There’s no such thing as the best college, there are a lot of medical colleges in India, with great faculty and a wonderful learning environment. Whichever you get is the best and will be the best for you, remember a person with determination and a winning attitude can work out wonders in any place they’re in.
1. Tell us about your upbringing, background, and journey?
Hailing from a middle-class family, I have lived a simple childhood with very limited resources. In spite of being a girl child in a joint household, my parents never compromised on my education, nor my sister’s, and did all they could do to provide us with the best of everything we needed.
Despite financial and social hurdles, they let me move to Delhi to study for competitive exams. Because of their blessings, I cracked the all India CBSE PMT exams in the first go after my 12th standard and got selected into one of the best medical colleges in Delhi, Lady Hardinge Medical College.
I completed my MBBS and did general practice in a few hospitals to gain more experience, until I got selected for MD in Radiation oncology in another premiere college in Delhi, Maulana Azad Medical College, and started learning the nuances of oncology.
Radiation Oncology is a rapidly evolving field, with new technologies coming up daily, and I wanted to hone my professional skills in an environment where these technologies and methodologies would be readily accessible, so I decided to move to Canada for pursuing a fellowship and further studies. So far, the journey has been greatly enriching, with its own ups and downs, and I’m quite satisfied working in a highly academic and competitive environment with amazing colleagues and seniors.
2. Why did you choose to be a doctor and decide what you specifically want to do?
I always wanted to make a difference in society and being a science nerd with top grades all throughout my schooling, attracted me to the medical field and it felt personally more satisfying. Also, I wanted to make my parents super proud by being the first doctor in my entire extended family.
After having gained some experience working in various specialties during internship days, I had a few choices in my mind. Now we do not get exposed to oncology during our MBBS days to the same extent as with other specialties, however having seen a lot of cancer patients during my general practice and volunteered to work for cancer patients through a few NGOs, and also having witnessed my own relatives suffering from cancer, I knew this field was a right fit for me.
My interest in pursuing oncology was further supported by the fact that we do not have a lot of awareness about cancer and it is still stigmatized in our society to the extent that people ignore the disease until it reaches the advanced stages and is beyond curable.
3. We salute your work during the pandemic, where did you get the inspiration to work so hard?
Thank you for your kind words. This pandemic has been extremely challenging for everyone, especially healthcare workers who have been working throughout beyond exhaustion and we all are coping with this pandemic in our own ways.
From a cancer perspective, we never stopped seeing cancer patients because cancer doesn’t wait for the pandemic to end, so seeing our patients getting cured, helping them to get through the treatment safely and the happiness on their faces on their last treatment days is what keeps me going.
4. How do you expect digital health to grow over the next 5 years?
There are many great lessons from the pandemic that we can take forward with us into the future, and one of them is that health care should be made more accessible. We are quite lucky that we are born in this information age.
With an increased number of platforms allowing patients to get easy access to physicians offering their services online, it seems like the next 5 years would be a game-changer in the field of digital health, and we should try to innovate and embrace what we’ve learned. However, digital health cannot match the amount of trust and satisfaction you get when you see your patients in person and vice versa.
5. What is your message for aspiring doctors and the young generation? Which is the best medical college according to you?
My only message to aspiring doctors and young professionals is perseverance and hard work are what will take you to places. There is no substitute for hard work. Trying to take shortcuts at this stage is like building a foundation out of sand - it won’t be able to support you when the weight gets heavy! And don’t just work hard, work smart; think outside the box.
So wherever you are, whatever resources you have, you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it. And if anyone tells you otherwise, prove them wrong. Surround yourself with positive and uplifting people. Energy is contagious. And never stop learning. Educate, read, write, and invest in yourself. Also, don’t forget to rest and take care of your own health, there is nothing wrong with taking an off time to relax and recharge yourself.
There’s no such thing as the best college, there are a lot of medical colleges in India, with great faculty and a wonderful learning environment. Whichever you get is the best and will be the best for you, remember a person with determination and a winning attitude can work out wonders in any place they’re in.
6. What does your typical day look like and what do you like to do besides work?
My typical workday starts with coffee and checking my work emails in the morning and doing patient rounds if there are admitted patients, checking lab work and putting orders, and then going to OPD to see the new and follow-up patient appointments with the tumor board and other professional meetings scattered throughout the day.
After the standard workday is done, there are usually still a number of upcoming patients whose tumors need to be carefully delineated on their CT scans, what we called as contouring, as well as, spend some time reviewing scientific journals to keep myself up to date.
Apart from work, I love doing yoga and not many know this, but I am a certified yoga practitioner. I like reading about the universe and the human brain, but lately, I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t been able to indulge in that. I also try and create awareness about medical issues and share my experiences through my social media account.
I also love traveling to explore new places and experiences and find that it rejuvenates and helps in clearing my mind. And oh yes, hiking has become my latest love.
Clinical Radiation Oncology fellowship program, Department of Radiation Oncology
BC Cancer Agency, Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Interviewed By: Shivansh Sharma
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