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Interview with DR.M.R.GIRINATH, Chairman Cardio Vascular Surgery, Apollo Hospital |
Chennai Citizen |
 Madigail Ramakrishna Girinath values lives. He seems to have been created to mend hearts and save lives and this he does with a rare commitment, making no distinction between the rich and the poor, the President and the pauper. He has done over 20,000 open-heart surgeries in very Indian conditions and has been awarded the Padma Bhushan and Dr.B.C.Roy National Award. That he has also been given Best TaxPayers Award in 1995 and 1996 speaks volumes of the person behind the surgical mask.
He took time off between a busy schedule of listed surgeries to speak frankly about himself, the news and views in cardiac surgery.
Q: Can you tell us about your childhood and formative years?
I was born in Chennai and then my parents moved to Ahmedabad in Gujarat. I did all my schooling in Gujarat; then moved to Mumbai where I did my pre-med. I then went to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi where I did my MBBS, MS and M CH. After that I went to New Zealand to a very famous heart surgery unit - Greenley Hospital unit - to work for a very
famous surgeon called Sir Brian G. Barratt- Boyes. I spent 21/2 years in New Zealand and then on my way back I passed the FRACS exam and came back in mid 1973.
But to my consternation I found that there were no jobs here. So I worked with Dr. Nemisha at Mumbai and then I got a job with the Scientists' Pool of the CSIR and so I worked with the JJ Hospital. During those 2 years, I was able to apply a lot of techniques I learnt in New Zealand. Then I was offered a job in the Railway Hospital as a specialist surgeon. I joined the Railways in mid 1975. I spent 9 years in the Railways and during those 9 years we did some very pioneering work.
The Railways had at that time one of the foremost cardiac centres in the country and we were into all fields of cardiac surgery - repair of congenital heart defects in infants. We were practically the only people doing that kind of surgery. We were among the first to do coronary bypass surgeries. We were already doing Double Valve Replacements more than 20 years ago. So that was a very useful experience because we learnt how to do cardiac surgery in the Indian situation with Indian problems. Also the Railways were a very unique organization because they had only one heart surgery centre. The Railways have 1.7 million employees and with their dependents, they had a captive population of 8 to 9 million and so we had plenty of work. Patients used to come from all over the country and we became so well known all over the country, that non-Railway patients came to the Railways and we were able to establish an all-India reputation by the time we were 40 years of age.
And then in 1984, the Apollo Hospitals was set up and at that time I had no real plans to get out of the Railways, as I was very happy there. But Dr. Reddy offered me this job and he gave me a free hand to develop this unit. Initially I had some reservations but when he promised me everything that I could have asked for, I made the move and I moved with my team. We started here in Apollo Hospitals in April 1984; between 84 and the end of last month we have done 20,000 open-heart operations. It has been a fantastic experience. We have also trained 10 surgeons here who have passed the National Board Examinations; we have one of the largest series of coronary artery bypass surgery in the world. We've done over 14,500 coronary bypass operations and we've also done a lot of pediatric work and a lot of valvular surgery and this is now becoming a very well known referral centre for cardiac surgery.
Q: Did you always stand first in studies?
No. I was not an academically brilliant person. I think I was among the first ten but never really made an attempt to come first. That somehow didn't seem to be so important.
Q: What do you think of medical education now? What needs to be done?
Well! Our medical education is more theory-based, I would say. I don't think there is adequate emphasis on practical training.
(To be
continued)
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