Indian J Gastroenterol DOI 10.1007/s12664-013-0436-9
PRESIDENTIAL PROFILE
Dr. V G Mohan Prasad, incoming President, Indian Society of Gastroenterology: A very good man! Vivek A Saraswat
Received: 9 December 2013 / Accepted: 10 December 2013 # Indian Society of Gastroenterology 2013
It is a privilege and an honor to introduce my good friend, Dr. V G Mohan Prasad, the incoming President of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology, 2013–2014, to the Society and to the readership of the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology. Few people can illustrate the homily that ‘the name shapes the man’ more aptly than VGM, who has very emphatically lived up to his initials VGM: a very good man! Dr. V G Mohan Prasad was born in Coimbatore in 1959 and educated at Udumalpet. He joined MBBS at Stanley Medical College, Chennai, in 1975, later transferring to Coimbatore Medical College from where he graduated in 1981. VGM completed his postgraduate training in General Medicine from Coimbatore Medical College, where he excelled as the best outgoing student of Bharathiar University, before joining Madras Medical College (MMC), Chennai, for DM in Gastroenterology. At the MMC, VG trained under the able supervision of Prof. N Madanagopalan, founder of the Department of V. A. Saraswat (*) Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226 014, India e-mail: [email protected]
Gastroenterology at MMC, one of the pioneers of gastroenterology in India and one who is widely regarded as the Father of Gastroenterology in South India. Prof. Madanagopalan a teacher par excellence, he was a great human being, who inspired generations of gastroenterologists to excel, and had a profound influence on VG. After completing his training at MMC in 1987, VG trained in short stints at centers in USA, Japan, and Amsterdam. Mohan stepped into practice soon after and pioneered the specialty of gastroenterology at Udumalpet and Coimbatore in the late 1980s, when he was the only trained gastroenterologist in his region. VG has always tried to attain the highest standards in every sphere of activity that he has entered. He was among the first few to launch a website for gastroenterology and endoscopy in 1990, to begin capsule enteroscopy in 2002, where he has continued to maintain a leadership position, and was the first in the nation to introduce the “Heliprobe” or urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori in 2003. Continuing to strive for excellence in his chosen field, Mohan started the VGM Hospital in 2009. The hospital is certified by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals, and is the first single superspecialty gastroenterology hospital in India to be so accredited. Even today the hospital is equipped with up-to-date equipment so as to “give quality health care at affordable cost.” Dr. Mohan Prasad is passionate about teaching and has held 19 courses of “hands-on” therapeutic endoscopy training, benefitting around 700 gastroenterologists and surgeons in India, using the Erlangen University easy animal model to provide training for various endoscopic maneuvers. He has also launched a CD on therapeutic endoscopy, the first of its kind, dealing with various endoscopy maneuvers. He has spread public awareness about liver diseases by publishing a booklet in Tamil on the subject “Love thy Liver,” 20,000 copies of which have been circulated so far. This speaks of the ill-effects on the liver of alcohol, drugs, obesity, water-
Indian J Gastroenterol
borne viruses like hepatitis A and E, and creates awareness about parenteral transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses. Mohan has received numerous national and international awards. He has been office bearer of all the Indian medical societies such as the ISG, SGEI, and INASL. He was President, Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy of India in 2011. He has also published several original papers. Mohan is a man of many parts and dons many hats. This is not terribly surprising, given that he is the scion of a distinguished Chettiyar family from Udumalpet in Tamil Nadu, with a long tradition of philanthropy, public service, and leadership. The family figured prominently in the Freedom Struggle and several members made a name for themselves in professional fields before independence and even after that. Mohan is active in the Rotary International movement since 1987, is a Rotary leader who has served in the district post for 25 years, and is a major donor and benefactor of the Rotary Foundation. Collaborating with Rotary Club, Mohan has been very active in social welfare and philanthropic activities. An example of dynamic and prompt action taken by him was during an outbreak of cholera in 1994 in a village near Udumalpet, affecting over a thousand people in a few days. With help from Rotary and IMA, VG led an initiative for raising funds for drugs, IV sets, mackintoshes, saline etc., ensuring that the relief reached in time, so that not a single life was lost. He has been particularly active in the field of awareness about and prevention of hepatitis B. A noteworthy achievement in this area was a very early initiative for getting 1lac people vaccinated against HBV over a 10 month period in 1988, at a time when the vaccine was very expensive. He was able to motivate Shantha Biotech to provide 300,000 doses of HBV vaccine for less than 5 % of the market value at that time. Mohan Prasad conducted a hepatitis B awareness program on World Hepatitis Day (WHD) 28th July, 2012, involving 3,400 school children and 350 adults in Udumalpet, an effort that earned an entry in the Guinness book of world records for the largest number of participants across the world to promote a single cause. A similar program organized by Mohan in Coimbatore on WHD, 28th July 2013, involved 13,522 children from schools and colleges and 1,500 adults, surpassing the previous record. This effort awaits accreditation from the Guinness Book of world records. Mohan is the prime mover in another noteworthy social initiative, the “Save Our Daughters” project, an adoption program for orphaned girls under which each benefactor adopts an orphan girl, supports her college education, and helps in placing her in an appropriate job, continuing to financial support till she is able to stand on her own feet. This
