Vivek Podder is a physician in Bangladesh.
In medicine, there’s a rhythm we grow accustomed to—diagnose, treat, move on to the next patient. But for me, beneath that rhythm, there’s always been a quiet hum: belief. Not the kind that seeks to explain every event or outcome, but the kind that reassures you that even when things go wrong, you are exactly where you need to be.
Faith in God didn’t arrive through one grand moment for me. …
Life has a way of teaching us through the most unexpected experiences, often in moments that feel daunting. I reflect on this often, especially when I consider my own journey—a journey shaped by illness, loss, inspiration, and a constant hunger for knowledge. One lifetime can feel too short to absorb everything there is to learn, yet the most meaningful lessons often emerge in this brevity.
As a child, I never imagined …
I lost an inspiration—my relative (Dr. PBA), a dedicated and talented doctor, who succumbed after a long and courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer and brain metastasis. She was the driving force behind my passion for oncology research, especially in breast cancer. Her journey began with a late and missed diagnosis, leading her across borders in search of evidence-based care, from one health care provider to another, and through relentless …
Current medical education promotes and encourages the textbook approach to learning, while interactive patient-centered learning rarely happens. Although rote learning plays a critical role in medical education, applying what is learned deepens the understanding and application of rote-learned materials. Undergraduate students can learn with supervision from instructors and patients, so they are prepared to practice medicine with excellence.
These trainees are learning the latest available techniques but lack the experiential wisdom …
I have experienced a wide spectrum of the health care ecosystem since childhood giving me a deeper insight into its future need. I suffered for 23 years with a wrong diagnosis and frequent long-distance hospital visits before my heart operation. For 14 years, I shifted through multiple doctors and hospitalizations for my father’s mismanaged diabetic complications, including a foot ulcer with cellulitis. My academic mentor said, “Your father himself is …
This episode was during my elective time in India in the late winter of 2017. It was a patient-centered learning opportunity for students around the world who has an interest in medicine. I was excited about this because of my earliest clinical exposure to patient encounters as a medical student. I was excited to meet the patients, talk to them, and help them despite the uncertainty and emptiness in my …
I was a four-year-old kid when I was about to begin my first day of school. I was born and raised 20 kilometers away from the big city in a small rural area with minimal essential amenities — schools, roads, and hospitals. Like all other kids, it was a momentous occasion for me to start my first day of school, and I remember how exciting it was.
As I started to …
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