Shaban 1424 H October 2003 Volume 16-10 No : 202 Camps \ Workshops

Success Stories

A Doctor with a Golden Heart!

When Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) was asked by Amr ibn Abasah, what was meant by faith, he replied-” self-restraint and gentleness.”

Self-restraint and gentleness-virtues hard to find these days and in this era where being rash, reckless, arrogant and aggressive is simply ‘cool.’ For many, these are ways to grab fame and glory. Thanks to Almighty Allah’s mercy that he created a surgeon packed with the virtues of self-restraint and gentleness.

With the concept of family doctors vanishing, huge hospitals with swinging glass doors scaring people with those hefty bills and government hospitals giving people nightmares with their eerie ambience, the presence of Cardio thoracic surgeon, Dr Sadruddin Shariff. F. is indeed a blessing.

It was the middle of October and the mynahs in the quaint town of Chikkaballapur in Karnataka were giving the final touches to their nests for the coming winter. There arrived the chatter-box mynah and interrupted them with the glad news that a cute kid called Sadruddin was born in their town. That was enough for the mynahs to carry the message to the entire folk of Chikkaballapur- from the tea-shop to the tailor.

Considered as one of the best veterinary surgeon of his times, Dr Sadruddin’s father, Dr Fakruddin Shariff gave the best, healing the pain of the birds and bees. Working with the government, Dr Fakruddin, as a vet surgeon, braved all odds and his sincerity and dedication to his profession serves as a role model for vet doctors today.

As a teacher in an Urdu school, Dr Sadruddin’s mother balanced life as a career woman and home- maker excellently. Soon it was time to move to Bangalore as Dr Fakruddin was transferred here to lend his healing touch to the stressed out animals in the city.

All happens only by the will of Allah and the acceptance of this reality is enjoined on the believers. Dr Fakruddin suffered a serious stroke confining him to hospital for six long years. It was sheer courage and their strong faith in Almighty that helped the family face the situation. Dr Sadruddin was just six years when his father passed away. “I spent my childhood in hospitals watching my dad being taken care of by doctors and nurses. The hospital became my playground,” he recalls.

Now it was time for Sadruddin to face life head-on. “My mom has struggled real hard to bring us all up and educate me, my brothers and sisters who have gone through the best education. I went to an Urdu school in Vasanthnagar till the 5th standard, as getting into a convent seemed a dream due to the fund crunch. I was a bookworm with my head buried in books all the time.”

It was hard work from dawn to midnight when Sadruddin joined the V.K.Obaidullah school to complete the sixth and seventh classes and the efforts paid off. He secured the first rank in the seventh standard public examination! Realising his potential, his mom advised him to get into St Joseph’s Indian High School. Here again, Sadruddin spent hours, polishing his English and it was smooth sailing at St Josephs College as a pre-university student.

“ If you can dream it, you can do it.” It does not matter how far-fetched your dream is. The secret is to hold on to it. And life will make it happen for you. You don’t even have to try. All you have to do is not let go. What happens unfortunately in these days of instant gratification is that holding on to a dream seems arduous and a waste of time. So people let go and settle for the immediate. Frustration, then is not far behind. But Sadruddin is a whole-hearted believer in Walt Disney’s credo-If you can dream it, you can do it.”

“As a kid I was clear about my dream to be a doctor. I was inspired watching all these docs attending to my dad in the hospital when he was ill. I had seen suffering and I was determined to help people overcome their pain.”

Brought up in a disciplined fashion, Sadruddin’s mom had instilled the principles that one should succeed in life on one’s own merits, rather than through favours. So it was Ambedkar Medical College in Bangalore which Sadruddin chose to complete his MBBS. There were just 10 merit seats here and he was selected based on his own efforts and brilliant academic record. After taking the Doctor’s Oath, he was all set to pursue surgery.

“ I wanted to be a surgeon and cardiology was fixed in my mind. As being a surgeon I could offer a 100 per cent solution to the patient’s problem. I also enrolled into the “Sudden Death, New Life,” programme which focused on cardiac care. This helped me to take a firm decision about my future plan of action-it was going to be cardiac surgery and nothing else. Then I went to Mysore to complete MS in General Surgery at the Medical College there. My one year Residency Programme in surgery at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi gave me lot of exposure.”

Sadruddin topped the list with a first rank in MS-general surgery! “I did not wish to leave my city, my country, go abroad and come back and remain a stranger in my own country. I had my roots here. Moreover in Bangalore, there were no concrete hospitals offering cardiac care. Patients had to travel to Vellore, Delhi or Mumbai. I also saw around me that the cases of heart ailments was on the rise in the society and the community. I was hell-bent on offering them a solution. I did the Diplomate of National Board. The Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology had one seat for a student from Karnataka. By Allah’s grace I secured this and it was two very hard and enjoyable years which I spent while doing M.Ch. (CVTS),” explains Sadruddin.

