Dr Sanghamitra Pati, probably is one of the very few doctors who chose to tread the path of research and academics and only that. A year or two of general practice did not give her the happiness of contributing to society at large. So, she began her journey into public health research.
An Additional Professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar, she had completed her MBBS (1992) and MD (Biochemistry, 1998) both from MKCG Medical College, Odisha. In 2000, she received the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship (JJWBGS) to do Master of Public Health (MPH) at University of Maastricht, the Netherlands. Subsequently, she also received the AAUW (American Association of University Women) International Fellowship in 2002 for research into bio-social correlates of maternal mortality. Since 2001, she had been working as a faculty in various medical colleges of the state prior to joining Public Health Foundation of India’s Bhubaneswar Institute (IIPH Bhubaneswar) in August 2010.
Her work in mapping of the pathways to care and delay in diagnosis of cancer among patients attending the regional cancer institute, was the first of its kind in India. She had developed a smoking cessation skill building program for medical students which won her APACT Young Investigator Award in 2007 in Taiwan. She is also the recipient of early career award from the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (2010, 2012) for integrating behavioral health interventions into health professional education and primary care practice respectively.
In February 2014, she was conferred with ABC Foundation Award for work on cancer prevention and Swasthyashree award for her efforts towards smoke-free city initiative. Currently she is a Senior Visiting Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health on how to integrate nutrition and physical activity counseling into undergraduate medical education.
‘’I decided to venture into public health when I realised in clinical practice my penchant was restricted to practice only. I did not agree with the health care that only meant a business model. So I thought of acquiring new skills to enable myself to work with the community and public health. This was in 2000 when there were no such courses in India to train in public health. So I applied for scholarships and went to the Netherlands,’’ explains Sanghamitra, who has done public health research for The Wellcome Trust, DFID, ICMR, Department of Health & FW, National Health Mission. Her Wellocme Trust-PHFI funded research is the first in India to assess the magnitude of multimorbidity (coexistence of multiple chronic illness in a person) in primary health care settings.
‘’There are different dimensions of health care and I would like to work in the field of medical humanities (empathy) by opening a centre to train medicos, nurses, para medical staff so that they can effectively communicate with the patients,’’ expresses Sanghamitra.
At Indian Institute of Public Health — Bhubaneswar, she is teaching chronic diseases, health behaviour and promotion, public health nutrition, implementation research in primary care, environmental and occupational health.
Prod her on the challenges she has faced and the doctor is fast to say that it is there in any field, in each every part of India, if not the world at large. ‘’Like every other woman, I had to look after my family but that has not deterred me from pursuing my passion. People feel women are challenged when it comes to research but I think I have proved most of them wrong being one of the very few public health researchers that India has today.’’
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