Page 30 - Nov Dec HCMA Bulletin

Personal News
Project Starfish has been busy!
Where have the travelers from Project Starfish been? Very busy in the camps in April and May 2019: we held 9 camps and saw over 1700 patients.
Of the villages we visited, 3 were cath- olic, 2 Muslim, 2 Hindu, 1 CSA (Protes- tant), and 1 mixed (Catholic/Hindu). Why does that matter (after all, Project Starfish is a secular organization)? Because there
is a discernible difference in the incidence of diabetes. Why? Diet may be the culprit (Hindus as a whole do not eat meat), but there are other factors we are teasing out, such as lifestyle and heredi- tary. This information will help us in our treatment and patient education. In addition, we also started dental screening, giving toothbrushes and toothpaste donated from dentists in the US. There is a lack of oral hygiene in India, especially in second-tier cities and small towns and we feel that this initiative is important for overall health care.
To date, Project Starfish has held 66 clinics and has had 15,000 patient visits.
Founded by Dr. Kathryn Kepes, based in Tampa, FL, Project Starfish is a non-profit 501c3 international organization that col- laborates with healthcare providers in Southern India to provide both general medical care to rural populations, currently focus- ing on sustainable diabetic screening and treatment clinics. To learn more about Project Starfish, visit: projectstarfishindia.org
Online education goes only so far...
Dr. David Halpern reminds patients that everything read on the internet is not neces- sarily accurate.
When you love your boss...
...you TP her office! HCMA staff celebrated Boss’ Day on October 16th by “decorating” Debbie’s office. Happy be- lated Boss’ Day to all the bosses out there...and the HCMA staff is available for all of your interior decorating needs.
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HCMA BULLETIN, Vol 65, No. 4 – November/December 2019