Hard work and determination can turn any dream into reality. That’s what Padma Shree Dr Narendra Kumar Pandey (63) has always believed. How else would the dreams woven by a small child on a dusty, oblivious village road mature into an illustrious career in medicine?
Dr Pandey’s journey started from the heartland of Bihar and traversed through larger cities in India and the UK before stopping in Faridabad near Delhi where his dream took shape of a 350-bed super speciality tertiary care hospital called Asian Institute of Medical Science (AIMS). Currently, he serves as the Chairman, MD and HOD of Surgery at the Institute which he runs with grit and determination; providing accessible, affordable and best available healthcare services in India. He is joined in this endeavour by his two sons and daughters-in-law; together they envision to make AIMS the most trusted healthcare partner in India.
Dr Pandey’s life is the story of a person with an indomitable spirit who believed in taking small steps to success than a short-cut. It has been a long, meandering road to success for him but there is no stopping Dr Pandey, as he has already chalked a new path with new goals to further the cause of affordable healthcare in India.
Early life
Born and brought up at Bishnupura in Saran district of Bihar, Dr Pandey is the eldest of the three boys of the village Head Master and his wife, Late Jagat Pandey and Vidya Pandey. “My village was connected with a dusty road and infrequent buses, not more than two to three in a day,” recollects Dr Pandey in a pensive mood. “Every time it rained there was holiday at school because it hardly had a roof. My uncle was a teacher so there was always a lot expectations and pressure to study and do well,” he says of his early childhood.
He recounts his carefree childhood days which changed when his father joined the Ministry of Home Affairs and got posted to various locations, including Assam forward area during 1962 China war. This was the time when he realised the responsibilities of the family and focused on his studies.
Always a bright student, Dr Pandey was also active participant in co-curricular activities and sports. “I was supposed to be a good debater. Once I got selected for the district debate to be held at Ranchi, however, it turned out to be much embarrassing as I could not speak a word when I went on to the podium,” recounts Dr Pandey. However, in his later years, he went on to be a much sought after orator and guest lecturer for many national and international conferences.
Shaping his career
Being a good student he had many career options but he chose medicine. “In the 60s, choice of career was either medicine, engineering or perhaps the civil services,” explains Dr Pandey. “I was always intimidated by physics, so I picked up medicine to avoid studying physics,” he adds. One of his father’s friend was a general practitioner who also inspired Dr Pandey to take up medicine and he got into Patna Medical College.
Later on, he specialised in surgery and it was an intentional choice, he asserts. “During my final year at medical school I was drawn towards surgery. I noted that it was an area where the doctor could really do something and cure the illness,” he says. He remembers his time at the Patna Medical College very fondly. “College days were fun,” he says with a smile. “Patna Medical College is situated on the banks of river Ganga, so our boating club was very active during winter. I would row upstream for two to three km,” he claims. Dr Pandey also recalls spending time in the college canteen. Towards the end of his college life he remembers a lot of extra classes and the excellent guidance provided by his teachers. “We had some wonderful teachers like Prof Saran, Prof Govind Achari, Prof VN Singh, Prof SK Sinha and our anatomy head Prof Manik Singh,” he shares. He recounts that Prof Manik Singh was hilarious.
| Awards and achievements |
| Distinguished Service Award by Delhi Doctors Association in 1997 |
| Dr BC Roy National Award for the development of Minimal access Thoracic Surgery 2005 |
| Betadine Achievement Award – Association of Surgeons of India (2010) |
| Doctor of Science Award – Teerthanker Mahaveer University (2013) |
| Padma Shree in Medicine 2014 |
Dr Pandey got his MBBS degree in 1974 and proceeded to do his internship from the Patna Medical College. “My first job was at a block hospital in Danapore, District Patna and I did it for over a year,” informs Dr Pandey. Here Dr Pandey’s surgical dreams met with the harsh realities of the Indian district hospital. The lacuna in the Indian healthcare delivery at the time left him isolated and he started feeling detached from his dream of becoming a world class surgeon. “The work was not what I had expected. It mainly consisted of some relief distribution and mostly focused on vasectomies and its target,” Dr Pandey recounts. This was the time when the government had initiated a widespread compulsory sterilisation programme to limit population growth in India.
“At the time one’s performance was linked to vasectomies and number of tubal ligation. We worked under tremendous pressure. This was my phase of detachment with my job and a turning point as I decided not to continue doing the same for years to come,” he remembers. Luckily, he got an opportunity to move to London which he readily took up. Dr Pandey was by then married to Padma Pandey whom he had met at a common friend’s house. She was was studying MSc at Patna Science College at the time.
Higher studies and life at London
By 1976, Dr Pandey moved to UK for further studies. Dr Pandey honed his surgical acumen at various hospitals in England. He got to work with eminent surgeons which gave him an opportunity to learn the intricacies of surgery.
“I repeated the internship in A&E, Surgery and Orthopaedics at Ashford hospital, London, Aberystwyth District General Hospital at Devon in UK and at the district hospital, Barnstable. I did my FACS from The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1982 and spent considerable time working in different eminent hospitals in London like the Hammer Smith Hospital, Kings College, Charing Cross Hospital and Middle Sex Hospital,” he says.
