Endoscopic procedures carried out at Bhatia Hospital will be relayed live via satellite to the Taj Mahal Hotel where the doctors will be stationed. The workshop shall include lectures by specialists, and a live discussion in which renowned general practitioners will participate. The doctors will see how a stomach ulcer looks through an endoscope, how stones causing jaundice are removed without surgery, and how internal bleeding is stopped using endoscopic clips and glue.

The team of specialists at Bhatia Hospital includes Dr Rathod, Dr Samir Shah, Dr Chetan Bhat, Dr Aabha Nagral and Dr Sanjeev Khanna. The course director of the conference is Dr Amit Maydeo, director and chief endoscopist at the hospital's Digestive Disease Centre. In fact, this centre has been a pioneering institute for endoscopy and gastroenterology in India. More than 12,000 patients have been treated here since 1990. This was the first centre to have separate divisions for endoscopy, gastroenterology, liver diseases, radiology, cancer and pancreatic diseases.

As for this conference, Maydeo says, "It is unique because this is the first time general practitioners are being taught how endoscopy can be performed to diagnose and treat digestive problems. After all, patients do not directly approach specialists with their complaints. They go to their family doctor. And if he does not know enough, he could misdirect his patients. So we, as a group of consultants, thought it fit to educate general physicians about the right approach."

The doctors will be apprised of new developments in the research and treatment of digestive disorders. Maydeo explains, "Acidity, jaundice and diarrhoea are not as simple as they sound. There are different types of diarrhoea and there are six viruses that can cause jaundice. There are so many investigations to be carried out, and the doctor needs to recognise which one is best suited to a particular case."

He adds that jaundice can also be obstructive in nature, that is, it could be caused by a stone. If the family physician were not fully aware of this, he could go on treating his patient for jaundice, thinking it to be due to an infection. So that would be a wrong diagnosis.

Maydeo says endoscopy literally means "to look inside". "Of course, nowadays we don't only look inside, we also operate through a natural endoscope with remote-controlled instruments. We do not make any incision or administer anaesthesia. The procedure is virtually painless. I would say the patient only suffers a minimal amount of discomfort. He can go home after a night's stay at the hospital."

That sounds like India does not lag behind other countries in the field. "Well, we're better than, if not at par with, international standards," Maydeo says. "Students from the US come here to learn endoscopy."