Senior consultant and RCP fellow Dr M Haneef shares his story on chasing his dreams and how his determination helped him face many challenges during his journey into medicine.
To live on an island is something wonderful. I have read that people leave everything to live on an island, but for me it was the other way round.
I was born on the tiny island of Lakshadweep, a union territory of India in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of south-west Malabar.
The white sandy beaches, abundant scenic charm and tranquil surroundings make the life of every islander a pleasant one. However, a calm life did not attract me for long, as my ambitions were beyond the limits of the comfortable coastlines. I always dreamed of a busy life elsewhere and was looking for a chance to chase my dreams, outside of what was a small world closed off by coral reef.
My school days on the island were not eventful. Most of my classmates would plan for a job in the Merchant Navy after tenth grade and easily managed to get placed in shipping companies based out of Mumbai after a short period of training; most of them made a good living, with handsome salaries. But I was never into shipping or the Merchant Navy, and always wanted to do something different.
I used to admire the local GP for his skills in saving lives, working in a set-up that lacked basic facilities in the island’s Government Hospital. In fact, he was my first inspiration for chasing the profession of medicine.
But it was not easy for me to chase my dream, as my father had to support his eight children with their education. We were considered underprivileged compared with those who lived on the mainland, due to poorly developed infrastructure and an inadequate transport system.
Primary education on the island comes to an end with tenth grade and I needed to move to the capital island for pre-degree – which is mandatory for admission to a vocational graduation course, or even for chasing a non-vocational course.
As I was poor at mathematics, I decided to choose biology, which is essential for medical-related courses. This meant that, for the first time, I needed to live away from my island home, stay in a hostel, and adjust to surroundings that were not familiar to me in terms of language and culture.
Since my determination to become a doctor was so strong, I decided to go through every challenge that came before me. The two years in the capital town of Kavaratti made me a lot more independent and self-sufficient, as I knew that it was just a preparatory phase of my path to medical education. Every day of those two years were focused towards an opening for an MBBS course that happens only on the mainland, which is the region of Kerala for every islander. My struggle was very hard, as I had to compete with highly privileged fellow students who had access to everything that a student needs. However, that did not prevent me from taking on the challenge of getting into medical college in the state of Kerala after competing with them.
Achieving admission to medical college in the Kottayam district of Kerala was the beginning of my medical journey. The five years that I spent in the institute not only shaped me as a doctor, but also earned me a handful of friends, who stood by me during my difficult times. That bond continues even after many years. My challenges did not end with a medical degree however, and the toughest of all my hurdles was qualifying for postgraduate training, which was more competitive than admission to medical school.
Hard work always pays its dividends, and I was one of the few who secured a seat in internal medicine training at the prestigious JIPMER in Pondicherry, which is considered a rare opportunity for any Indian medical graduate who pursues postgraduate training. In fact, it was in JIPMER where my outlook of medicine changed altogether. My passion for internal medicine has grown year after year, ever since.
Over two decades into the world of internal medicine, I have always been keen to be more than just a consultant. Training and empowering the next generation of doctors is something that I consider as my way of paying gratitude to the great institutions such as JIPMER and the Government Medical College of Kottayam, which I am honoured to have been associated with as a student.
As I embarked on my first independent job as a consultant in a community outreach centre in a quiet village in Malabar, I found myself walking into the face of the most bizarre and unique medical cases I had ever seen, which later found their way into some of my journal publications in the early days. In the seven years that I served in the hospital, I held the responsibility of academic coordinator, running several training and empowerment programmes for my peers and colleagues. This responsibility continues to grow and travel with me, even as I change roles, hospitals and cities, more than two decades into my career.
At Aster MIMS Hospital, Kannur, which I joined in 2019 as senior consultant in internal medicine, I formally and globally expanded my academic horizon by being chosen to be associated with the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) as the training programme director for internal medicine stage 1 (UK). In this role, I was and continue to be mentored by Professor David Black. The changes introduced by me locally with regards to the approach to patient care and supervision of postgraduate trainees were well received by the faculty and trainees, thereby being instrumental in earning level 3 accreditation for IMT stage 1 (UK) at Aster MIMS Kannur by the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB). My academic engagement with trainee doctors includes mentoring them in quality improvement projects, as well as guiding them in research work during the course of their training.
In 2022, I was awarded FRCP in recognition of my contributions to training and education, followed by my appointment as an international examiner for MRCP(UK), PACES examination, from 2023.
My association with the RCP opened a new avenue in my journey to mould and empower the next generation of doctors. My journey into the world of medicine was very hard and painful in the beginning, though it looks amazing and wonderful now – just like life on the island.
