Name: Dr. Arshiet Dhamnaskar
Birth Place: Mumbai
Academic Qualification: MBBS, DNB Neurosurgery Resident
What do you do?
I am a 3rd-year resident of DNB Neurosurgery.
What’s the best part of your profession? What made you choose this profession?
There is always something new to learn every day in this profession! Not only does one get to help people in the most important way possible (saving and salvaging lives), but also to explore the intricacies of the human body.
This is what made me choose the field in the first place. It was very intriguing. As a child, I admired doctors a lot. I loved science, I loved experimenting, and I loved solving puzzles. I knew that I’d be very happy in becoming a doctor, (and I am!)
The moment I donned gloves for the first time during MBBS, during our dissection sessions; I knew that surgery was going to excite me a lot!
I did not just want to be an onlooker and make decisions from the outside; I wanted to dig in and get my hands dirty (figuratively). And I do love surgery indeed, even if it means standing for a long time just holding a retractor and cutting sutures!
You are very famous on Twitter, you have a lot of feathers in your hat based on your BIO. What do you have to say about that?
I was always a creatively-inclined person, and I did not limit myself to a particular hobby. If I found something interesting, not only did I pursue it, but I also delved deeper into studying it.
I did not let the notion of "it is only a hobby" constrain me in that particular skill set; I made sure to strive and be fairly good at it. Thanks to the internet, a lot of study material is available at our fingertips. I spend my spare time reading/watching that, and then practicing it myself.
For instance, I could have easily been a writer/poet with just the basic school-level education we all have; and passed it up as "writing just for myself/expressing my feelings". But I did not stop there, and chose to study the different forms of writing, improved my vocabulary, studied different poetic metre, and so on. (Check out some of my writing on http://www.arshiet.com/writing)
I was artistically handicapped to begin with; and I could have shrugged off art as "not my cup of tea", but I studied a lot, I mean a lot, to overcome this— and now I am fairly decent at designing graphics and photography. I post some of these on my Instagram account (http://www.instagram.com/arshietdhamnaskar)
When I studied any of the skills, I did it for the fun of learning; and did not turn it into a boring exercise, like some would imagine.
Interestingly, none of this made me somewhat popular on Twitter. It was actually my witty commentary and puns, that did that. This is something that I have been doing on a daily basis otherwise— not what I studied as a hobby. It was a piece of luck and immense support from a bunch of wonderful people on Twitter that got me to this place.
Tell us something about yourself that very few people know.
Over a decade ago, I came national-level second in the All-India Poetry Competition for school children.
Many of my acquaintances, including my parents, found it very surprising, and many thought it would set my career on a different path altogether. But I stuck to my primary goal, and here I am.
Now many have forgotten this, and while it is not a secret, it comes up only occasionally in casual conversation with a few people.
Which specialty do you find yourself inclined towards in the future?
I haven’t given this a lot of thought yet, and it would be unfair to credit something before committing to it, so I’ll pass this on!
What was your most and least favorite subject in MBBS? Why?
I loved all the subjects in MBBS! Without exception.
Yes, I disliked the way some topics were taught, I disliked some lectures, I disliked the way some textbooks were written, and I even hated spending hours reading and memorizing stuff for exams; but I have never truly disliked a subject. And trust me, I am not saying this to show off anything. Once the subject revealed itself in its true form; either through a clinic, or on-field work, or even an interesting theoretical session; I have fallen in love with it. Because medicine is truly interesting.
Throughout MBBS, I approached medicine as a whole field rather than a group of subjects. Even now, I am interested in topics other than Neurosurgery, and when a patient requiring a multimodal approach comes in; I am thrilled to know how the other departments are approaching it as well! (Even though I joke around that I am not interested!)
Do you like reading? What was the last thing you read?
I LOVE reading. Right from childhood, I was obsessed with reading. I started off with children’s books of course; then moved on to encyclopedias. I used to read all my textbooks (not Maths), immediately after having bought them, even before school started. Such was my craze, that I would even read menu cards, labels, and details on the back of boxes, even random pamphlets, and notice boards.
Our school library would issue a student a maximum of 2 books a week, which I would have been done with by the next day; so, I would ask my friends to check some books out on my behalf, and I would read them too.
Sadly, after joining residency, I have lost both the mindset and availability of time to get a good reading. From reading 50-60 books a year, I dropped straight down to virtually Zero.
Recently, I gifted someone “The Blue Umbrella” by Ruskin Bond, and while they were occupied elsewhere after having opened the gift, I gave it a quick read (or re-read, technically), and that was the last thing I recall reading.
If you were not a doctor, which other career would you choose and Why?
I love this field, and it would be tough to choose something else. And from Neurosurgery, one would come tumbling down to other forms of Surgery, and then clinical medicine, and so on.
But if I were to imagine myself as something other than being a doctor; my first thought would be setting up an educational institute where subjects are taught differently and schooling is more curiosity-oriented and practical rather than exam-oriented or “fun-oriented” (as many would claim it to be). It might even be equipped with a Research and Innovations Lab for developing skills in various fields. Why? Because I love to teach!
