"Sir is no more, but his ‘Larger than Life’ contributions to medicine and the innumerable number of students whose life and practice he has influenced will always keep him alive", recalled Dr. S. Rajasekaran of Ganga Hospital on his memories of Senior Neurologist Dr.M.B. Pranesh who passed away on July 31 due to COVID-19.
"Sir is no more, but his ‘Larger than Life’ contributions to medicine and the innumerable number of students whose life and practice he has influenced will always keep him alive", recalled Dr. S. Rajasekaran of Ganga Hospital on his memories of Senior Neurologist Dr.M.B. Pranesh who passed away on July 31 due to COVID-19.
Reminiscing his fond memories and lessons learnt from Dr. Pranesh, Dr. S. Rajasekaran, Clinical Director and Head of the Department of Spine Surgery of Ganga Hospital in his tribute has expressed that the fact that his loss is being felt and talked about, not only by neurologists but by medical men across all specialties, shows the great love and respect he commanded amongst medical men.
In his touching tribute, Dr. Rajasekaran has commended that Dr. Pranesh was a combination of everything that every doctor aspires to be — an astute clinician, a great teacher, a brillant academician and a person who was able to reach the hearts and minds of his every patient.
Is Medicine An Art Or Science..?
This is an often debated question. The whole debate is usually because there are only very few doctors who are able to combine the best of the art and science in medicine for the benefit of their patients.
"And, Pranesh Sir was one of them." His teachings and practice of medicine was always based on perfected principles of medical science. But what made him stand apart was his capacity to bring the art of compassion and humaneness into this complex science of medicine.
lt was always a great pleasure to be in his classes for he taught neurology like a great story and mathematics. His passion for history of medicine, the natural history of diseases, the lives of great medical men like Osler and Cushing, the scientific basis of clinical findings and clinical tests was huge and he taught all of these with equal passion which made his classes so different and inspiring.
The ‘People’s Doctor’
When I was a house surgeon and learning from him, I clearly remember an incident where a poor patient died on the ward after many days of struggle. Dr. Pranesh was more than aware of this eventuality but still grieved a lot.
He took me to the corner of the ward, put his hands inside his pocket and brought out all the money which was in 10 and 20 rupee notes amounting to some Rs.160 ( a sizeable sum in those times) and asked me to give it to the patient's wife to use it for their transport in an ambulance back home.
He was a person who practiced medicine, beyond the call of duty and requirements of his profession and reached out to his patients as a ‘human to human’ whenever it was necessary.
I was fortunate to be one of his favourite students in undergraduate and always had his continuous blessings and wishes. I almost became a neurologist under his influence but the passion for surgery took me to orthopaedics.
When I finished my training in India and abroad and was about to start my practice, I went to his home and sought his blessings and he gave me some advices which I am sure will eternally be a light house for any doctor starting his practice.
And, I still remember them, Treat VIPs as ordinary patients and ordinary patients as VIPs, he said. As you become famous and popular, you will have more VIPs and famous people to treat but your success will lie in treating everyone the same. The blessings and wishes of poor people who have been treated well is what you will stand you through the thick and thin of your life.
If you are to lead a team, make sure that you are the hardest working person on the team. If you are the first to come to a days work and the last to leave, he said, things will automatically fall into place. Problems arise in units where the leader is the last to come and first to leave.
If you are a true doctor, your life should be one of dedication. You should always plan when to start your work but should never plan when to end your day’s work because that has to be decided only when the last patient’s need under your care has been completed.
Never go and see patients at home because a patient who respects your skill will not mind coming to your clinic, however high in the society he may be. This is a respect we have to hold high for our profession and not for self.
His advices strongly influenced my entire unit’s practice at Ganga where every patient was seen and treated equal without any discrepancy based on their social status.
Here at Ganga, We have no separate large consultation rooms and everyone was seen in the same cubicles that were meant for clinical examinations. No doubt, that we lost many patients from the highest strata of society but in the bargain we earned the respect, love and confidence of the society which catapulted us to one of the largest orthopaedic units in the World.
We also learnt from Dr. Pranesh to be hard working and although we could not match his tenacity to run his clinics beyond midnight, it still allowed us to work and practice to a minimum of 14-16 hours a day.
The setting up of a very hard working team was essential to set the highest standards of a unit which excelled in clinical practice, academics and research.
Being mentored by people like him, Prof VR Ravikumar and Prof M Ramasamy, all of whom dedicated their life to the poor led us to follow the principle where even today a great part of our work goes for subsidised treatment.
It was the ethics given by such great teachers that led to the formation of many social service projects like ‘Project Helpline’, Project ‘Save the Working Hands’; Project ‘Straight Spine’, Project, ‘Freedom from Pain’; Project'Hope after Fire’ and the multi-crore project of ‘Rehabilitation of spinal cord injured patients’.
Dr.S. Rajasekaran concluded his tribute by saying that we understand what must have gone through HW Long Fellow’s mind when he wrote —
“Lives of great men all remind us, We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Foot prints on the sand of time.”
His footprints will be always be with us as "To live in the hearts of those who love you, is never to die”.