Dr. K Rajagopalan: A Magic Doctor With a Magical Touch

This is a homage and my memories of a fantastic human being who also happened to be the first pediatrician in a small village called Sringapuram, in Kodungallore, Trichur, Kerala, India: Dr. K Rajagopalan (who we affectionately called Valliacchan meaning "big father")

Before I proceed, the image you see in the title is, The Doctor, an 1891 painting by?Sir Samuel Luke Fildes?that depicts a Victorian doctor observing the critical stage in a child's illness while the parents gaze on helplessly from the periphery. It has been used to portray the ideal physician's values and the medical profession's inadequacies.

The photo you see below is my last conversation with Dr. Rajagopal in his residence this March when I had visited India.

Today everyone is practicing Telemedicine, and my family has been practicing Telemedicine for over two decades. For any illness in the family, the first call is to Dr. Rajagopalan?over the phone, just hearing his voice is comforting enough for a parent.

Dr.Rajagopal was born in Kodungallor, he studied there, went to Madras Medical College, returned to this obscure village, and started practicing medicine for over 50 years. He was seeing patients in his home till about a month ago. I have witnessed him diagnose kids on his veranda without equipment other than his thermometer and stethoscope. His hands were his tools. I have witnessed parents from all religions calling him "God." I have seen and heard stories of parents bringing a sick child to his home at 2 am or 3 am and ringing his calling bell, and he would wake up and treat them. I have seen and heard of cases where he not only refused to accept fees, but gave money from his pocket to the patient's parents to get medicine.?

I have been inspired by him and his amazing childlike curiosity for knowledge and his passion for keeping up with advancements in medicine and pediatrics, by being a lifelong learner. There is another personal bondage with him, my wife and I could not have a child seven years after our marriage, and we had visited many clinics. Then when we visited him once, he took us to this OB/GYN in this obscure village in Kerala, who said it was some hormonal imbalance and who prescribed a few injections and medicine. We went back, and two months later, my wife was pregnant, and eight-month later, my son Pranav was born, and the day Dr. Rajagopalan passed away was the day my son Pranav started his MD program at Wayne State Medical School.

I remember taking a non-invasive thermometer from the US and giving him, and I saw the happiness of a teenager gifted with a Lamborghini in him. He said this is going to be so valuable to him; taking the body temperature of a tiny infant is challenging with a regular thermometer.

A Life like this makes me depressed, making me wonder what I am doing here? He could have practiced medicine in any major city in India or the world and made a lot of money, but he chose to do service in the same small town where he was born and the same community where he grew up, worked and died in the same house. That is a big deal.

Is he truly one of the pioneers in this modern?"Work From Home" buzzword??(most of the old traditional doctors did this) but he had options. Do we know why he chose to do this model of practice from his home veranda? We have heard words like "selfless service without any greed ". I think that is the life choice he took and lived by, and trust me, that is NOT an easy choice to make. He was a unicorn of a human being! No doubt

How do you practice medicine without any expensive equipment? I want you to watch this excellent TED Talk by Dr. Abraham Verghese titled "A Doctor's Touch."

Quote

"We not only overlook simple diagnoses that can be diagnosed at a treatable, early stage, but we're losing much more than that. We're losing a ritual. We're losing a ritual that I believe is transformative, transcendent, and at the heart of the patient-physician relationship. This may actually be heresy to say this at TED, but I'd like to introduce you to the most important innovation, I think, in medicine to come in the next ten years, and that is the power of the human hand -- to touch, to comfort, to diagnose and to bring about treatment."

With the explosion of knowledge,?the whole human genome mapped out at our feet, and we are lulled into inattention,?forgetting that the ritual is cathartic to the physician?and necessary for the patient --?forgetting that the ritual has meaning?and a singular message to convey to the patient. And the message, which I didn't fully understand then,?even as I delivered it,?and which I understand better now is this:?I will always, always, always be there.?I will see you through this.?I will never abandon you.?I will be with you through the end."

Unquote

Rituals are done in religion and by priests. If the practice of medicine is a religion, physicians are the priests, and physical exam is a ritual, then the town of Kodungallor just lost a master ritualist, who practiced the religion of medicine like a zealot, with the power of his touch, he has comforted so many parents, and diagnosed diseases with razor-sharp precision on so many children for over 50 years. Dr. Rajagopal truly understood the power of touch and delivered it relentlessly, and he was always there for his patients. He never abandoned them, and he did this through his very end.

He is truly one person. I can honestly say he lived a noble life of sacrifice and service, producing more than what he consumed and giving more than what he took. His interview with his creator will be a simple one.

He will be fondly remembered and cherished in the memories of many people whose lives he touched for a very long time. Om Shanthi.