Lucknow: Dr Pratul Raj Gupta, MBBS, MS, PDCC, Gastro Surgery is currently the Consultant Gastrosurgeon at Nova Hospital. He has been serving the institution for nearly 16 years. He has been a strong pillar for Nova Hospital. He did his primary education in Allahabad. He did primary education from GIC Allahabad Government College. He did education at a time when admissions were not that easy and the government schools were held in high stead.
He said in 1984, he completed his class 12th after that he cracked the medical entrance through selection in a free and fair examination. In one shot he made it to Kanpur Medical College in the year 1994. He served for 3 years in Delhi at the Jaipur Golden Hospital. Starting life at a time when corporate culture in health sector was picking steam, Dr. Pratul Raj Gupta says when one talks about Gastrosurgery there were only three premier institutions GB Pant Hospital, AIIMS and SGPGI. From 1997 to 2000, Dr Gupta served in SGPGI. In his own words this was the golden phase of SGPGI where they collectively served under the stewardship of Dr Bhandari, which he said was a golden opportunity to learn the ropes.
He credits learning in SGPGI for his ability to deliver as a professional. He said variety of surgery – liver surgery, biliary surgery pancreatic surgery, luminal surgery were among the major challenging procedures that he had done.
Dr Gupta says having learnt basics in the non commercial era helped him emerge as a doctor much more attuned to medical practice with a very humane approach. And delivering keeping in mind emotions and empathy. He said the cardinal rule that they always follow is not just to treat patients but maintain health and education as well. He says what is most surprising is patients are overaware. To get information from the net and try and apply that in real life it becomes a problem. He said be aware and approach the doctor on time.
Talking of Nova Hospital, Dr Gupta said laparoscopic surgery, Cancer Surgery types, procedures related to the pancreas and colorector are some of the most sought after procedures taken up in the Nova Hospital.
Dr. Gupta says in my mind selection of the patient, the timing of the surgery, scrutinizing the impact of infection, also knowing when not to carry out of procedure and above all improving the quality of life of the patient, doing a proper clinical analysis of the patient, avoiding any overload and suitable diagnostics and selection of right Investigation can work wonders.
He says it is advisable, the patients avoid fast food and maintain a certain degree of physical activity. Summing it up he adds while a patient might be in a problem – it may not always be a disease.
When we ask Dr. Gupta – about the major burden of diseases that he encounters everyday, he said – mostly he comes across stones of the gallbladder which is mostly due to dietary habits, physical inactivity, and bad cholesterol. There are also issues of stones, due to fat. The other problems arise due to food that one consumes out of home and unhygienic
Even Dr. Gupta believes that Gastrosurgery has also been usually aided by technology mostly in laparoscopic advancements. It is mutually beneficial for both patient and doctor. He further under lines that new age imaging processes like Endovision which is purely a 4K resolution imagery makes life much more simpler. He is also of the view that with better technology recovery improves. He cites example of the stapler. Adding tech is making things more impactful and the patient is back on feet in a much faster timeframe.
