The field of cardiology is quite intimating in its nature. Prominently in India, the picture is severe with the number of patients increasing every year. In this high-end field, women face more challenges. The Indian cardiology community faces gender disparity. Women constitute less than one-tenth of the cardiologist community today.
The era of Indian medicine was initially very pessimistic for women. Dr. Anandi Joshi was the first female doctor and graduated in 1886 with an MD. This new dawn carved a path for many women to enter the field of medicine and broke the norms set by society. Dr. S.I. Padmavati was one such revolutionary. S.I. Padmavati or Sivaramakrishna Iyer Padmavati was born on 20th June 1917 in Burma now known as Myanmar. She received her MBBS degree from the Rangoon Medical College in the 1940s where she was the first female student. During this time, Myanmar was invaded by the Japanese due to which her family moved to India. After obtaining an FRCP degree from the Royal College of London in 1949, she went on to receive an FRCPE from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. During her stay in the United Kingdom, she was employed at various healthcare institutions, including the National Heart Hospital, National Chest Hospital, and the National Hospital located in Queen Square, London. (1)
Later after completing her term in the UK, she moved to Sweden for three months where she took a cardiology course at the Southern Hospital. Subsequently, she applied for a fellowship at John Hopkins under Dr. Helen Taussig. During that period Dr. Taussig was famously working for her innovative work on 'blue baby' syndrome. In 1952, she additionally worked at Harvard Medical School (Harvard University), where she studied under Paul Dudley White, a pioneer in modern cardiology. (2) (3) After returning to India in 1952, she was offered a position of lecturer at Delhi's Lady Hardinge Medical College, and within a year she was made Professor of Medicine and went on to set up North India's first Catheterization Lab in 1953. (4) Further, she was appointed as an examiner with the Medical Council of India where she started the first DM in cardiology in India. (5) Dr. Padmavati established the All India Heart Foundation (AIHF) in the year 1962. The 5th World Congress of Cardiology in New Delhi appointed her as Secretary-General in 1966. (6) In the year 1967, she was awarded Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor. Also, in the same year, she joined Maulana Azad Medical College where she also set up a Cardiology Department. Thereafter, she introduced the DM course in Cardiology, which admitted postgraduates. Post-retirement in 1981, she set up National Heart Institute (NHI) under AIHF, in South Delhi, where she effectively worked on tertiary patient care, research, and outreach patient care. (7) She also worked as Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Delhi. (5) She received the second-highest civilian award 'Padma Vibhushan' in 1992. At the age of 90, the European Society of Cardiology 2007 made her a fellow, making her the most senior fellow. (8)
On 29 August 2020, Dr. Padmavati died due to COVID-19 complications. She was 103 at the time, making her the oldest doctor in India. (9) To this day she holds the power of position for many young women in medicine who are fighting societal norms along with gender disparities. There might be a noticeable change in the inequality in cardiology but still, the change is underwhelming. An article published by Circulation in 2019, showed that 63% of female cardiologists had experienced gender bias. (10) Even though Dr. S.I. Padmavati has done monumental work. We only wish to continue in her footsteps and create a better alliance in medicine for betterment.
References
1. "Eminent Cardiologist Dr S Padmavati Dies Of COVID-19 At 103". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
2. "Matters Of Heart". The Financial Express. 29 September 2002. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
3. Development of Cardiac surgery in India Archived 14 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
4. https://www.docplexus.com/posts/dr.-padmavati-india%E2%80%99s-first-and-oldest-woman-cardiologist.
5. "Awareness on cardiac health vital". The Hindu. 24 December 2009. Archived from the original on 28 December 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
6. "Fifth World Congress of Cardiology" (PDF). British Medical Journal. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
7. "SI Padmavati: India's 1st female cardiologist dies of Covid at 103 | India News - Times of India". The Times of India. TNN. 31 August 2020. Archived from the original on 31 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
8. "A Centenarian Fellow". www.escardio.org. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._I._Padmavati#cite_note-15
10. Sonya Burgess, Elizabeth Shaw and Sarah Zaman. Women in Cardiology. Underwhelming Rate of Change. 19 Feb 2019. Circulation. 2019;139:1001–1002.
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