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Phaco pioneer finds success in the private sector
In the late 1980s, when his medical career was just starting, Mahipal S. Sachdev, MD, decided to take a year off. After completing his residency at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and beginning his work in ophthalmology, he opted to go abroad.
In the United States, Dr. Sachdev participated in a yearlong fellowship at Georgetown University in cornea and external eye diseases. This eventually led him toward a career in entrepreneurialism and away from the public sector – long considered the more responsible and intelligent course to take in Indian ophthalmology, he said.
He wanted to work in medicine because his mother was a gynecologist, and when deciding on a surgical specialization, he considered otolaryngology.
“Cardiac, neuro, urology, etc. – they were superspecializations that were becoming very popular at that time. So essentially, I liked neat, clean specialties, and I opted for ophthalmology,” Dr. Sachdev told Ocular Surgery News in a telephone interview.
Life-changing fellowship
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Images: Sachdev M |
During his time at Georgetown University, Dr. Sachdev said he began to understand how to approach ophthalmology from a mental standpoint, and he learned a new and developing technology: phacoemulsification. When he returned to India, he became a pioneer in phaco, which he said he thought would be the next big technological advance in ophthalmology.
“I was convinced that phacoemulsification was a great improvement at that time, and there was a lot of opposition … from senior colleagues. My feeling, I would say, the gut feeling that I had, was that this was the way the technology was going to go, so I kept working on it,” he said.
It was during his fellowship that his confidence and entrepreneurial spirit began to grow because his mentor, H. Dwight Cavanagh, MD, instilled in him a certain inner strength and told him to dream big, not just follow a perceived predestined path, Dr. Sachdev said.
“When you are in a confined [place] – I had gone into the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) right from my undergraduation — you kind of just keep going, and I was doing very well. You don’t think of doing something more. … [The fellowship] gave me the impetus to venture out on my own and try to explore my entrepreneurial skill, and that’s exactly what’s driving me today to expand,” he said.
Dr. Sachdev quit a faculty job with AIIMS and entered the private sector in 1996. He opened Centre for Sight, which began as a one-room clinic and now has three locations and draws some of the best ophthalmologists from AIIMS, he said.
Dr. Sachdev serves as the chairman, medical director and senior consultant for ophthalmology at Centre for Sight. He said his success can be traced directly to his experience in the United States.
“In the government sector [in India], though I was in the premier institution, one rises … with seniority. As you go, you kind of become a professor … or you become a head of a department, that’s because of seniority. … That’s why I left, not for any [other reason]. I was doing great work. I had great publications and things like that. That was not an issue,” Dr. Sachdev said. “It was just trying to do more and having the freedom to innovate and set up something that you could be remembered for.”
Tough decision
Some, however, did not approve of Dr. Sachdev’s decision to leave AIIMS.
“I had resistance from my parents because they felt that I was doing something wrong by leaving a faculty job at the most prestigious institute at the [AIIMS],” he said.
Early on, Dr. Sachdev also had some doubts about his career choice, but then he began his schooling and saw the development of IOLs. After he performed his first cataract surgery at AIIMS and received a compliment from a patient, Dr. Sachdev knew that he made the right decision to pursue ophthalmology. The ability to help restore a person’s vision is the most satisfying aspect of being an ophthalmologist, he said.
Dr. Sachdev has found success in not only the Centre for Sight and its expansion, but also in passing on his entrepreneurial legacy. He and his wife, Alka, have two daughters, both of whom are focusing on medicine; one will be completing her residency in ophthalmology soon.
“Alka also was not very happy at me leaving [AIIMS], but once we made the decision, she’s been my pillar of strength, and she’s managing Centre for Sight with me,” Dr. Sachdev said.
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Future of Indian ophthalmology
Compared with nearly 20 years ago, when Dr. Sachdev was trying to educate other ophthalmologists on the benefits of new technologies such as phaco, Indian ophthalmology is now asserting itself as a world leader, most notably in the areas of research and development, he said.
In addition, Dr. Sachdev said he has seen an increase in the number of patients traveling to India to have procedures performed. Patients come from the United States and Europe to have surgery, typically refractive.
“Over time, I think as the world is getting flat, I would say that Indian ophthalmologists are offering their services at a fraction of the cost of what is being offered in the U.S,” he said.
As for his own practice, Dr. Sachdev has persuaded top specialists to join the private sector over the years, and his goal is to make the Centre for Sight the largest provider of eye care in North India, private or government-funded.
He said his insistence on backing phacoemulsification technology, bringing the technology to India and educating fellow Indian ophthalmologists are his proudest accomplishments.
“I think [going forward] Indian ophthalmology will be second to none,” Dr. Sachdev said.
For more information:
- Mahipal S. Sachdev, MD, can be reached at Centre for Sight, B-5/24 Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, India; +91-11-4164-4000; e-mail: centreforsight@airtelbroadband.in; Web site: www.centreforsight.net.
- Andrew Kelly is an OSN Staff Writer who covers all aspects of ophthalmology. He focuses geographically on the Europe and Asia Pacific region.