project was blessed by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam who launched it as “Save Our Daughters-India” and contributed to it from his personal funds. Mohan is the President of a school started 104 years back by his grandfather at Udumalpet and which has 3,500 students. He is a banker, serving on the Board of Karur Vysya Bank for the last 8 years. He has several hobbies. He likes to read about and lecture on philosophy and humor as well as on leadership and management skills in colleges and schools. He is also a poet and two of his poems on the former president Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam have been displayed in Abdul Kalam Museum in New Delhi. Mohan enjoys listening to Carnatic music and popular movie songs and also enjoys singing on stage, even in front of large audiences. Mohan has been blessed with a family as accomplished as himself. His wife, Mrs. Radha Prasad has been District Chairman, Innerwheel District 320, the national treasurer, Association of Innerwheel Clubs of India, and a municipal councilor. His daughters, Dr. Madhura Prasad and Dr. Mithra Prasad are trained vocalists and Bharatanatyam dancers who are seasoned public performers. It has been 28 long years since I made friends with the young Mohan in 1985, when, bubbling with new ideas and enthusiasm, he spent a couple of months as a visiting fellow in the Department of Gastroenterology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, while I was pursuing my DM. The friendship we struck up then has ripened with time and I have been deeply impressed by the humility and integrity of a man who has such signal achievements to his credit. I have always found Mohan well-informed and up-to-date on any issue we discuss, a wellspring of innovative ideas and initiatives that he shares readily. Persistence, perseverance, and soft words spoken with an unruffled and cool demeanor even when the fur is flying are some of the qualities that I have associated with the mellifluous voice that I hear every so often over the telephone. Mohan takes office in challenging times for the Society. ISG is on the cusp of change, teeming with a young impatient membership yearning for a New Deal, demanding greater accountability and transparency in a changing milieu where laid-back, old-fashioned methods are being questioned and the adage ‘Old is Gold’ no longer resonates. In other words, a situation tailor-made for the brand of innovation and dynamism that Mohan has unfailingly displayed over the years. As he begins his tenure, I join all our members in sending my best wishes to Dr. V G Mohan Prasad, President, Indian Society of Gastroenterology and a very good man indeed!
PRESIDENTIAL PROFILE
Dr. V G Mohan Prasad, incoming President, Indian Society of Gastroenterology: A very good man! Vivek A Saraswat
Received: 9 December 2013 / Accepted: 10 December 2013 # Indian Society of Gastroenterology 2013
It is a privilege and an honor to introduce my good friend, Dr. V G Mohan Prasad, the incoming President of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology, 2013–2014, to the Society and to the readership of the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology. Few people can illustrate the homily that ‘the name shapes the man’ more aptly than VGM, who has very emphatically lived up to his initials VGM: a very good man! Dr. V G Mohan Prasad was born in Coimbatore in 1959 and educated at Udumalpet. He joined MBBS at Stanley Medical College, Chennai, in 1975, later transferring to Coimbatore Medical College from where he graduated in 1981. VGM completed his postgraduate training in General Medicine from Coimbatore Medical College, where he excelled as the best outgoing student of Bharathiar University, before joining Madras Medical College (MMC), Chennai, for DM in Gastroenterology. At the MMC, VG trained under the able supervision of Prof. N Madanagopalan, founder of the Department of V. A. Saraswat (*) Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow 226 014, India e-mail: [email protected]
Gastroenterology at MMC, one of the pioneers of gastroenterology in India and one who is widely regarded as the Father of Gastroenterology in South India. Prof. Madanagopalan a teacher par excellence, he was a great human being, who inspired generations of gastroenterologists to excel, and had a profound influence on VG. After completing his training at MMC in 1987, VG trained in short stints at centers in USA, Japan, and Amsterdam. Mohan stepped into practice soon after and pioneered the specialty of gastroenterology at Udumalpet and Coimbatore in the late 1980s, when he was the only trained gastroenterologist in his region. VG has always tried to attain the highest standards in every sphere of activity that he has entered. He was among the first few to launch a website for gastroenterology and endoscopy in 1990, to begin capsule enteroscopy in 2002, where he has continued to maintain a leadership position, and was the first in the nation to introduce the “Heliprobe” or urea breath test for Helicobacter pylori in 2003. Continuing to strive for excellence in his chosen field, Mohan started the VGM Hospital in 2009. The hospital is certified by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals, and is the first single superspecialty gastroenterology hospital in India to be so accredited. Even today the hospital is equipped with up-to-date equipment so as to “give quality health care at affordable cost.” Dr. Mohan Prasad is passionate about teaching and has held 19 courses of “hands-on” therapeutic endoscopy training, benefitting around 700 gastroenterologists and surgeons in India, using the Erlangen University easy animal model to provide training for various endoscopic maneuvers. He has also launched a CD on therapeutic endoscopy, the first of its kind, dealing with various endoscopy maneuvers. He has spread public awareness about liver diseases by publishing a booklet in Tamil on the subject “Love thy Liver,” 20,000 copies of which have been circulated so far. This speaks of the ill-effects on the liver of alcohol, drugs, obesity, water-
