While we are gearing up for the centenary celebrations of our Alma-mater, King George's Medical College, Lucknow in December 2011, have we clearly understood the significance of the occasion, or are we, in the midst of all the busy meetings and detailed planning sessions, forgotten that this is an occasion which has come after hundred years, and none of us would be around in this world to see the next one!
Whenever a really big occasion beckons us, we have a tendency to get lost in its magnum opus and forget a simple thing….how will the future remember this occasion and gauge us? Will they consider our effort as a really worthy one, or will the say that we fizzled away the glorious opportunity? Yes, we need a big party, a 3 day cultural and academic extravaganza, but is that all we need to do to celebrate 100 years of existence of our Alma-mater?
Think about it! Should we not leave behind a legacy, so that our successors look back and feel proud of us? Every monumental occasion needs a legacy planning and I am not sure we have one so far.
What is legacy?
Legacy is ensuring that as many sustainable benefits as possible are generated by the event for the institution, the city, the region and the country
Legacy is delivering these benefits well before, during and long after the event for all stakeholders and communities
Having a legacy vision and plan to leverage every possible opportunity is the hallmark of a good organizing committee. Merely gloating that we are a breed apart and the very best of the best is not and will not be good enough.
Celebrations without a social cause looks very selfish and self centred. We must think that on the occasion of the Centenary of our Alma-mater what we are offering to the city of Lucknow, the state of Uttar Pradesh and to India.
A. To the city:
1. The city lacks a trauma pick up system and we could arrange for a fleet of ambulances fully equipped with life saving devices to pick up trauma victims from anywhere within a radius of 50 Km from our Trauma Centre.
2. We could start a Centenary School Health Education Programme in which we could adopt certain Government and Non Government schools and arrange for some useful and interesting interactions with students on various health related topics like sanitation, safe drinking water, nutritious diet, tobacco usage, safe driving, breast self examination etc.
3. We could adopt the poorest village in our district and cater to all its health needs
B. To the State:
1. The most burning health issue of the State is the Japanese Encephalitis endemic. We can start a JE eradication programme, complete with research and clinical wings so that we can be of best use to the State.
2. We can initiate a Centenary Polio and Cerebral Palsy rehabilitation programme with the dual aim to make the State polio free and to make every disabled person live a respectable and dignified life
3. We can initiate a Centenary Stroke Station which will pick up patients from home, treat them, rehabilitate them and reintegrate them in the society
4. We can initiate a Centenary Beating Heart programme to educate the masses, detect risk factors early, inculcate the concept of cardiac safety in the people of the state and offer world class treatment for one and all.
C. To the country:
1. If one KGMC / CSMMU could teach so many students in the last 100 years imagine how much we can contribute to the developing world by starting our satellite institutions in Nepal, Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. If IIMs less than 50 years old can open newer campuses in Colombo and Dhaka, if Apollo group can open hospitals in Colombo and Dhaka, why can we not do the same? Have we put forward this idea to the State Government? I do not think they will be terribly disinterested in opening institutions of excellence overseas, if they bear their chosen iconic names and statues.
2. The country needs to earn revenue from the competitive medical tourism market. Let us help this process by standardizing our various departments so that we turn out to be the number one destination of medical tourism in our country by opening wards exclusively for this purpose in the target departments.
3. Research is always a long term investment and areas of future successes like stem cell research and nano-technology need to be identified and on the occasion of the centenary we should be able to initiate work towards achieving these research goals.
D. To the Institution:
Centenary global integration programme: If we are the premier medical institution that we claim to be, and we are 100 years old, then what should we be looking like? Hundred year old institutions look like Oxford, Cambridge and Harvard, so why are we not in that same league? We are not because we have chosen to stay in isolation and not integrated with the world. And in today’s world of globalization, isolationism is a curse. We have to integrate with other medical institutions, both public and private and, both within our country and overseas. No department in itself can be considered complete but when post graduates from one unit go to another one, they are exposed to newer ideas, newer gadgets and newer way of doing things. This cross-pollination of ideas is vital for the development of any individual or institution. Inbreeding can only weaken the progeny. Not only at student level, but even at the faculty level this cross-pollination must be allowed. If Team India can have coaches from South Africa, Australia and Zimbabwe, why can we not have teachers from overseas? Our own alumni will help the Institution to arrange for the best teachers.
As a responsible organization, we must ensure that the city, the state and their residents are left with the most positive legacy in terms of services, infrastructure, expertise and experience from our Centenary celebrations!
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