Dipika Patel

Nephrology Physician Assistant 👩🏻‍⚕️ McmasterU Alumni 📚 UWaterloo Alumni 🎓

[CanadaPAs @canadapas]

"Last week he was able to see 65 of my patients, so that's an extra 65 extra patients who received care. It's amazing."
.
PAs are FORCE MULTIPLIERS and are a SOLUTION FOR PRIMARY CARE that needs to be implemented from coast to coast!

https://t.co/7o9sSLAEfb

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Happy Holidays 🙌🏽

s/o to our talented team member for making these custom t-shirts

[Kevin Mcleod @dockevinmcleod]

Every year the ministry of health does a practice profile on every physician in BC. I personally wish much of them were made public but appreciate privacy concerns.

I want to share details from mine to show you why I’m passionate for physician directed team based care as opposed to bureaucracy managed team based care which I think is more expensive. I have one of the busiest practices in BC.

My cost to you as a taxpayer is $235 per patient in my practice per year. The average for others in my specialty is $377 - I am extremely careful what I charge taxpayers (probably to my own detriment). Out of that $235 I have to cover rent, staff, all overhead. My patient complexity/morbidity ratio is 114% - I tend to have sicker patients than average.

Now you might be thinking $235…what? That’s a typo. No. That is what I bill the medical service plan (your tax dollars) on average for each patient in my practice for an entire year. Not per visit but per year. Some of course are less others more if they are more complex. I do not bill patients privately. There are other per patient costs - hospital, labs, imaging. The $235 is only my physician and overhead costs not the other costs.

Now if I was allowed to hire a physician assistant I could extend the number of patients that I could see (and reduce the number of unattached patients out there with complex medical needs). I could also provide better quality of care. I am beyond stretched. My patients know they sometimes have to wait too long. A physician assistant could help that. I’d also be less likely to burn out.

I can assure you that I could well utilize a physician assistant and for those in government decision making positions I can also assure you that my per patient cost will not increase. If it does take the money back. I could focus my time on managing complex patients, decreasing a waiting time, and likely even reduce per patient cost. Help me help you and patients while we are at it.

Show me a government run bureaucratic process that will do this for less than $235 and have similar outcomes. Now maybe my patients think $235 isn’t value or they have to wait too long. I am certain team based care needs to be a huge part of health care transformation.

Caveat to the above. This is only patients in my BC practice. Yukon does not provide this information. I suspect similar but can not say for certain.

[CAPA | ACAM @CAPA_ACAM]

🇨🇦 Happy National Physician Assistant Day! 🎉 Celebrating PAs' contributions since the 1950s, from Canadian Military service to nationwide healthcare. Thank you to the 1000+ dedicated PAs.
#HappyPADay #CanadaNeedsPAs

[TheLiverDoc™ @theliverdoc]

Between February 2023 and June 2023 kidney doctors at Aster MIMS Hospital, Kottakkal, in Kerala started getting a series of patients with a rare and strange type of kidney disease. They were baffled.

They called it Neural epidermal growth factor-like 1 protein (NELL-1) associated membranous nephropathy - a weird disease where the the body's immune system was attacking the filtering membranes of the kidney.

The disease was characterized by massive loss of protein in urine (>3.5 g/day) and clinically presented with severe leg and face swelling, high blood pressure, frothy urine, and clot formation in blood vessels of legs or lungs and sometimes strokes.

The first patient was a 14 year old girl, followed by her relative. Both their kidney biopsies were positive for NELL-1 kidney disease.

Then came a completely unrelated 29 year old man. The doctors were alarmed. And they looked at their records. There were five more such patients within the past 4 months.

They looked at published literature and found a common culprit among most NELL-1 cases recorded.

Mercury.

Blood levels of mercury in patients were checked and the doctors were stunned. Levels were 100 times more than normal limits of detection.

But what was common to all these mercury poisoned unrelated patients?

And a thorough clinical history in retrospect found the culprit.

Fairness creams.

All patients were using locally made fairness creams to lighten their "naturally-beautiful dark skin."

Fairness creams contaminated with mercury, causing chronic mercury poisoning and NELL-1 kidney disease is well known.