Indian J Gastroenterol
borne viruses like hepatitis A and E, and creates awareness about parenteral transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses. Mohan has received numerous national and international awards. He has been office bearer of all the Indian medical societies such as the ISG, SGEI, and INASL. He was President, Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy of India in 2011. He has also published several original papers. Mohan is a man of many parts and dons many hats. This is not terribly surprising, given that he is the scion of a distinguished Chettiyar family from Udumalpet in Tamil Nadu, with a long tradition of philanthropy, public service, and leadership. The family figured prominently in the Freedom Struggle and several members made a name for themselves in professional fields before independence and even after that. Mohan is active in the Rotary International movement since 1987, is a Rotary leader who has served in the district post for 25 years, and is a major donor and benefactor of the Rotary Foundation. Collaborating with Rotary Club, Mohan has been very active in social welfare and philanthropic activities. An example of dynamic and prompt action taken by him was during an outbreak of cholera in 1994 in a village near Udumalpet, affecting over a thousand people in a few days. With help from Rotary and IMA, VG led an initiative for raising funds for drugs, IV sets, mackintoshes, saline etc., ensuring that the relief reached in time, so that not a single life was lost. He has been particularly active in the field of awareness about and prevention of hepatitis B. A noteworthy achievement in this area was a very early initiative for getting 1lac people vaccinated against HBV over a 10 month period in 1988, at a time when the vaccine was very expensive. He was able to motivate Shantha Biotech to provide 300,000 doses of HBV vaccine for less than 5 % of the market value at that time. Mohan Prasad conducted a hepatitis B awareness program on World Hepatitis Day (WHD) 28th July, 2012, involving 3,400 school children and 350 adults in Udumalpet, an effort that earned an entry in the Guinness book of world records for the largest number of participants across the world to promote a single cause. A similar program organized by Mohan in Coimbatore on WHD, 28th July 2013, involved 13,522 children from schools and colleges and 1,500 adults, surpassing the previous record. This effort awaits accreditation from the Guinness Book of world records. Mohan is the prime mover in another noteworthy social initiative, the “Save Our Daughters” project, an adoption program for orphaned girls under which each benefactor adopts an orphan girl, supports her college education, and helps in placing her in an appropriate job, continuing to financial support till she is able to stand on her own feet. This
project was blessed by Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam who launched it as “Save Our Daughters-India” and contributed to it from his personal funds. Mohan is the President of a school started 104 years back by his grandfather at Udumalpet and which has 3,500 students. He is a banker, serving on the Board of Karur Vysya Bank for the last 8 years. He has several hobbies. He likes to read about and lecture on philosophy and humor as well as on leadership and management skills in colleges and schools. He is also a poet and two of his poems on the former president Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam have been displayed in Abdul Kalam Museum in New Delhi. Mohan enjoys listening to Carnatic music and popular movie songs and also enjoys singing on stage, even in front of large audiences. Mohan has been blessed with a family as accomplished as himself. His wife, Mrs. Radha Prasad has been District Chairman, Innerwheel District 320, the national treasurer, Association of Innerwheel Clubs of India, and a municipal councilor. His daughters, Dr. Madhura Prasad and Dr. Mithra Prasad are trained vocalists and Bharatanatyam dancers who are seasoned public performers. It has been 28 long years since I made friends with the young Mohan in 1985, when, bubbling with new ideas and enthusiasm, he spent a couple of months as a visiting fellow in the Department of Gastroenterology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, while I was pursuing my DM. The friendship we struck up then has ripened with time and I have been deeply impressed by the humility and integrity of a man who has such signal achievements to his credit. I have always found Mohan well-informed and up-to-date on any issue we discuss, a wellspring of innovative ideas and initiatives that he shares readily. Persistence, perseverance, and soft words spoken with an unruffled and cool demeanor even when the fur is flying are some of the qualities that I have associated with the mellifluous voice that I hear every so often over the telephone. Mohan takes office in challenging times for the Society. ISG is on the cusp of change, teeming with a young impatient membership yearning for a New Deal, demanding greater accountability and transparency in a changing milieu where laid-back, old-fashioned methods are being questioned and the adage ‘Old is Gold’ no longer resonates. In other words, a situation tailor-made for the brand of innovation and dynamism that Mohan has unfailingly displayed over the years. As he begins his tenure, I join all our members in sending my best wishes to Dr. V G Mohan Prasad, President, Indian Society of Gastroenterology and a very good man indeed!
