dr gandhis diagnostic clinic

Dr. Gandhi's Diagnostic Clinic

I've been going with Samir Mama to his clinic for a week now, during

which I must have seen him perform over 100 sonographies on a wide

variety of patients. All of the patients are referred to Mama's clinic

by other doctors who want sonographies or X-rays done in order to make

a clinical diagnosis, so Mama doesn't spend much time talking to the

patients about the results of the exam, he writes up a report for the

patient to take to their regular doctor. This means that each patient

exam doesn't take too long, which is good because he sees a lot of

patients. Yesterday alone, he performed over 30 sonographies, while a

technician in the next room took over 20 X-rays.

The majority of patients are either pregnant women coming in for

check-ups or patients' complaining of some sort of stomach pain. I

find the pregnant women to be the most fascinating patients, it never

gets boring to see the tiny fetus's heart beating, or to watch it move

its hands or feet. The whole idea of what sonography can do is

amazing, the ability to look inside a person without any incisions or

surgery. It's almost like a magic wand that can open a window into the

body. I've gotten pretty good and understanding some of the images,

like recognizing the kidneys, the liver, gallbladder, and other

organs. Mama has also seen some interesting obstetric cases, such as a

fetus with anencephaly, or the lack of a brain beyond a primitive

brain stem, and another fetus an interuterine-femur deficit, or the

failure for the femur to develop. Both were sad cases, but what made

them even more tragic was that the mothers-to-be were unaware of their

babies' condition because they had never gotten routine check-ups

earlier in their pregnancy.

After I return from visiting family in Akola, I'll start shadowing a

gynecologist, Dr. Mahesh Asher whose clinic is across the street from

Mama's clinic. There I'll get to see some deliveries and C-sections,

as well as observe Dr. Asher meet with his patients to discuss their

pregnancies. I've already gotten to meet Dr. Asher a couple of times,

since Mama goes to his clinic on Wednesdays to do sonographies. He

seems like a very nice man, and he and Mama have been good friends and