HEALTHCARE

Today I am talking about the most happening sector in the current scenario. Yes, true, it is the healthcare sector. IT is down with recession still in recuperative stages and so are the sectors related directly or indirectly with it. Banking is also very unstable, first the Lehman Brothers then a number of banks worldwide and now goldman sachs… it’s a never ending story. But the Healthcare sector will never face a crisis. Here the growth rate will always be positive.
As the sector is experiencing a surge of growth, the requirement for the trained professionals is gaining momentum. According to a survey by TOI a workforce of more than 300 000 is still required to meet the growing needs of this sector. This demand is higher than IT, automobile, banking and all the other major sectors. Healthcare industry in itself is multifaceted and requires a wide range of professionals. The healthcare sector needs the professionals of the following fields:

1. Doctors
2. Paramedical Staff: this includes nurses and the technicians who can operate the machines like CT, MRI. X-ray, Lab Equipments etc
3. Engineers: General engineers, Biomedical engineers, Application engineers etc
4. Biotechnologists, Microbiologists
5. Physiotherapists
6. Dieticians
7. MBA professionals
8. Fitness experts
9. Travel & Tourism experts for medical tourism
10. Spiritual & Holistic experts

In last few years, I have seen a number of new private hospitals have come up in India. In NCR only more than 10 new hospitals have come up in last 2-3 years like Artemis Health Institute Gurgaon, chain of Max, Fortis and Escorts, Medicity Gurgaon, Asian Hospital Faridabad. There is a long list to follow. These are doing a significant work in providing quality healthcare facilities, But still not able to cater the demands of the burgeoning population. The demand is increasing day by day and so as the demand for manpower.
So choose your career smartly.

TREATMENT PLANNING

With this article I will be telling you about the treatment of a patient. One thing should always be kept in mind that the main focus of treatment is always on the accuracy i.e. we have to restrict the amount of dose which healthy tissues are getting as much as possible. The procedure normally followed during radiotherapy of a patient takes around 25-30 days in most of the cases.
Once the person is suspected to have cancer he/she has to get CT scan done. The CT scan helps to localize the cancer. The correct position as well as its size and shape are very important. The CT scan consists of number of images called slices. These images are then sent to Treatment Planning System (TPS). This is a software that is used to plan the treatment. The person behind the planning is a Medical Physicist. With this software, the amount of dose and its distribution in relation to the affected area is decided. The dose delivered to the patient is calculated in Centigray(cgy) and is monitored in Monitoring units(MU). While the treatment planning is done the patient undergoes another procedure. Here body of the patients is marked to locate the tumor physically. These markings are done on the basis of CT images. These marks are maintained throughout the treatment because the treatment is done on the basis of these marks. Once the planning is complete, markings are done the treatment can be started. The course of treatment varies from patient to patient. I will be following up with the treatment in my next article.