See this report from Akola and Mumbai - https://t.co/Z9zCZOIg7e

Another cause for Nell-1 kidney damage is presence of lipoic acid which can by itself cause membranous nephropathy. Lipoic acid is a common constituent of fairness creams and many oral antioxidant supplements - be wary of this.
Check your supplements.
See here https://t.co/hhyIPn15nP

Not only fairness creams, but traditional herbal medicines, especially Ayurveda & Siddha formulations which Indian "wellness gurus" such as Sadhguru so passionately promote, have been implicated in multiple cases of mercury-induced severe Nell-1 kidney disease.

See here https://t.co/QhSSU9pFji here https://t.co/0H3lWJcFUQ and here https://t.co/CR0Wzf7UKh

Be wary of locally made cosmetics, lipoic acid based oral supplements and Ayurvedic and Siddha herbal products. Know what is good for you. And more importantly, know what is not.

Avoid unwanted troubles. Use the knowledge from medical science as a shield to defend yourself against unscientific practices and bad science.

Sources:
2023 Kerala: Want To Become Fair? Beware Of MN Syndrome - https://t.co/GQzHOC29YN

2022 Mumbai: Mumbai doctors link fairness cream to kidney illness in family - https://t.co/o16zqVIcGN

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Join us on September 27, 2023 for an exciting case with a surprise guest!

Role of precision medicine: Acute-kidney injury in a 27 year old

Virtually at:
https://t.co/OGmBXVnZy7

Meeting ID: 853 7903 7038
Passcode: 2023

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

After a summer break we are back with a fascinating case!

Join us on August 30, 2023 at 6:00pm EST!

Virtually at:
https://t.co/OGmBXVnZy7

Meeting ID: 853 7903 7038
Passcode: 2023

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Super excited for this chat with our super nephrologist @DrSumanBehera

Tune it today at 12:00 pm EST

[ISN Education @ISNeducation]

JOIN #ECNeph chat
📅 27th July , 9.30 PM IST @ISNkidneycare
An young man with backpain and AKI
By @DrSumanBehera
Moderator :@myadla

[bapstoronto @baps_toronto]

#BAPSToronto is ecstatic to welcome HH Mahant Swami Maharaj to celebrate the 50th anniversary of BAPS community service and selfless volunteerism in Canada.

#BAPS #SatpurushInCanada

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Join us on May 3rd, 2023 at 6:00pm EST for our next biopsy rounds.

To join use the link below:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://t.co/OGmBXVnZy7

Meeting ID: 853 7903 7038
Passcode: 2022

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Join us on April 5th for the next biopsy rounds!

[Dipika Patel @d_pikaa]

So so so incredibly proud of this beautiful soul. This world needs her 🤍

[Forum Trivedi @f_trivedi]

I am extremely honoured to announce that I matched into a family medicine residency at Rutgers - Centra State in Freehold, NJ.

I’m incredibly thankful to everyone who supported and believed in me. Can’t wait to see what this next chapter will bring!

#Match2023 #FMRevolution

[Dipika Patel @d_pikaa]

@f_trivedi Congratulations 🤍

[Dipika Patel @d_pikaa]

Happy International Women's Day!

The Red Dot: An Emblem of the Divine https://t.co/azoGqI5trW

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Just one week away!

Join us on January 18th, 2023 at 6:30pm for our kidney biopsy rounds!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://t.co/OGmBXVnZy7

Meeting ID: 853 7903 7038
Passcode: 2022

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

We are excited to be back on January 18th, 2023 at 6:30 pm EST for your next biopsy rounds.

This will be a exciting hybrid event, both in person and virtually via zoom. Details in the poster below.

[Dipika Patel @d_pikaa]

Thank you @BajinderR

It's been an incredible
privilege working with you ❤️

[bajinder reen @BajinderR]

@GlassockJ @EducationistK I have one of the best PA in my office. Loved by patients and also one of the organizer for our biopsy rounds. Glad she is on my team

[RKWC Biopsy Rounds @Biopsy_RKWC]

We will be taking a break for the holidays!

Tune in to our last rounds at the link below and subscribe!

Great teaching points on patients with CKD considering pregnancy!

Thank you to @BajinderR

https://t.co/NjZEpwpwt2

[Dipika Patel @d_pikaa]

@DrSumanBehera @Shuchi_Anand Ayyy! Congratulations 🙌🏽