The alumni of Manipal American University of Antigua, College of Medicine are certainly the perfect brand ambassadors of Manipal AUA.

The community of their alumni mirrors Manipal AUA's success at what they stand for, that is shaping well-rounded doctors through their global medicine program to address the projected shortage of physicians globally. A recent U.S. study reveals that India alone is short of 6 lakh doctors and 2 million nurses.

In March, Dr. Swaiman Singh, American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine - Class of 2015, organized a series of medical camps in three cities in the state of Punjab, India, where he grew up. In each of the camps, in Pakhoke, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana, large numbers of residents turned out for preventive care check-ups, health screenings, and other medical services.

The camp saw around 4,000 patients on the first day, as reported by local media. After the camps, they did personal follow-ups in two out of three places. The Pakhoke camp received five days of follow-up, and the Jalandhar camp had two days. The Ludhiana camp received follow-up over the phone by them and in person through local doctors there.

A team of physicians from a wide variety of fields, including surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, orthopedics, oncology, dental, and ophthalmology, joined Dr. Singh. Several non-profit organizations donated medication, and Mai Bhago College of Nursing students and instructors volunteered to help.

Dr. Singh said that the goals for the camps were to learn about the diseases are affecting the local populations in different parts of India, to see what he and others can do to help in the future, and to build enthusiasm around social work in the local community.

Dr. Singh said, "They learned a lot. Some of the major takeaways were that diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) are big problems, as well as alcohol, steroid, and antihistamine abuse. Skin care is a challenge due to pollution and bad sanitation. Lack of education and screening opportunities also pose ongoing obstacles.

There's a huge need for doctors in India but having more nurse practitioners might help close the gap. On the positive side, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are close to non-existent because smoking isn't common." The medical camps resulted in the following successes:

• Testing more than 800 attendees' eyes and giving out more than 200 pairs of prescription eyeglasses
• Administering dental and eye check-ups and giving toothbrushes to all Pakhoke school children
• Performing 300 electrocardiography tests
• Testing and diagnosing many patients with diabetes and high blood pressure
• Using Apple Watches as a screening tool to identify atrial fibrillation, and diagnosing five attendees
• Conducting cancer screenings, including mammograms
• Providing free medication and guidance to attendees

Dr. Singh is already looking ahead to the medical camps he is planning for 2020, which will be held from March 14 to 28. According to Dr. Singh, they would need to keep the focus on dermatology, HTN, DM, heart disease, headaches, pain, gastritis, oncology, and OBGYN services. They would be looking to meet more innovators, as they feel using Apple Watches was a huge success. For the next year, they are planning to use other new technologies that are cost-effective. They have already reached out to couple of companies, including one that makes stethoscopes and another that makes portable EKG machines. They are looking forward to expanding their efforts to help as many people as possible.

Since compassion and humanity is the foundation of the global medical program, AUA has philanthropically come forward to support one of the world's most challenging and ignored social cause of elderly care, by co-sponsoring a fundraiser musical event in aid of Omashram Trust Old Age Home, Bengaluru.