Dr Raghuvanshi was born and brought up in the hills of Dehradun and lived and worked at most places in India. He has finally settled in Bangalore after an illustrious decade at Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata, where he started the department of cardiac surgery.
Youngest of three siblings, Dr Raghuvanshi lived a ‘swachhand’ childhood. A self-confessed prankster, as a child he was quite naughty and dragged himself through school. “I was a very mediocre student. Till my 11th standard, I was not serious about studies at all,” shares Dr Raghuvanshi.
The choice of medicine came to him accidentally. “My elder sister wanted to be a doctor, but she could not study MBBS. I am very close to her and she started to encourage and motivate me to do medicine,” he remembers.
At that time he was in his 11th standard. He had not done very well in the 10th standard and wanted to prove himself. He did well in 12th and subsequently went on to do his MBBS from the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, Maharashtra.
Spending time at Sevagram, Wardha was part of the curriculum and Dr Raghuvanshi found his bearings there. The rebellious and carefree Dr Raghuvanshi transformed into a focussed and humble surgeon. He finished his MBBS with distinction and continued his internship at ESI, Hospital Delhi.
It was during this time that a chance visit to a friend at a different hospital in Delhi brought Dr Raghuvanshi in close contact with cardiac surgery. He was mesmerised by the high-end technology and array of fascinating equipment used for the surgery. He lost his heart to cardiac surgery that day and decided to pursue it till his dying day.
Many noted cardio-thoracic surgeons like Dr Sharad Pandey chiseled his art and Dr Raghuvanshi completed his MCh cardio-thoracic surgery from Bombay Hospital, Mumbai.
After spending four years at Bombay Hospital, Dr Raghuvanshi joined Apollo Hospital, Chennai and later moved to Vijaya Heart Foundation, Chennai. However, he was not very happy with his career at that point as he was looking for bigger challenges. It was at this time that Dr Raghuvanshi met Dr Shetty who was going to start the Manipal Heart Foundation, at Bangalore. He joined Dr Shetty’s team and continued to work with him, later joining Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS), Kolkata as Clinical Director & Consultant Cardiac Surgeon. He recently gave up surgery to take up administrative roles in the company. “I wanted to concentrate on operations and management, but the thought of cardiac surgery still thrills me,” he shares. He wishes to mentor and coach the younger generation of workers at NH to cultivate the NH way of thinking and work ethics.
| Mixed Bag |
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Mahatma Gandhi and his teachings have been Dr Raghuvanshi’s greatest inspiration and continue to guide him even today.
He has had an illustrious career and an impressive resume. However, there are some things about people that resumes can’t capture, personal qualities that go a long way toward explaining their success. In Dr Raghuvanshi’s case, the quality that stands out is the respect that he shows for his patients and fellow employees. Most of them hold him in high regard.
Although he never married, and had no children of his own, he has been a favourite uncle to his nieces and nephews. He lives along with his mother and his ‘babies’ two adorable black Labradors.
He has a sweet tooth and likes to unwind with the movies. Discussing about movies, he says, “I like almost all kinds of English movies.” Catching up a movie at home is his favorite time-pass. “I love watching the Oceans series and recently saw all the three movies back-to-back,” he says. As far as music goes, he likes the popular Hindi music. “I don’t particularly follow any song. I hear music on the go,” he shares.
Dr Raghuvanshi likes to read. His favorite subjects are science, history and business. “Unfortunately, I don’t really get time to read books. I read a lot of magazines and newspapers. I regularly read ‘The Economist’ as I feel it has very good articles,” he says.
Although he likes to travel he does not get too much time away from work. “I keep on traveling for professional purposes and as faculty for conferences. My favourite travel destination is Bali, Indonesia” he says.