India’s Surgeon Scientists of Tomorrow

The Indian Institute of Science has started an internship program for MBBS students. This is a key initiative that will pave the way for the clinical scientist program.

It is high time the clinical fraternity embraced the bench to bedside research aspect that makes a surgeon, scientist.

Today, as the world opens the door to gene side medicine, alongside bedside medicine,  a clinician or surgeon needs to have a more in-depth understanding of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Generally, translational research from bench to bedside nearly takes around 17 years, starting from basic scientific research, clinical animal studies, Phase I and II trials, human clinical trials with Phase III trials, and finally clinical practice, recommendation, and care.

The pandemic has helped us create a ‘research to practice hyperloop’ thereby dramatically shrinking the time gaps between bench side research to clinical practice to as low as 17 days, and in some cases even 17 hours.

Taking a cue from this phenomenal transformation, the medical students have a great opportunity to explore the depths of the clinical scientist program and look at research as a fruitful career option. Sunrise professions like the drone runner, medical clown, chief belief officer, chief dreamer, epigenetic counsellors, ethical data hackers, or masters of disaster are already in vogue

Clinical scientist is one such profession that will strengthen the ‘Make in India’ initiative through a ‘Create in India’ program, going beyond merely assembling imported components to actually seeding and nurturing innovation on Indian soil, especially in the area of healthcare and biotech.

Towards this effect, HCG has incepted the clinical scientist program which delves deep into key fundamental areas: basic sciences, clinical epidemiology, healthcare methodology,  medical education and administration, healthcare research, and biotech innovation.

This program will open a new chapter of responsible research and innovation, which is an integral part of the larger global initiative of ethics, legality and science in medicine.

It will pave the way for purposeful academia-industry collaborations to foster next-generation innovation post the pandemic, rooted in conscious capitalism, ambition with purpose, and wealth creation with value creation. The program will help a medical student answer fundamental questions:

• when to do research,
• when to attempt inventions,
• when to seed innovation, and
• when to rely on a simple workaround or ‘jugaad’.

There is a great need to create sustainable translational research for enhanced patient outcomes through evidence-based medicine. India needs to be at the forefront of medical education through meaningful research

I always wonder what was common among the nine musketeers of medicine –  Theodor Kocher, Alvar Gullstrand, Alexis Carrel, Robert Barany, Frederick Banting, Walter Hess, Werner Forssmann,  Charles Huggins, and Joseph Murray, all distinguished Nobel laureate surgeons. Why is it that from 1909 till 1990, only nine surgeons won the Nobel prize? Clearly, there is a need for more surgeon scientists to take this priceless legacy forward, especially in the post-pandemic world of fast evolving challenges facing medicine and healthcare.

The time is ripe for medical students from India to get inspiration from these nine practitioners and do fundamental research that will help India move up the value chain of disruptive medical innovation.