Academic Background

M.B.B.S. Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, 1980
M.S. Surgery, RNT Medical College & Hospital, India, 1984
FRCS, Glasgow, UK, 1988

Postdoctoral Training

RNT Medical College & Hospital, India, Residency in Surgery, 1980-1983
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Residency in Anesthesiology, 1995-1998
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Fellowship in Pain Management, 1998-1999

My student days at Christian Medical College, Vellore, India, have laid the foundation for the principles by which I practice medicine. In this missionary hospital, we were taught that whether the patient was the poorest of the poor or very rich, he or she had to be treated with the same dignity and respect. The memories of my days there, where internationally-acclaimed physicians worked in the most unassuming and humble manner will be with me for a lifetime.

Having received advanced training both in general surgery and anesthesiology in the UK and the US, my clinical experience has been extremely broad based, providing me with varied clinical interests including pain management and anesthesia for liver transplantation. I take special pride in teaching both residents and medical students the art of advanced airway management including fiberoptic intubation techniques, fast-track LMA, and other techniques in difficult airway management.

Following my residency here at UMass, I completed a fellowship in pain management. I also like to teach residents the complexities of managing difficult chronic pain patients, as well as the concepts of preemptive analgesia and postoperative acute pain management.

I am a long serving member of the liver transplant anesthesia team. I enjoy doing this, since this has given me confidence in managing seriously ill patients at their most critical times. I am also the rotation director for neurosurgical anesthesia, and I provide the rotating resident with new and necessary insights in the management of patients undergoing major neurosurgical procedures.

In keeping with the changes in our speciality, I feel that new residents need to be taught to be patient advocates in the perioperative period and not just when in the OR. As chairman of the anesthesia equipment committee I deal both with patient safety issues and in equipment related issues.