India 2019: Dr N.Ramakrishnan

Delegate: Dr N.Ramakrishnan, Director Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences

Affiliations: AB (Int Med), AB (Crit Care), AB (Sleep Med), AB (Obesity Med), MMM, FACP, FCCP, FCCM, FICCM, FISDA, FAASM

Short Bio: Dr.N.Ramakrishnan is an American Board Certified Specialist in Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Sleep Medicine & Obesity Medicine and also has a Master’s degree in Medical Management from University of Southern California. He is currently the Director of Critical Care Services at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai and is a Senior Consultant in Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. He is also Vice Chancellor of Indian College of Critical Care Medicine

Dr.Ramakrishnan graduated from Stanley Medical College, Madras and subsequently worked in United Kingdom and USA for over 13 years and returned to India in 2003 as he was keen on ‘making a difference’. He has been instrumental in developing Chennai Critical Care Consultants (www.icuconsultants.com), a private practice group of critical care specialists. Specialized, innovative Tele ICU services are also provided to serve critically ill patients anywhere, anytime (www.inteleicu.com). The group has also successfully established TACT Academy for Clinical Training (www.tact-india.com) which is India’s first simulation based healthcare training center and has won award for innovative concept in healthcare education and also listed for this distinction in Limca Book of Records.

Dr. N. Ramakrishnan is the first Board Certified Sleep Specialist to practice in India and established Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences (www.nithra.com ) in 2004 and is the Immediate Past President of Indian Sleep Disorders Association. Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences is India’s first free standing Comprehensive sleep center and has the distinction of being the first Sleep Center to receive quality accreditation from National Accreditation Board of Hospitals & Healthcare Organizations (NABH). It also has the distinction of being the first institution to offer a post doctoral fellowship in Sleep Medicine affiliated to Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University.

He has been honored with fellowship by American College of Physicians, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Critical Care Medicine, Indian College of Critical Care Medicine and Indian Sleep Disorders Association. He has also received prestigious awards including ‘Best Doctor Award’ from Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University, ‘Young Achiever Award’ from Vaishnav Group of Institutions and ‘Vocational Excellence Award’ from Rotary Club.

He is a respected teacher and an invited speaker in several national and international medical conferences and has several original research publications and invited articles to his credit. He has also authored four books in Tamil for the public addressing issues relating to ICU, Sleep and Organ Donation. He has received several honors form medical professional societies and was also invited to meet the honorable president of India, Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam who appreciated his contributions in the field of Critical Care & Sleep Medicine.

Activities:

February 9 2019: A 30 minute session was held for trainees from a reputed automobile manufacturing company. It was an interactive session which involved asking about their views on sleep and sleep requirements for every age. Many of them agreed that they were having poor sleep hygiene and the session proved to be a perfect opportunity to create awareness about consequences of sleep deprivations, both long term and short term

February 13, 2019: A session was conducted to create awareness about healthy sleep and common sleep disorders targeting a group of firefighter trainees, Tamilnadu Fire & Rescue Services. The focus was on shift work and how to adapt better to it. After the session the learners were very enthusiastic in coming forward with questions regarding Shift work, snoring and sleep hygiene

February 21, 2019: Talk for the elderly
Nithra team had conducted an awareness programme among the elderly residing in an assisted living facility. The Physician enlightened them about the changes in sleep pattern with age and emphasised on the need of healthy sleep for healthy aging, which was the motto of World Sleep Day, 2019. They were also educated on the influence of illness and medication on sleep and how they could prevent the same with sleep hygiene

March 1st Week: Social media is one the best portals which can extend our reach to the general population. As a part of World Sleep Day, 2019, we had also organized activities involving common social media like Facebook and Twitter.

  1. Dr.N.Ramakrishnan had initiated a chain of tweets asking his followers to come up with sleep related slogans and other sleep hygiene tips.

