I began my training in Neurosurgery in April 2011 in Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences under the guidance of Prof. Dr. A.S.Hegde. Sathya Sai hospital is a tertiary care, referral hospital which receives patients from all over the country. It is a completely free hospital, with a state of art infrastructure, one of its kind globally, which doesn’t even have a billing counter
My clinical duties and responsibilities included the management of the outpatient and telemedicine clinic, as well as the in-house patients in the ward and ICU. I have initially assisted and have subsequently performed surgeries of increasing complexity, first under supervision and then independently. During my initial years as a junior resident, I have performed procedures such as, insertion of Ventriculo-peritoneal shunts, Theco-peritoneal shunts, drainage of abscesses, decompressive craniectomy, evacuation of EDH, SDH, ICH, contusions, decompressive laminectomies, and discectomies. In the wards and ICU, I have done minor procedures such as Lumbar punctures, EVD and lumbar drain placement, application of skull traction, tracheostomy and tarsorraphy.
During the latter half of my residency, I have done procedures such as excision of meningiomas, decompression of glioma, Sylvian fissure dissection, ACF Base repairs, foramen magnum decompression, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, cervical laminectomy, excision of spinal extradural and intradural extramedullary tumors, percutaneous procedures for trigeminal neuralgia, foraminal blocks, Repair of Neural tube defects, and filum terminale sectioning under supervision. I have assisted senior Neurosurgeons with subspecialty interests in Neurovascular Surgery, Paediatric- Neurosurgery, Spinal Neurosurgery, Cranial Base Surgery, Neuro-oncology etc., and have adequate experience in all types of craniotomies and spinal exposures.
During my fifth year of residency, I have undergone 3 months of training in Trauma, from January to March and 15 days of training each, in Neuroradiology and Neuropathology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore.
We had an extensive and a highly structured academic program during residency in our institute. We had seminars, Journal clubs, case presentations and Blackboard teaching schedules on a weekly basis. I played an active role in the development and implementation of the resident curriculum and have coordinated interdisciplinary specialty educational activities such as weekly Neuroradiology and Neuropathology meetings.
I have also been an active part both as a student and a teacher, in the monthly Neurosurgery meetings held in Bangalore Medical college held by Dr. A.S.Hegde and Dr.Balaji Pai as well as the meetings held by Bangalore Neurological Society where I have presented seminars and case presentations on a frequent basis.
During the period of my Senior Residency in Sathya Sai Hospital from April 2017 to April 2018, I was given the responsibility of being the academic coordinator, which included preparation of the monthly academic roster, mentoring, and teaching the National Board residents. During this period, I have done surgeries such as Corpectomy and fusion, Cervical lateral mass fixation, Dorsal and Lumbar pedicle screw insertion and fusion, Awake Craniotomies, Spinal dysraphism, Neuroendoscopy, intraventricular tumours, skull base approaches and posterior fossa lesions. This period was a transition phase from residency to that of a Consultant where I learnt the art of management of all the associated factors of Neurosurgery which enabled me to be a full-fledged and a committed professional that I am today.
I continued my Neurosurgical career as a junior consultant in the same hospital where I honed my skills further. I became a competent professional in providing comprehensive Neurosurgical care with compassion and empathy. I did a fellowship in Cerebrovascular surgery from Fujita Health University, Japan, under Dr. Prof. Yoko Kato for a period of 3 months from July to September 2018. Being a regional referral center, Fujita university has a large case load of vascular cases. I was allowed to assist in the OTs by which I could learn various surgical techniques. This exposure opened a new perspective and approach to Neurosurgery in terms of teamwork, safe surgical techniques, and research methodology. I wrote 5 research papers during my 3-month tenure and presented a paper in the Nagoya- Shanghai forum as well.
I continued my tenure as junior consultant. I could apply the knowledge I acquired in Japan and continued to perform surgeries of increasing complexity under the guidance of my teachers and was actively involved in teaching and training of Neurosurgery residents. At the end of my tenure as a Consultant in Satya Sai hopsital I have performed more than 3000 surgeries.
I have developed a keen interest and flair towards pediatric Neurosurgery and Cranial Endoscopy during my tenure here, which I intend to further subspecialize in the years to come.
Publications