“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” Dr. Ramasubbareddy Dhanireddy, a US based neonatologist used this George Santayana quote to conclude his talk on “Evolution of Neonatology” at the MGIMS Academy of Medical Sciences.
Dr. Dhanireddy is Professor and Chief of Neonatology and faculty member of Epidemiology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, USA and a retired colonel of US air force. After graduating from Kurnool medical college, he did his Pediatric residency from Louisiana State University Medical Center, and a Neonatology fellowship from Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC, USA. To his credit, he has 37 years of vast experience in the field of Neonatology that includes 21 years of US military service, a prestigious NICHD fellowship, several honours and awards, guest lectures, research grants, teaching and administrative experience, and close to 70 publications in peer reviewed international medical journals and 140 odd conference presentations.
Dr. Dhanireddy visited the department of Pediatrics at MGIMS in the mid-February 2017 and spent a week in the department learning how we strive hard to deliver cost effective pediatric and neonatal intensive care services in a resource-limited setting. He interacted with the faculty, residents, nurses of Pediatrics department, PICU and NICU; interacted with the Maastricht university students from Netherlands completing their internship at the MGIMS Pediatrics department; took daily bedside rounds of the patients; and also lectured residents and nurses on the importance of temperature regulation in newborns. He also gave an interactive lecture for the MBBS students; had discussion with the administration; and interacted with the OBGY and Surgery heads. On his last day at Sewagram, Dr. Dhanireddy gave the above talk in the MGIMS Academy of Medical Sciences.
“It is great and inspiring how MGIMS faculty are continuing Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy to serve the underserved shunning away the lure of corporate hospitals. I am thoroughly impressed with the quantity and quality of healthcare the Pediatrics department currently offers against the odds of resource limitations and staff crunch. I am also impressed with the teaching and training, research work and the national and international level collaborations and consultancy that this department has successfully nurtured. I will be happy to provide any help, support or guidance to help the department grow further into a world class center of excellence,” Dr. Dhanireddy said while heading back to US.