KOCHI: When the Nipah virus outbreak caught Kozhikode off guard, the medical fraternity forged ahead, a bit uncertain but definitely hopeful of overcoming it. Patients poured in with respiratory problems, creating the need for a large number of ventilators at the Kozhikode Medical College. Dr Chandni R, head of emergency medicine at MCH, swiftly arranged for them by coordinating with private hospitals. As a nodal officer, she fought a tough battle against the virus.
This year too, the doctor was a part of the team that went in to combat the virus at Ernakulam. Dr Chandni prefers the work of her team to hog the limelight rather than herself. Despite earning accolades for the major roles and responsibilities she has taken up at Kozhikode Medical College spanning 20 years, the doctor takes it just as part of her job.
Dr Chandni is the recipient of the state government's award for Doctors in Modern Medicine 2018, in the medical education category. “Working in the medical college gives me immense opportunities to work with experienced practitioners as well freshers and I believe I can learn from every one of them. A doctor ceases to be one, once the learning stops,” she says.
The doctor is also an active researcher, with diabetic treatment being her area of specialisation. Diabetes in children and pregnancy diabetes are areas where she finds a huge potential for work and results. It was under her initiative that the preventive diabetic foot clinic was opened in the medical college and she couldn’t be happier about saving patients from leg amputation.
She works closely with her child diabetics patients. The challenges they face are numerous and they need all the support they can get, she says. The words of a doctor who believes that her work does not end with giving prescriptions.
Her passion for learning and enthusiasm for collaborating with various medical departments clearly comes through when she speaks about her work. The doctor has worked in areas of hypertension and dental medicine as a part of her research in diabetics. Her researches have been published in national and international journals. The doctor is also a part of the medical board that approves diabetics medicines for medical use, a procedure that involves numerous stages and ethical restrictions.