Giving back to the society

Like every student with no real aspirations in life to now being conferred the Padma Shri, Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Manam Gopichand has come a long way.

Talking about receiving this honour, the heart surgeon says, “It’s a great feeling for an individual to be recognised by the largest democracy in the world for the contributions made towards the society.” He also credits his team who “feel strongly” about contributing to the needy.

The idea of curing patients by “doing whatever is necessary to the body” fascinated him from an early age. “Even as a student, I would assist my father while he conducted surgeries. I learned to throw surgical knots by my third year as a medical student. This early interest in surgical speciality helped me focus on improving my technical skills and knowledge,” he says. He feels that the influence of his father Dr Yogiram and his mentor Dr E.N.B. Sarma played a huge role in giving a social angle to his work.

While the fascination was there, he was not always this motivated about his career, he recalls. “I come from a lower middle class agricultural family. My father was the only person in our family who was educated. He tried his best, but the realisation about the importance of education came very late. I was surrounded by people who didn’t have any aspirations.”  

He solely credits his father for continuously pushing him, which finally helped him get into medicine. At the age of 23, he left for UK, to become a surgical specialist and help his family. “I later decided I would return to India and help the poor and provide them with access to modern medical care.”

His desire to become a heart surgeon was further strengthened after he lost his elder sister to a heart disease even before he could complete his course. Since then, there has been no turning back.

Talking about the current crop of doctors in India, Dr Gopichand laments, “While the students in our country are intelligent, once they get into medical school, they unfortunately lose direction. Our institutions are failing to stimulate them as the educational methods used are out-dated.” He continues, “Also, no new methodologies are practiced. There is no effort being made to produce original research work.” He feels that when these students eventually become doctors their aim seems only to provide medical service with little to zero social commitment.

In a country with a huge population, poverty and illiteracy, it is impossible for the government bodies alone to provide fulfilling healthcare needs, he feels. Talking about the several NGOs he is associated with, he shares, “There is the Hrudya cure a little heart foundation which has helped over 3,000 poor children, the Care for your kidney foundation where we have adopted an entire ghetto of 4,000 inhabitants and profiled existing disease patterns.”

He hopes that in  future, efforts will be made to deliver medical service, training personnel for delivering healthcare needs and to raise public awareness to prevent heart diseases in children. “Only then will we be able to help improve the medical standards for the future generations,” he says.