HYDERABAD: Starting with challenges faced by healthcare professionals in terms of medical devices and technology, to how medical research should be approached, the annual Dr D Bhaskara Reddy Memorial Lecture in association with the Asian Healthcare Foundation organised by Asian Institute of Gastroenterology provided an enlightening evening for young medical students.
Speaking to Express, Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, chairman of AIG Hospitals said, “Dr Bhaskara Reddy was a pioneer in pathology with over 250 research papers under his name along with serving in administrative roles from being Principal of Kurnool Medical College to being appointed as the Director of Medical Education by Andhra Pradesh govt. Thus in the memory of his contributions to the medical field, we organise this lecture to inspire young doctors to step into the field of medical research.”
The first eminent speaker of the event, Professor MS Valiathan, is also the first doctor to have invented the first indigenous heart valve coming out of India, the Chitra Valve. Dr Nageshwar Reddy said that the valve reduced the cost of surgeries drastically and more than 1 lakh of these valves have been used in surgeries till date.
In Prof Valiathan’s lecture titled ‘Medical Devices Technology: A Challenge in India’s Healthcare’, he emphasised the need to have a strong, yet efficient regulatory environment in our country to stimulate research, especially in the medical devices sector.
He also made an appeal to the younger generation asking them to implement frugal engineering like he did. This revolutionised the way blood is transfused by inventing the modern-day plastic blood bag.
The second lecture was by another celebrated name in the field of Gastroenterology, Dr V I Mathan, former director of CMC, Vellore.
In his elaborate lecture on the way clinical research should be approached, he cited examples from his own career, he spoke about how he asked his patients unusual questions, that a doctor would normally not ask. This is what led to the initiation of his research about why patients with tropical flu also have diarrhea.
In conclusion, Dr Nageshwar Reddy asked clinicians to devote time to research.