Welcome to another captivating session of DocScopy. MedBound Times was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to have a conversation with Dr. Vishal Soni on his life, professional journey, and robotics in surgery.

Dr. Vishal Soni is a dynamic surgeon skilled in Abdominal Robotic - Laparoscopic (Minimal Invasive) Surgeries. 

Dr. Vishal Soni has a strong academic background with a Fellowship in GI (Gastrointestinal) Surgery. He has Diploma & Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery. Dr. Vishal Soni is FACS (Fellow of the American College of Surgeons), FALS (Fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery) & FIaGES (Fellowship of Indian Association of Gastrointestinal Endosurgeons) Certified, and an ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) Provider. He now lives in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Practicing in Zydus Hospital, Ahmedabad. In addition to this, Dr. Vishal Soni is also an outstanding speaker and trainer.

The conversation between MedBound Times (Parul Soni and Anas Adil) and Dr. Vishal Soni gives us an insight into various aspects of his life. We dive deep into his professional journey, his experiences, and the challenges he faced.

Parul: How has your life and professional journey been so far?

Dr. Vishal Soni: One of the remotest memories I have of myself is that I envisioned myself as a surgeon. In reality, it did eventually evolve into the surgery part and paradoxically this happened because of a television channel called Discovery Science. After completing my MBBS, I did my surgery residency at LTMMC (Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College) also known as Sion Hospital, Mumbai. Then, I did Fellowship in Minimal Access Surgery from Delhi. I have been practicing for a long time.

At present, I am based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat for the last seven years. I have been practicing at Zydus Hospital, Ahmedabad for the last few years. I like it here in Ahmedabad. Technologically, it is advanced, the people, the food, everything is nice here.

Parul: Why did you choose Robotic surgery?

Dr. Vishal Soni: In 2010, when I was doing my residency, minimal invasive surgery was not a part of the curriculum. We were trained in all kinds of surgeries but the course has its limitations. My teacher, Dr. Mohan Joshi (Present Dean of Sion Hospital), would often say minimal invasive surgery is the future. That inspired me to go forward with this and now after all this time, I'm here.

I spent a lot of time in Delhi at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. I was a GI Surgeon and Liver Transplant Fellow at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. I saw more surgeries there and I realized that minimally invasive surgeries intrigued me. These surgeries motivate me a lot so, this was in my mind from the very beginning. I came back from Delhi to Mumbai to practice at Sion hospital again.

When the Robotic-assisted surgery system da Vinci XI was launched in India in 2020, I have seen every video of minimally invasive surgery assisted by the robot. It became my passion. I did the FALS-FARIS (Fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery-Fellowship in Advanced Robotic & Innovative Surgery) Robotics Certification. It was like laparoscopic surgery on steroids! There are many technicalities that make it a hundred times better. The finesse and precision in robotics are unmatched. There was no looking back! Now, I'm a trainer in robotics-assisted surgeries.

Parul: That's such an exciting thing to perform! What drives you to perform surgery?

Dr. Vishal Soni: Surgery was something that has always fascinated me. Now, that it is minimally invasive, it feels like magic when you can control the surgical console and make the surgery successful with precision.

Parul: As a Physiotherapist, I can say, minimally invasive surgery has made post-operative rehabilitation very easy and has reduced complications. Can you please tell us more about this? 

Dr. Vishal Soni: People can walk properly with little to minimum discomfort. I can go on and on about how the abdominal muscle dynamics are better with this surgery. There are unbelievable improvements with robotic surgery. I will give you an example, I recently operated on an elderly person. He is 84 years old, he had large hernias. He is really frail but active. He went back home after 12 hours of surgery with no pain! We couldn't have achieved this back in 10 years. But now, it is possible.

Parul: Robotic surgery and artificial intelligence are the new development for us, is it going to replace the surgeons?

Dr. Vishal Soni: Hopefully not! If we look at the variables, AI (artificial intelligence) can think for us, but the surgery has to be performed by the surgeons. If the robot can perform everything on its own, then it would be class 5 independence. But I think it would be Class 3 or Class 4 independence in surgery in future . Just like in the movie Prometheus, where the robot performs the whole surgery! We might reach there maybe in 50 years.

Stay Tuned for the Second Part where Dr. Vishal Soni and Medbound Times discuss about the awards, achievements and the disappointments in his career.