What was the idea behind the launch of a YouTube channel?
The channel is part of a larger deployment. People, not only in India but also worldwide, have a lack of awareness and access to international standards in world-class healthcare. When I moved here from the West, the goal was to scale medicine using a combination of media, technology and smart services. The idea was simple: in India, in particular, we have 1.35 billion people, and only about 1.8 million doctors, of whom a million are allopathic practitioners and only two percent go to rural areas. So I decided to use all of our subsets – my technological background, media background and career in healthcare for 20 years as a heart surgeon – and put them together to give them better awareness and appreciation for what they had to do.
How did the strategy change during the coronavirus pandemic?
This year in particular, we realized the need to obtain up-to-date, as well as well-researched, evidence-based information. Therefore, we decided to concentrate 100 percent on healthcare. The channel has become a medium to engage people and start a conversation. I will always tell my patients that 50 percent of the journey to health is in your head. If you do not acquire the actual process and do not understand it, it is very difficult to process the procedure.
What’s in it for a patient?
Let’s be honest, as doctors we do not have the infrastructure or time to spend with patients, and explain to them every minute details of what is happening to them. I was trained and educated in the US and spent a lot of time in India. I am a well-trained surgeon with double levels, who is now here again to serve his country and its people. But no matter how hard I work, the best I can do is have three to five patients operated on a day. By the end of the year, 350 to 500 patients had used my services, but there are a billion people on the planet. I wanted to take care of the growing population and do something where I actually make a difference in people’s lives.
We have some of the best doctors in the world pouring their heart, soul and love into what they do, but there are also an abundance of patients. The patient should be the biggest part of the show. As a doctor, I want them to make their own decision based on all the information I provide to them. But since every person is different, their medical history, family history, socio-economic background, the place where they live must be taken into account to make it a personal report. I hope I can improve their life expectancy and lifespan through this. Once successful in India, we can implement the model around the world.
During the first months of the outbreak, there was a lot of fear of the virus …
As a doctor, I constantly try to dispel the myths. During the pandemic, we worked to allay doubts that caused much anxiety and fear at the beginning of the outbreak. Knowing what the risk factors are and what symptoms they need to look out for takes away a lot of fear and teaches them when to seek medical help. We also did a delivery on ordering food, which was a lure because people were really confused when it was safe. I did the research for them and found that there is no evidence to support the fact that the new coronavirus is a foodborne illness. In India, we have long known that food preparation and food handling is the key. We have put it all together to conclude that if the food is handled properly and heated to a certain temperature, all viruses will be destroyed.
What do you plan to do with the channel in the long run?
This is the beginning of something bigger called Pathfinder Health Sciences, which created media to entertain and educate through a combination of long, medium and short content. Patients will be able to create a dashboard to empower themselves. We will keep them informed with everything they go through in lay language instead of medical language use, because people like not to have a white coat. I want to make them feel like they have a doctor in the family. When I say doctor, I mean a healthcare system made up of experts from the best laboratories, hospitals and government services.
I think there is an opportunity to improve people’s lives. Through writing content, we want to tell people about medical problems so that they can remember what the causes, symptoms and options are. If you tell them this way, hold on; I learned it through my kids watching medical shows on TV. The problem at present is that people do not know when to seek medical help. They only rush to the doctor when they are ill, after ignoring the symptoms for days. Wouldn’t it be great to have an engine dashboard with a disc engine light to teach you about the good and the bad? It’s like GPS.
What did you think of the way India handled the pandemic?
I am very proud of how India handled the pandemic, and I have to thank all the people in the trenches on the front line. I have conducted many interviews for the channel; they are the real heroes, you know, the frontline workers, the police, along with the governor, workers and others, because they are putting their own and their families’ lives at risk for all of us. And secondly, I think the government acted very quickly to enforce a lockdown; I think we were ahead. I am very proud to be here; you have seen what happened in some of the Western countries. We should be grateful to everyone in charge, as well as all my colleagues in the medical fraternity and the guys on the field.
What changes did you make to your home to ensure the safety of your family when the outbreak was at its worst?
My 88-year-old mother-in-law is a sweetheart; I love her very much. We did have to take extra precautions. I have a team that was kind enough to stay with us and help us with the office and the house; they get a lot of honor for keeping us all safe. At the same time, I have been working with the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister, BMC, and a few foundations to find out how we can continue because it is a new disease.