical camp," he said.
"The village and surrounding areas, which have a population of 10,000, is yet to have a doctor, and the nearest primary health centre is 10 km away," says house surgeon R Rajaganapathy, secretary CRRI council, Stanley Medical College.
With funds from the Union health ministry as part of the National Rural Health Mission, 30 students medical and nursing accompanied by assistant professors and post-graduate medical students visited the village post lunch every Sunday to attend to hundreds of villagers. "We even take drugs from the hospital," said Swetha, a third-year medical student.
In 32 weeks, the students managed to visit almost every house. "Every family now has a health card. The name of every member, the growth rate of children, vaccination records of every child and anti-natal condition of every woman have been recorded," says a senior doctor.
Now, based on the health surveys, students have drawn up an action plan for preventing diseases. "We found 10-12% of the people diabetic. More than 50% of them were anaemic and more than 7% of the children needed deworming tablets. We have a group of women and children working for anti-smoking and anti-tobacco campaigns," he said.
The health secretary was too happy. "I wouldn't mind offering buses to every medical college which can take up similar projects. Already Chengalpettu Medical College has expressed interest to do similar projects," he said.