INDIA BUSINESS WORLD - FEBRUARY 2007
The Month that was ...

SUPER SPECIALIST DOCS RETURN TO INDIA ON HEALTHCARE BOOM

THANKS to healthcare boom in India, increasing number of super specialist doctors have chosen to head home. As top corporate hospital equip themselves with the stateof-the-art infrastructure, there has been no better time for these medical professionals. Most of these doctors, numbering about 100 today, with more than 15 years experience, have returned during last 2-3 years.

However, the number is set to soar as over 25 doctors are estimated to join Indian hospitals every year. "One of the advantages of having such doctors is they are exposed to many clinical areas whose adequate TRAIning is not available in the country today," Wockhardt Hospitals CEO Vishal Bali told ET. "With policy changes adversely affecting doctors in foreign countries and center of excellence healthcare being set up in India, we might even see non-Indian doctors of such calibre joining Indian hospitals," says Max Health Care executive director Dr Pervez Ahmed. Skills apart, these doctors bring in a strict medical protocol and governance - a policy corporate hospitals want to promote.

With a slew of top hospitals being set up and with corporate pumping in big money, these hospitals are equipped with the latest equipment. "Apart from personal reason, today there is a sweetener because of the conducive environment as these doctors work with equipment which is at times even better than the country from where they have returned," Max Health Care, chief physician of health care services.

Most of such doctors have returned from US and European countries and some have even set records in their area of specialisation. Dr Kushagra Katariya a cardiothoriac surgeon who has returned from US to head Artemis Healthcare new multi speciality hospital in Gurgaon says, "These doctors have unparallel skills and the level of skills and training in the use of modern technology is quite high." He added that more doctors are returning as the Indian healthcare system is rapidly changing and huge and the doctors also want to apply their skills back home. Indian health care also offers these doctors the opportunity to carry out cutting edge research in Indian hospitals.

Of course, it's not a bed of roses for everybody. Some doctors who have returned from abroad have found it difficult to adjust in India and have returned back. Even today, private hospitals don't match the salaries that doctors get in the US and unlike in that country, where doctors figure among the highest paid professionals, salary levels in India don't match that of IT and marketing professionals.