Kalam against burdening patients with 'diagnostic pain

Kochi, Feb 4 (UNI) Former President A P J Abdul Kalam today urged doctors to educate people about living a healthy life and refrain from burdening patients with 'diagnostic pain'.

Addressing a gathering at the first graduation ceremony of the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) here, Dr Kalam said ''doctors should play the role of a teacher in educating people to lead a healthy life.'' He said by prescribing expensive tests, doctors were putting patients to a great amount of stress and 'diagnostic pain'.

Dr Kalam further said more emphasis should be given by institutes like AIMS to undertake research on proton therapy for treatment of cancer, stem cell research, nano-technology and 'gene chip'.

Though India did not participate in the first genome project, it was necessary for the nation to become a working partner in the ongoing genome-related programmes, Dr Kalam said.

Ninety-six students passed out from AIMS. Four awards were given to students for outstanding academic performance.

Dr Kalam also inaugurated a new e-learning programme, +Amrita Learning+, which connects 55 value-based schools managed by Mata Amritanandamayi Math and will host multi-media educational content, links to subject-specific websites, which allows sharing of teacher training material, exchange of school projects and career counselling tips.

UNI MA VV PY HT1837