I doubt I would choose from my repertoire of hobbies as something for a full-fledged career by themselves; even though I would like to incorporate them somewhere, somehow.
What was the most astonishing lie a patient or junior said to your face?
There are the usual excuses of being late due to traffic, no follow-up due to COVID, and work could not be done as another patient had turned up, but I am yet to come across a lie that will truly astonish me.
If you had to start a rumor, What would it be? (Just a fun interactive question)
Well, I DID start a rumor. It was my friend’s birthday, and he was stuck in another town, and feeling very lonely. Hence, I decided to prank him by announcing his (fake) wedding on social media.
I got it down to every little detail; including designing a realistic wedding card for him, and got people to post "genuine" stories on social media.
What followed next was a flurry of calls to him on his birthday; and a constant smile on his face which will be etched in his memory forever.
As for a rumor I’d like to spread in the future: Hey! I am not going to spoil the surprise now, will I?
What was the most shocking thing you caught /got to know about your patient that he/she was doing?
I learned that many patients resort to some quack remedies; which involve dangerous massages, and steroid medications; instead of proper medicine and physiotherapy, just because it is a ‘safer’ option, and ‘equally or more effective.’
This is done even after thorough counseling, mostly due to peer pressure and desperation. Such things are also hidden from the treating doctor.
Also, shoutout to all the treated cases of head and spine injuries; who still ride without a helmet, and resort to drunk driving.
What is your favorite dish? / If you could eat one food for 360 days consecutively in a year, what would it be?
I love seafood and Marathi-Konkani-style cuisine. The popular beverage, Solkadhi, happens to be my all-time favorite.
I was brought up in a household that did not believe in eating out as a treat. The only times we ate out were at weddings, birthday parties, or while traveling.
So, I can eat chapati with any suitable fish/mutton/chicken dish; or even something as simple as mango pulp (aamras) the whole year round; because, well, I have practice!
Describe yourself using 3 words.
Smart, Creative, Wordsmith
Describe your Ideal work environment.
After dealing with all the generic wants such as comfort, toxic-free atmosphere, good pay etc; I would love the environment to be smart. Where all grunt work is got rid of; minimal paperwork, but a great deal of thinking and a clever approach to work at hand.
Are you a TEAM PLAYER or do you work better/prefer to work alone?
I need a certain level of independence in my work; so that I can work on my own time, as per my own requirements. I cannot easily tolerate someone not working at the frequency as I do.
However, I do love having a good team; especially being in a leadership position, where I can delegate work as per strengths and weaknesses.
I have worked in non-leadership roles before though, with excellent leaders who gave me a good degree of freedom; I blended in easily, and had a great time there too!
What advice would you give to someone interested in becoming a Doctor?
The image most people outside the field have is that it takes a good deal to be a neurosurgeon; lots of study, time management, and working at odd hours. Well, let me tell you… it is all true! The field is demanding, but amazing if you love it.
One important piece of advice I would give people is to study about the field before making a big commitment such as this: know the difference between Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neuropsychiatry, and Neuroscience.
If you do choose the first one, strap in for a really long-journey. Do not expect excision of brain tumours on your first day! It takes a lot of time and patience.
Also, Neurosurgery is about the Brain AND Spine AND Nerves. While the first is indeed the poster-boy of the lot, the rest are also part of this, and you will have to work on them too; and might even end up preferring them!
What do you like most/least about your profession?
Other than the things I mentioned earlier, the thing I love about Neurosurgery, is that it is indeed a “cream-of-society” profession due to its many virtues, but it is also very humbling at the same time.
That is also part of the thing I like least; poor outcomes.
How do you tell a middle-aged man with a Grade IV brain tumor that no matter what we do, the tumor will come again and again, and he will slowly fade away as a person before life is taken away from him?
How do you tell a mother that the rest of the days she will be spending with her child, are in knowing that it is going to die before she does?
When a young man, who came in a cervical-spine injury after a motorcycle accident, asks you, “Doctor, am I going to be physically-handicapped person forever now?”, how do you muster up courage to say, “Yes”?
What's something you wish to change about the world?
Mostly our education systems. Presently, we are trying to establish international standards which do not fit into local templates; while also insisting that our local system is better than the other. We either have a competitive study culture or a callous one, and neither of them are preparing us for life in general.
There are several flaws, and most of them are still debatable. But yeah, the education system worldwide does need a change; the rest will soon fall in place.
If your journey was/were a movie, what would it be called?
Arshiet: Making ‘Smart’ Smarter
What do you love to do in your leisure time?
I have a wide range of hobbies which I resort to, as per my mood; writing, photography, playing some musical instruments and designing graphics. I often take up a random hobby project and just work on it in my free time.
I usually prefer an active hobby over a passive one; but when the mind is exhausted, I do end up watching content online nowadays.
Finally, a quote you relate to.
“Dream, Dream, Dream.
Dreams transform into thoughts
And thoughts result in action.”
― (Late) Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India