Kashinath Padhiary is a doctor with a difference. A scholar, a professor of medicine, a research scholar, a writer, he is endowed with a kaleidoscopic personality overflowing with the milk of human kindness for the suffering humanity. He had his MBBS from the MKCG Medical College Brahmapur and subsequently his MD in General Medicine from the SCB Medical College Cuttack. He opened his innings as a medical college faculty in 1989 and worked in all three premier medical colleges’ postgraduate departments. After his superannuation from VIMSAR, Burla as Professor and HoD of Medicine, he spends his time by imparting free medical teachings to medical students. He has published as many as forty research papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals and delivered more than 30 guest lectures in national and State-level conferences. He has published nine books, two for medical students, one for public awareness in three languages, three in the field of economics, one being published by KDP-Amazon. The latest book “We can save world” has bagged five international awards. He was personally greeted by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam for his international bestselling medical book in 2006. In an interview to The Pioneer, Dr Padhiary spokes to Sugyan Choudhury on health-related issues and his rare achievements.
What made you to choose a career in medical service?
It was the desire of my parents and elder brother.
You are an allopathic doctor. The Government of India is now laying emphasis on Ayurveda, Yunani and other healthcare systems. What’s your considered opinion regarding this?
I feel it is a good step. There are many situations where the alternative systems of medicine have proved to be useful.
When will India be ready to introduce 18 lakhs of quality doctors to serve its 1.4 billion people?
This is a very difficult question to answer. If we want quantity, we have to compromise quality. At present, numerous medical colleges are being opened both in private sector and public sectors. Quality has been declining very fast. A time will come when there will be no quality teachers. Once the quality of teachers comes down, a generation of poor quality doctors will be produced. My personal opinion is we should not have compromised quality. A very simple saying ‘One moon alone dispels darkness, not lakhs of stars’.
What is your suggestion to stop brain drain of doctors from India?
Actually, there is relatively less brain drain in the medical field than in other branches of science. It is more difficult to get established as a doctor in other major countries than in India. If our objective is to serve the ailing people, there are innumerable suffering people in India. If our objective to earn money, we should have gone for business. One should not mingle service with earning money. So, whenever students are going for medical study, they must be very clear in their objective. The present healthcare system has become urban-centric. Healthcare in rural areas has become rudimentary. This is to be changed. If the Government takes strong steps and sticks to it for all time, things can improve.
How do you combine the hazards of medical practice with your creative journey?
I take up every work seriously. When I see patients, I see every patient with utmost sincerity. After disposing of every patient, I ask myself ‘Have I done justice to the patient?’ I try to solve the problem of a patient medically, socially and, at times, spiritually. For this, I often require very few medicines; often, just counselling works miraculously. When I take classes, I do the same thing. I see that I have been able to explain every point clearly. I give examples, explanations from my personal life, our culture, from spiritual scriptures.
Coming to creativity, I have written two medical books. I have written books for public awareness on healthcare. I have written books of family economics (The Art of Saving published by KDP- Amazon) and my latest book is on environmental protection (We Can Save the World). I have various ideas to solve any type of problems. All my books are based on these ideas; all are originals. I write up my ideas; later, I compile them into books. After computer came, it became easier. My ideas come mostly from studying the laws of nature.
Could you please tell your memorable experience with late President Dr Abdul Kalam?
In the year 2005, I wrote my first book for medical students, “The Art of History Taking”. In 2006, it was published internationally by Anshan of UK. It reached international bestseller status within months. For this achievement, I was invited by the then President to meet him personally. I met him in Odisha Raj Bhavan on July 3, 2006. He greeted me and autographed on both of my books. We had one-to-one talk for about 10 minutes about various health-related issues. At the end, I asked him ‘What Can I do for the country?’ He answered ‘Teaching and research’.
My opinion is that every individual has to do his part to prevent environmental degradation. We use various things. All these things are obtained from nature (plant, animal or minerals). Less we acquire them less is the burden on natural resources. So, we must take the exact amount of things. Once we acquire, we must maintain them properly so that it lasts long. Longer we use less is the burden on new things; hence, on natural resources. Once our things are damaged, we must recycle them efficiently. It is more important for mineral goods. More efficient is the recycling, less burden on new minerals; more efficient is the preservation of nature. Remember that nature does not waste anything; we should do the same. I have proposed the concept of micro-recycling.