Students, professionals urged to tap wide range of career openings
The awardees were: Anil Kumar Mulpur, vice-president and clinical director of Narayana Hrudayalaya Malla Reddy Hospital in Hyderabad; K.S. Iyer, director of paediatric surgery at Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in New Delhi; Ramakanta Panda, vice-chairman and cardiovascular thoracic surgeon at Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai; Anil G. Tendolkar, consultant cardio-vascular surgeon at Holy Family Hospital and Prince Aly Khan Hospital in Mumbai; and Valluvan Jeevanandam, chief of the section of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Chicago.
Presiding over the function, chairman of K.G. Hospital and K.G. Foundation G. Bakthavathsalam said that this time five heart surgeons were being honoured considering the importance of heart care. “Heart is a vital organ. Even a 15-year-old boy can die of heart attack and not necessarily elderly persons. Therefore, there is need for early diagnosis and effective treatment. The K.G. Foundation chose these surgeons for the award in order to appreciate their contributions in saving precious lives.”
Dr. Bakthavathsalam gave away the awards. Accepting the award, Dr. Mulpur attributed his success to his teachers. He explained how satisfying it was professionally to perform heart surgeries free of cost at the Sathya Sai Institute of Medical Sciences.Dr. Iyer pointed out to the gathering of students that learning was a continuous process.
“A solid foundation that should be provided in schools is missing now,” he lamented. Therefore, one should use one’s profession as a platform for constant learning. Urging students to work hard to become successful professionals, Dr. Iyer, however, stressed that they should serve India, no matter how attractive things were in other countries. Introduced at the function as the surgeon who performed the heart surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Dr. Panda said discipline, hard work and perseverance held the key to a successful career. He told students and young professionals that they had a number of career opportunities and these even offered the prospects of changing fields.
Dr. Tendolkar wanted parents to promote creativity in their children. As for the young professionals, they should not hesitate to take risks. This was the best way to learn and be successful.Dr. Jeevanandam appreciated the outreach programme of K.G. Hospital to provide free eye care to the poor. “I am amazed that K.G. Eye Hospital has done 90,000 free surgeries,” he said.
