Except mothers who bring a new life to the world, doctors are those who know the magic and have in their possession the elixir to your sickness. The least is what we know of how tiring the path towards becoming a doctor can be and how testing at times. Yet, they go that extra mile in assuring whether the patient is cured from the illness they were suffering from.
If we take a glance to the history of women doctors in India, Dr. Anandibai Joshi was the first women doctor who became a physician. Anandibai got graduated in 1885 after pursuing training in the western discipline of medicine. She left the initial path for aspiring Indian women to build a career in the healthcare ecosystem in India. Here, we have sorted some of the great women doctors in the light of their contribution towards the Indian Healthcare Industry.
Dr. Manjula Anagani
A pioneer in laparoscopic surgery, Dr. Manjula Anagani has been primarily recognized for her work on primary amenorrhea. She has started a health campaign ‘Suyosha – A Perfect Woman’, which aims in addressing every aspect of woman’s health, child abuse, and health education of adolescent girls. After securing 58th rank in EAMCET, Manjula joined Gandhi Medical College where she realized her interest in anatomy. However, after completely her internship she was more drawn towards gynecology. During the time when she started private practice focusing more on risky pregnancies and management, she started improvising surgical techniques. While speaking of her inspiration, Manjula never forgets her parents, teachers, and even patients who motivated to explore new heights. She has co-founded an NGO named Pratyusha Support, which is working on women empowerment. Manjula’s contributions were significant to the Indian healthcare ecosystem including project on ergonomics of women and evolving newer techniques in laparoscopy.
Dr. Indira Hinduja
Dr. Indira Hinduja is a gynecologist, obstetrician and infertility specialist, who pioneered the Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) technique in the country. Only a few could forget her name as she delivered India’s first test tube baby in 1986. Indira is attributed to developing an oocyte donation technique which is carried out for menopausal and premature ovarian failure patients.
“In order to carefully walk the tightrope between a professional and personal life, one should identify where their priorities lie. Therefore, every day I prioritize whether my family needs me first or my clinic,” expresses Dr. Indira.
She has earned numerous accolades and bagged some of the most valuable awards such as Padma Shri Award. Currently, Dr. Hinduja is practicing full-time in obstetrics and gynecology at PD Hinduja Hospital.
Dr. Jayashree Mondkar
Famed for her effort to start a Human Milk Bank, the first in Asia, Dr. Jayashree Mondkar is an Indian neonatologist. Observing that there are few children who are deprived of their mother’s milk, Jayashree has been associated with the concept of Milk Bank since its initial stage. It was in 1989, Sion Hospital under the collective initiative of doctors started the effort. During those days, Jayashree was also working as an associate professor at the hospital. The Human Milk Bank has helped save thousands of lives in the past 30 years in India, and has inspired to start 13 such Milk Banks across the country. Jayashree and her team are spreading the awareness not to leave any child deprived of their right to drink breast milk, which can be considered as one of the most inspiration healthcare services in India.
Dr. Shashi Wadhwa
Known for her work in anatomy and developmental neuroscience, Dr. Shashi Wadhwa has 37 National Research publications and 67 international ones associated with her name. Her major research interests have been in developmental neurobiology, quantitative morphology and stereology. As a human brain researcher, she had studied on human spinal cord and cerebellar nuclei. Her studies gave way for paving a baseline data that compares with animal experiments and pathological materials as well as contributed towards providing a better picture about the process in developing these regions at the molecular level.
Moreover, Wadhwa’s laboratory has also investigated the effects of experience driven neural activity that develops chick auditory nuclei. Her contributions would throw light into the beneficial effects or deficits that are associated with language acquisition and learning in children.
