Welcome to Docscopy section of MedBound Times.
Priya Bairagi (MedBound handle: @Priya Bairagi), Dr.Darshit Patel (MedBound handle: @Darshit Patel) and Vithya (MedBound handle:@Vithya) had an opportunity to have an exciting conversation with Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta (MedBound handle: @Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta)
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta completed his MBBS from All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Raipur, India in 2016. He pursued MS (General Surgery) from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College, Madhya Pradesh, India in 2021.Currently, he is senior resident at AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India.
Surgery is all about learning new things every day. Sometimes your juniors teach you better than what your seniors have done.Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta
Dr. Darshit Patel: Hello, Sir, and welcome to this DocScopy session with MedBound Times. Please tell us something about your professional life.
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta: I'm Dr. Rahul from AIIMS Bhubaneswar. I started my medical career at AIIMS-Raipur, which is the first batch of AIIMS-Raipur. In the same year, I got selected for the surgery department at Jabalpur Medical College, which is in my home state, Madhya Pradesh.
After finishing my MS, I joined here as a fellow. Exams are over, and I am waiting for the results. After this, I will be opting for an MCH course, most likely in gastrosurgery or oncosurgery. So, I am preparing for that.
Dr. Darshit Patel: What initially inspired you to pursue a career in medicine, and what led you to specialize in surgery thereafter?
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta: Actually, this inclination came when I went to AIIMS Delhi. After passing my MBBS, I was a bit confused about what to choose. So, I went to AIIMS Delhi and did my JRC for 3 months in the department of neurosurgery. I got to know that I would be a good surgeon rather than a physician. So, after that, I got back to my home state and did my MS from there.
I'm looking forward to the specialty. Basically, it's about the approach. I thought that medicine would come with a very, very kind of, and I just wanted to help people. There is something where we really feel the patient while operating, while in the wards or in the OPD we actually touch the patients. That's how I felt that this would be more about justifying me as a surgeon than a physician.
Dr. Darshit Patel: How do you manage the competitive nature of surgery, including work pressure and demanding working hours?
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta: It's all about, um, I think that, uh, whatever comes to you, accept it. And maybe sometimes it will not be good for you, but it will give you a good experience, mostly. Well, then I was in my old, um, MS days.
It was a very hectic kind of duty. There, we had to stay for a complete year in the ward only. There I started my journey towards how to live with whatever we have gotten, and that actually made the change. If you are getting a mango, then think that it is good for you and take it. If you are getting something else, like a banana, then don't think that I should get the mango first. Take the banana, be happy, and do whatever you can with it. This is what my philosophy is. And till now, I'm happy with it—with my work and with my other contributions. So, I would like to continue this. There is a good saying that a lazy man can do nothing. And if a man is hardworking, give him 100 tasks, and he will do them. He will do it. So, I also stick to the idea that we can do whatever we can, and if we should live in the present, we should not think about it. I spoke. It's good that it's occurring. You're getting it. I face it. This is what my philosophy is. That's a really important lesson that you just gave.
Dr. Darshit Patel: What, in your opinion, sets AIMS (All India Institutes of Medical Sciences) apart from other institutions or workplaces in the medical field?
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta: According to me, I have worked at three AIIMS. AIIMS Raipur, then AIIMS Delhi, then AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
AIIMS or any other medical college like NSC Vijayapur, where I have come, it's the work culture. The work culture is the thing that is helping you out. The work culture at AIIMS Raipur is very friendly. I found it. It was like a family. When we came out of there, I always wanted to come back.
The work culture of AIIMS Delhi is a bit toxic because their priorities are only for the patient, not you. So sometimes you feel that I should also be pampered or cherished like that. And when you go over there, you think that I am the best, and you see your seniors, your colleagues, who are also the best. So it is like you are not being appreciated by them, but you will be appreciated by society as a whole. And when I came back to AIIMS Bhubaneswar, it was in between both extremes.
So, it was a good journey. AIIMS is... we all know that the things that we get here are at par with the level of what we should get in Europe and the UK. So, it is helpful for both patient care and your development. But you should also be good at working in small PHC and CHC sub-centers, so that the main concept of healthcare is not only tertiary care. It's also that we should care for the families with whom we are living in our society.
You have; you just want to be in it. You can be it; it always welcomes you. And the only thing it demands is your time and dedication. If you are giving them time or dedication, you're always welcome. That is what I experienced.
There is something where we really feel the patient while operating, while in the wards or in the OPD we actually touch the patients. That's how I felt that this would be more about justifying me as a surgeon than a physician.Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta
Dr. Darshit Patel: What types of surgical cases do you typically encounter in your practice?
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta: Mostly in minimal-access surgery, I am associated with general surgery. So, we do a lot of procedures, including urological procedures and gastrointestinal procedures. My favorites are a polycystectomy, a lap polycystectomy, a lap hernia, and some fascinating surgeries like ripples, which we regularly assist with.
So it's a mix-and-match. We get to do some small dressings also in wards. So surgery is all about learning new things every day. Sometimes your juniors teach you better than what your seniors have done. I have learned the back dressing from my juniors only. So I'm very grateful that I have good juniors from all the states of the country, and they are actually very good. They have clinical acumen and their approach towards the patients, and I'm learning from them also.
Priya Bairagi: Can you share a specific clinical case that left a lasting impact on you and explain why it was memorable?
Dr. Rahul Kumar Gupta: Yeah, there was a case of a large pancreatic tumor. She was around 48 years old. It was most likely a malignant tumor. So, we planned her contrast-enhanced CT, and it looked like a spin. We built her up so that we could do the surgery because it would need a Whipple procedure. It's a 6–8-hour deal, around 3–4 hours of surgery. So, we built her up for around 1.5 months, and after that, she said that she was happy with the disease only because she didn't opt for surgery. And then I was like, how can I say that it is very important for you to get operated on? But actually, in the end, the patient is the final deciding factor because it is her body and her opinion. So, we respected her opinion and sent her back. That was a great learning experience for me. Actually, I was not in favor of sending her home, but my seniors told me that you should do whatever the patient says because it is our autonomy, our body, and our decision. And this was the thing that made me wonder whether I had done it right or wrong, but I think it is right. At least medically, it is right. I don't know about the humanity aspect.
Stay tuned for the second part of this interview!