{"id":2253,"date":"2019-09-30T08:33:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T03:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pathaktrust.org\/srpblog\/?p=42"},"modified":"2023-09-30T23:47:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T18:17:53","slug":"dr-n-r-pathak-the-surgeon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pathakhospitalmiraj.in\/srp\/dr-n-r-pathak-the-surgeon\/","title":{"rendered":"My Grandfather: A mid20th century surgeon seen from the perspective of an early 21st-century surgeon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is the 104th birth anniversary of my grandfather Dr Narsinha Ramchandra Pathak. Born in Wai on 30th September 1915 he went on to become a doctor, social worker, and politician. On his birthday I wish to focus only on his life as a surgeon. While most people appreciate him for his social work and political work, his work as a surgeon is also awe-inspiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Becoming a doctor: a blessing in disguise<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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At 19 young Narsinha, as a first-year Bachelor of Science student at Willingdon College Sangli, had dreamt of following the footsteps of his eldest brother Gangadhar to become an engineer. Gangadhar Pathak was a mechanical engineering student who had unfortunately passed away without completing the course because of typhoid. But destiny had some different plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day, his elder brother Balakrishna called him to Mahabaleshwar from Miraj at once. Balkrishna was the personal secretary to the chief of Miraj Senior Shrimant Raje Sir Ganagadharrao Balasaheb. Every summer the chief with his entourage would be in Mahabaleshwar. The Rajesaheb ordered him to join the Miraj Medical School. The Miraj Medical School was started in the 1890s by the great Canadian surgeon Sir William Wanless. The teaching hospital of the school was The Mission Hospital Miraj. The chief of Miraj Senior State wanted him to join the state-run hospital as a state medical officer in future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the day, there were two types of modern medical educational systems, unlike today. The schools would produce Licentiates of Medicine & Surgery. The LCPS holders could practice medicine and surgery at par with MBBS, but to become a medical teacher one had to complete an MBBS degree. MBBS was offered only by Medical colleges. Medical colleges were very few in number. Even The BJ Medical College Pune was a school then. For a student coming from a princely state area, unlike a directly British-ruled area, getting admission to a medical college was almost impossible. There were two types of licentiates then: LCPS and LMS. For the area under Bombay University, the College of Physicians and Surgeons offered LCPS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no question of saying no to the Rajesaheb and he joined the Miraj Medical School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Miraj Medical School<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He studied there from 1935 to 1940 and passed the Licentiate exam of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Bombay (LCPS). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had preserved some of the notes of that time. It is really noticeable how meticulous the students were in taking notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Koch’s Postulates are really timeless like Newton’s laws , Current students also study the same<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In the evaluation of a case of dysphagia over the last eighty years, the clinical approach is similar, the only thing the oesophagoscope mentioned here is a rigid oesophagoscope what we use today is a flexible video endoscope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Training of a young surgeon at Mission Hospital Miraj<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1941 he had completed the internship and did a medical officership for 1 year. A diary from those days is available which reveals a lot about the scope of the internship. The interns of the Mission Hospital got to do a lot of hands-on work in contrast to the present-day interns. His internship completion certificate next to mine gives a fair comparison of the changed internship scenario then and now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two internship completion certificates one of 1941 and the other 2004. The 1 year duration remains the same but distribution and grouping of specialities is markedly different #MedEd<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/k1sFauAP9D<\/a><\/p>— Sudhanwa Pathak MBBS (@pathaksudh) June 21, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>