Recounting his learnings at UK he says, “My shift to UK brought my focus back to the practice of surgery. It gave me chance to learn art of surgery from many eminent teachers, Sir APM Forrest, Prof Mansel, Prof Blumgart at Hammersmith, Prof Russell at the Middlesex. They were true gurus in the field of liver, pancreas surgery etc. Sir Alfred became a pioneer of minimal access surgery.” “The time in London also bettered my communication skills, helped in leadership training. This made me more confident, a better surgeon and also taught me how to lead team of healthcare professionals,” he adds. Dr Pandey had an opportunity to settle down in the UK, however, he decided to come back and serve his country.
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Personal note
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Working in India
Dr Pandey came back to India in 1984. Having once worked in the government sector he wanted to give the private sector a try. He joined Escorts Hospital now known as Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad in 1985 as a consultant. By the time he left the hospital in 2007, he was serving as the Executive Director. In the mean time he was also the member of the Board of Directors of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, now known as Fortis Escorts Heart Institute Delhi, and remained with them till 2007. He left the hospital to pursue his dream of building his own hospital.
A new chapter
Dr Pandey invested all his life savings into building his dream project, AIMS. “We started the construction of AIMS in 2008 and opened the 350-bed tertiary care facilities for patients in 2010,” Dr Pandey says. He adds that setting up this tremendous facility with super speciality was truly a phenomenal experience. The hospital has been accredited with NABH and NABL and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology. The hospital provides preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, rehabilitative, palliative and support services, all under one roof and is designed to meet patient care and research requirements of today. Dr Pandey has ambitious plans to add more hospitals under the brand as well as venture into allied business like clinics and wellness centres. “We are looking at the growth plan of AIMS, our Asian Clinic in Greater Kailash, South Delhi is already functional. We have planned to set up these clinics at different locations in NCR,” he informs. “We hope to start two or three 100-bedded secondary care facilities in NCR. We are also exploring to start a specialised mother and child care centre in NCR,” he adds.
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| Dr Pandey with his son, (left) Anupam Pandey and his wife Neha Pandey and (right) Dr Prashant Pandey with wife Dr Smriti Pandey |
Awards galore
An astute surgeon, Dr Pandey toiled to make a name for himself and has been awarded generously. A fellow of both the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh as well as the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, he is also recognised for his pioneering work in minimal access surgery. He is a name to be reckoned with in the field of surgery and has served at most of the professional associations.
“I am associated with various professional bodies,” he informs. “I am the National President of the Association of Surgeons of India; President, International College of Surgeon, Indian chapter. I had privilege of being joint editor India Journal of Surgery for six years, member, Committee on health, Confederation of Indian Industry. Member, Senate Theerthanker Mahaveer University, member, Moradabad Board regent – Indian Institute of learning and advance development,” he explains.
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| Dr Pandey with his family during a holiday |
An educationist
Dr Pandey has a fond association with the National Board of Examination (NBE) India. “I served as an examiner, inspector and as a member of the Committee set up by NBE for preparation of the programme and guidelines for orientation course designed for examiners and inspectors,” he tells. As Coordinator – Fellowship Program he coordinated post DNB Fellowships in 13 specialities, under the direct supervision of the President of NBE. This involved organisation of syllabus, question data bank, planning and execution of various entry and exit examinations for fellowship as well as identification of various centres to run the programme.
“I managed to introduce centralised admission procedure for fellowship examinations,” he says. His ability to interact effectively and efficiently with faculty members of various specialities helped smooth functioning of the programme. He was also able to help in upgrading the syllabus for DNB in surgery under the direct supervision of the President of NBE with the objective to cover all newer aspects of development in surgery in curriculum as well as introducing objectivity during training. He introduced the logbook with methodology to grade the level of hands on training in surgery.
“I was appointed examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, both for MRCS and FRCS exams and continued as such till 2000. I had the privilege to examine various centres along with peers in the surgical field, in both India and the UK,” he says. He has also been a faculty member for workshops, symposia and other such programmes being organised by the college at various places in India on postgraduate examination in general surgery as well as on medical education, training and assessment techniques from time to time. “These examinations are an important activity of the Glasgow College and this assignment, given by the Board of Examiners for Surgical Examinations of the College, testify international recognition of my contribution to medical education,” Dr Pandey explains.
He also organised a number of conferences, workshops, scientific meetings and other similar medical education programmes for The International College of Surgeons, The Association of Surgeons of India.
Road ahead
Talking about his life, Dr Pandey says, “I have absolutely no regrets in life. Although I feel that I should have started on my own much earlier to set up an institute like AIMS.”
He also has no plans to retire. “I have no plan of retirement in the near future as I have a long list of things to do. Primarily, improving healthcare, particularly in Tier 2 cities. This will keep me occupied in future,” he says.
“I am still in active clinical practice however, I do spent almost half of my time in administration. But I would wish to continue to be in touch with my patients,” he concludes.
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