Salutations to a Great teacher!
This is an article which was published in the first Journal of Respiratory Therapy. It is about my father - Ramkumar Venkateswaran. The author is a student and colleague of my father's who has worked with him for 10 years.
He discovered no miraculous cure or wonder drug. Diagnostic wizardry, brilliant research, writing and teaching - these constitute his tangible achievements. He is great not only for what he did, but for what he is: he is master of the art of ministering to the patient’s and the student’s troubled mind as well as to patient’s sick body. A beloved teacher of medicine and an anaesthesiologist, Professor Ramkumar Venkateswaran (Ramkumar Sir, as he is popularly known), also has a great interest in intensive care. By virtue of commencing the course of respiratory therapy in this country for the first time, he may be aptly called ‘Father of respiratory therapy’ in India.
Dr Ramkumar Venkateswaran was born in Ponnani, a village in north Kerala on 29th June 1954, the youngest of 5 children. He was brought up in Bangalore, capital city of Karnataka. He joined as a medical student at the famous medical college, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) at Pondicherry. He was a very studious and brilliant medical student at JIPMER as he converted his hostel room into a wall library. He also completed his MD in Anaesthesiology and 3 years of senior residency there.
He had already marked his place in the field of Anesthesiology when he joined the department of Anaesthesiology at Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal University, Karnataka in 1985. In those days, the intensive care personnel in India had not even heard of a profession called respiratory therapy, but in the United states of America it was a wide spread field with immense opportunities. Dr Ramkumar was sent to Loma Linda University (LLU), California by Manipal University as an observer for one year from 1993 to 1994 in the department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences. The thoroughness with which he approaches any challenge was evident in the way he used to politely attend the classes with the undergraduates of respiratory therapy at LLU. He enjoyed being a part of the new profession.
Dr Ramkumar’s return to Manipal saw the birth of a new specialty of Allied Health sciences in India - Respiratory Therapy. He worked laboriously preparing the syllabus and curriculum to tailor to the Indian situations. He, along with other professors of department of Anaesthesiology, started teaching Respiratory Therapy students in the year 1995. Later, the department of Respiratory Therapy was brought under the umbrella of Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal. He made the difficult medical terms and concepts very simple for respiratory therapy students. His pedagogical skills remain unforgettable to all his students. His classes have a magical touch in them.
He has contributed remarkably to Anaesthesiology postgraduate and respiratory therapy teaching. He is a well known scientific orator in the field of anaesthesia, respiratory care and intensive care. He has been faculty for many important conferences in India and abroad. He believes in dedication, hard work and perfection to be successful in life.
Dr Ramkumar is an uncanny diagnostician, a bedside sleuth with few equals. He knows what to look for and he spends the time to find it. Dr Ramkumar’s ICU rounds starting promptly at 9 am are the high spot for the hospital day. Anaesthesia PGs, faculty of anaesthesia, respiratory therapists and nurses make an admiring procession during his rounds. Patients would know that a prominent doctor is around to take care of them. Students would know that they have the proximity of a great teacher.
He introduced many new concepts and practical ideas to his students. He is always there by the side of the students, faculty and of course the patients with his mind and hands open to help them in their difficult situations. He is involved very actively in respiratory therapy teaching program both undergraduate and postgraduate. He is blessed with his wife and philosopher Dr Vani Ramkumar, Unit chief, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, KMC, Manipal and two sons - Karthik and Krishna.
At the threshold of launching this RT magazine for the first time, respiratory therapists salute in reverence, Prof Ramkumar Venkateswaran, Father of Respiratory therapy in India, as a person who is responsible for their very existence in this country.
He discovered no miraculous cure or wonder drug. Diagnostic wizardry, brilliant research, writing and teaching - these constitute his tangible achievements. He is great not only for what he did, but for what he is: he is master of the art of ministering to the patient’s and the student’s troubled mind as well as to patient’s sick body. A beloved teacher of medicine and an anaesthesiologist, Professor Ramkumar Venkateswaran (Ramkumar Sir, as he is popularly known), also has a great interest in intensive care. By virtue of commencing the course of respiratory therapy in this country for the first time, he may be aptly called ‘Father of respiratory therapy’ in India.
Dr Ramkumar Venkateswaran was born in Ponnani, a village in north Kerala on 29th June 1954, the youngest of 5 children. He was brought up in Bangalore, capital city of Karnataka. He joined as a medical student at the famous medical college, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) at Pondicherry. He was a very studious and brilliant medical student at JIPMER as he converted his hostel room into a wall library. He also completed his MD in Anaesthesiology and 3 years of senior residency there.
He had already marked his place in the field of Anesthesiology when he joined the department of Anaesthesiology at Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Manipal University, Karnataka in 1985. In those days, the intensive care personnel in India had not even heard of a profession called respiratory therapy, but in the United states of America it was a wide spread field with immense opportunities. Dr Ramkumar was sent to Loma Linda University (LLU), California by Manipal University as an observer for one year from 1993 to 1994 in the department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences. The thoroughness with which he approaches any challenge was evident in the way he used to politely attend the classes with the undergraduates of respiratory therapy at LLU. He enjoyed being a part of the new profession.
Dr Ramkumar’s return to Manipal saw the birth of a new specialty of Allied Health sciences in India - Respiratory Therapy. He worked laboriously preparing the syllabus and curriculum to tailor to the Indian situations. He, along with other professors of department of Anaesthesiology, started teaching Respiratory Therapy students in the year 1995. Later, the department of Respiratory Therapy was brought under the umbrella of Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal. He made the difficult medical terms and concepts very simple for respiratory therapy students. His pedagogical skills remain unforgettable to all his students. His classes have a magical touch in them.
He has contributed remarkably to Anaesthesiology postgraduate and respiratory therapy teaching. He is a well known scientific orator in the field of anaesthesia, respiratory care and intensive care. He has been faculty for many important conferences in India and abroad. He believes in dedication, hard work and perfection to be successful in life.
Dr Ramkumar is an uncanny diagnostician, a bedside sleuth with few equals. He knows what to look for and he spends the time to find it. Dr Ramkumar’s ICU rounds starting promptly at 9 am are the high spot for the hospital day. Anaesthesia PGs, faculty of anaesthesia, respiratory therapists and nurses make an admiring procession during his rounds. Patients would know that a prominent doctor is around to take care of them. Students would know that they have the proximity of a great teacher.
He introduced many new concepts and practical ideas to his students. He is always there by the side of the students, faculty and of course the patients with his mind and hands open to help them in their difficult situations. He is involved very actively in respiratory therapy teaching program both undergraduate and postgraduate. He is blessed with his wife and philosopher Dr Vani Ramkumar, Unit chief, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, KMC, Manipal and two sons - Karthik and Krishna.
At the threshold of launching this RT magazine for the first time, respiratory therapists salute in reverence, Prof Ramkumar Venkateswaran, Father of Respiratory therapy in India, as a person who is responsible for their very existence in this country.
posted by Karthik at 6:56 PM
4 comments