2. We requested some of our patients, patrons and well-wishers to pledge in regards with sleep hygiene practices and their photographs were posted on social media pages. Most of them were more than happy to participate as they could recognize ncessity for spreading the awareness

March 12, 2019 at 4.00 PM: A TALK ON SLEEP – 12/3/2019

A talk targeting the corporate professionals of a multi-national company in Chennai was conducted as a part of World Sleep Day, 2019.The interactive talk consisted of two parts. The first session focused mainly on commonest sleep disorders among corporate professionals and sleep hygiene. The second focused on food habits related to sleep and health. The audience consisted of people in their 30s and 40s(Age group) and were able to grasp the necessity of a proper sleep hygiene. The event also facilitated busting lots of myths concerning sleep.Nithra team aslo carried out free Sleep Apnea screening for the employees. The post-session discussion saw an active participation from the audience. Overall, they were grateful and were hoping for similar sessions in future.

March 15, 2019 From 8.30 AM TO 10 AM: Walkathon, World Sleep Day 2019
As a part of World Sleep day events, a walkathon was conducted by Nithra Institute of Sciences. It involved the faculty and was focused on distributing pamphlets regarding sleep disorders and sleep hygiene tips. The walk took place along one of the highly frequented roads and ended at one of the popular parks in the region. Many of the onlookers once getting the pamphlets came forward for clarifications regarding the content and showed keen interest in seeking medical attention for their sleep disorders.

 

March 15, 2019 at 6 PM: To Mark World Sleep Day and to create awareness on Healthy Sleep among general public , Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences has taken an initiative to lit up the Iconic building , Chennai Metro Rail Limited-(CMRL), Thirumangalam Metro Station in blue colour and Pamphlets on Sleep Hygiene measures were distributed .

Times of India : March 15, 2019 & Local News Papers Issue Date March 10th – 16th, 2019: On an account of World Sleep Day,
1.An Aricle on LET’S CELEBRATE SLEEP by Dr N. Ramakrishnan was published in one of the leading News media , Times of India on March 15, 2019 – Adressing on Shrinking Sleep Time, Sleep requirement for different age group, Sleep Tips, Gender & Sleep etc

2. An Article on Healthy Sleep, Healthy Aging / World Sleep Society emphasizing on the importance of Sleep – publised in different news paper (www.epapers.online)

Location: All over Chennai

March 15 2019: Educated general public on importance of sleep via twitter, facebook and linkedin by Dr.N.Ramakrishnan
Please find below the link of the posts

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2344127525621903&id=445054728862535
https://twitter.com/dr_ramakrishnan/status/1106586658474868737?s=12
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/healthy-sleep-aging-creative-head-

CHENNAI 18 MARCH 2019: Dr N.Ramakrishnan, has shared sleep hygiene measures for night shift workers in most popular dailies- The Hindu (Link of the article given below)
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/night-shifts-ensure-your-circadian-rhythm-is-in-place/a rticle26562398.ece/amp/

March 15 – April 20, 2019: The Government had announced a ban of non-biodegradable and single-use plastic covers and had recommended the use of natural, environmental-friendly products this year. As a welcoming gesture to this reform as well as to mark World Sleep Day 2019, Nithra institute of Sleep Sciences has printed eco-friendly bags of various sizes with world Sleep Day slogans. These bags were distributed to street vendors who tend to use mostly single use plastics.

February 1st – February 20th 2019: On account of World Sleep Day 2019, Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences conducted an ART & Slogan writing on” Sleep well, Grow well” for school children (Group I:5 – 10 years; Group II : 11-15 years; Group III: 16-18 years) and “Healthy sleep, Healthy mind” for college students in order to educate the future generation on quality sleep in our locality (Annanagar).

When compared to last year we had more number of students (approximately 400) had taken part enthusiastically; based on the theme the best artwork was selected.
Winners will be rewarded for their active participation and certificates will be given to all the participants.
Supported schools and colleges were very much appreciated for their commitment towards spreading the awareness on healthy sleep

Location: Nithra Institute of Sleep Sciences, Annanagar, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India

Submitted By: Mary Isabel.C