His stint as a lecturer in cardiac surgery at Jayadeva, combined with his practical skill in conducting cardiac surgeries won him the respect and admiration from not just his patients, but even his students and seniors too.

After some reflection, Sadruddin thought it right to come out of the shadow of a big hospital and work independently where he could give expression to his philantrophic activities, work as a surgeon with a humanitarian cause. While these plans were taking shape, the prestigious Mallya hospital roped in his services as a cardiac surgeon and within nine months, he was designated as a consultant. Sadruddin also pioneered the setting up of the state-of the-art Cardiac thoracic Centre at Mahaveer Jain Hospital right from its inception. As consultant at the Manipal Heart Foundation, the Mahaveer Jain Hospital, the B.M.J Heart Centre, and the Hosmat Hospital, his day is packed with a 15 minute break for lunch and breaks for prayers.

Not one to be complacent and rest on his laurels, he worked round-the-clock to set up the Hope Medical Centre in 1999. Hope- “Health of People Enterprise” located in the center of the city is today one of the best set-up that offers medical care to the patients at reasonable cost and with a humane touch. Backed by his efficient team of doctors and the soft-spoken administrative staff, stepping into Hope is liking coming home. Patients do not have to run from pillar to post as all facilities right from the lab, X-Ray to the scanning is available right inside Hope.

Sadruddin saw his first patient at Hope on March 22, 1999, and he considers this as a very memorable day for him. “ I realised that patients go through the trauma when they are struck with a heart ailment. They come with the set mind that it is going to cost them a fortune to get cured. But it is not so. Here as a cardiac thoracic surgeon, I follow the problem-oriented system, rather than the solution-oriented. I first understand the patient as a friend, try to analyse his mind-set, infact I give a patient hearing to their fears about the ailment. It is very important that I understand the psyche of the patient and this means that 50 per cent of the problem is then taken care of. Then I focus on their pathological state and then go about the treatment plan. This is what I feel patients are looking for . They need a doctor who will instill confidence in them, rather than weakening them by blatantly telling that your heart ailment is pretty serious,” says Sadruddin. These days, government hospitals have become death traps and the frilly hospitals with channel music, have turned into debt traps. They instill fear in the patient. It is this fear factor that prevents patients from going to a doc in any of the two sectors. In fact, there should be a balanced National Health Policy. At Hope, my mission is to put my patients into the comfort zone. When at the end of the day, I perform a surgery on a patient that will relieve him or her of the pain, that acts as a motivating force for me to keep going,” says Sadruddin.

A line of awards adorn his room. But he is too modest to talk about them It is very stressful being a cardiac surgeon with each operation taking about three to six hours. Sadruddin even stays back in the hospital after the surgery to watch over his patients till they get off the I.C.U. But he accepts this stress as positive stress. Away from the operation theatre, needles and gloves, Sadruddin makes presentations to Corporate companies on “Stress and Success”. He has also started learning spoken Arabic.

The heart may be the hardest working muscle in your body and it requires a steady supply of blood in order to receive the oxygen and nutrients needed for proper functioning. When any of the coronary arteries, the blood vessels that feed the heart itself, become narrowed or blocked due to atherosclerosis, the “supply line” is obstructed and an area of the heart becomes starved. The result may be chest pain or even a heart attack. The intricate working of the heart is a marvel of Almighty Allah and has to be taken care of. And the cardiac surgeon’s job is simply not easy-his skill and the right decision are critical components to save a patient. So its high time our filmi Bollywood merchants stop making a gimmick out of the heart by tossing it carelessly with mindless titles like Dil to Paagal Hai, Hum aapke dil mein rehte hain, dil deewana, Dil hai ke manta nahin, Tanha Dil and many more, that today’s teeny-boppers are crazy about.

For a surgeon who has dedicated his life to cardiac surgery, sacrificed many opportunities to fly abroad, is determined to serve the society in the city and the country, is involved in philantrophic charities and is all set to expand Hope to make it into a place where patients get the best treatment always at a cost that will put a smile on their faces, what kind of a heart would he possess? Surely, nothing less than a golden one!

You may put questions to

Dr Sadruddin Shariff F. MBBS, MS, DNB, M.Ch (CVTS), FIACS, on issues of the “ fear factor” related to dealing with cardiac care on his email at hope-medical@eth.net, or drop in at Hope Medical Centre, No 332, Dar-us-Salaam, Queen’s Road, Bangalore-560052, Ph: 2202201, 2202202, mobile: 98454 50005 or 98440 59640.
Email: hope-medical@eth.net

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