July 1 is observed as National Doctors' Day in the memory of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy. Indian Medical Association (IMA) commemorated this day to acknowledge the great job that all the doctors and healthcare professionals have been doing to serve the humankind. In these times of pandemic, their role has been even more inspiring and worth praise. There have been several doctors who have taken a different pathway to do good to the society by launching their startups with the purpose of providing best healthcare facilities to the people at large. Medicircle spoke to such doctors to understand their satisfying career path in the startup domain. Excerpts of the conversations with them:

1. Dr. Amit Malik is Founder and CEO of Innerhour and has over two decades of experience working in mental health globally as a psychiatrist, senior clinical and professional leader, and entrepreneur. He has held numerous leadership roles - including Clinical Director and Associate Medical Director - and has been responsible for leading and managing the care of thousands of people with mental illness delivered by large mental healthcare teams. In addition to being the president of a UK and Europe-wide Psychiatric trainee organization, Dr. Amit has also been a member of the Council of The Royal College of Psychiatrists, the European Board of Psychiatry, and the standing committees of the European Psychiatric Association. With a pioneering vision, he returned to India and founded InnerHour. InnerHour is a psychological health platform that empowers people to live a healthier and happier life. 

Dr. Amit mentions, “We learned through 1000s of conversations with our users over the last five years that they are looking for creative solutions. So, we are trying to work with partners to figure out how we develop the solutions and leverage technology today. We will develop a solution that will help them treat mental illness. Users are looking for a coordinated, one-stop-shop solution. It's so hard that it takes an average of six years for somebody to get to see a mental health professional from the first time they experience it. Now, once you are on that, once you've made that effort, once you've gone through that massive hump of getting there, you want to be able to access high-quality services and in an all-in-one place that was what we heard very loudly and clearly from users. We are trying to figure out how we can sort of build a digital platform that can give them as much of a holistic experience as possible under one roof, either ourselves or working with partners from that perspective,” says Dr. Amit. Read the full conversation.

2. Dr. Tom Cherian is the Founder and Managing Director of South Asian Liver Institute, Hyderabad which is an organization dedicated to the study of liver and treatment of liver ailments. He is Group Director, Liver Surgery and Transplantation, CARE Hospitals Group and Professor (GI Surgery) at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad. He has a rich experience of over 25 years in HPB and liver transplant surgery. Out of this, 14 years have been spent in the UK. He has performed over 650 liver transplants including those of children. He is a Liver Specialist with expertise in complex (Split, Domino, Auxiliary) Liver Transplants & has even innovated pediatric transplant techniques. He has 84 published papers/abstracts and 100 international presentations to his credit. Dr. Tom is a passionate surgeon with an ambition to bring world-class treatment to the common man in the field of liver diseases. South Asian Liver Institute is the only private liver hospital dedicated to liver cancer and liver transplant in India.

Talking about South Asian Liver Institute’s Initiative for Liver patients in Covid crisis Dr. Tom informs, “Liver patients are unfortunately having illnesses, some of them are quite sick, but they are a little bit scared to come to the hospital. They are sometimes not able to reach the doctor because the doctors are very busy. They are not able to get beds when normally they would be treated in the hospital. So, for this group of people, the South Asian Liver Institute has started a new service. It is meant to help patients with liver disease during the Covid crisis,” says he. Read the full conversation.

3. Dr. Chytra Anand, is CEO of Kosmoderma Clinics. She is the world-renowned multi-award-winning Cosmetic Dermatologist, Serial Entrepreneur, Working mom, and an Innovator. She has also been voted as India's Most Respected Cosmetic Dermatologist 2013, Elle Magazine Top 6 skin doctors in India in the year 2015. Kosmoderma Clinics is dedicated to medical excellence in the field of Dermatology, both Cosmetic and general with international accreditations and facilities which offers scientifically proven treatments using US FDA approved technology. 

Dr. Chytra says, “I've been very fortunate. But I always believe that if you work really hard, if you are working towards the goal, and you have an honest intention, good things will happen. That's my mantra and I do believe in karma. Your success is not instantaneous, it takes time. I mentor youngsters and a lot of female entrepreneurs who aim to reach somewhere in a specific timeline. To them my question is, what are the goals? So always start with an idea of the goal of where you want to go, and then work backward and get a plan and work towards it. It's very easy to get distracted, especially for female entrepreneurs, because in our life cycle, we are a daughter, a daughter in law, a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, there are so many things happening in our life-cycle and especially when you have the whole responsibility as a mother, it can be very distracting to a full-time working professional. And so, we have to get really smarter with the way we work and be really focused with no time to waste because whatever extra time you have, you would spend it with your kids. Everybody has their struggles and you just have to believe it, be strong, be brave, and fight through all of it.” she says. Read the full conversation.

4. Dr. Swadeep Srivastava is Founder & Mentor of HEAL and Founder & Chief Belief Officer of India Virtual Hospital. He is deeply integrated into the ‘healthcare’ ecosystem for the past 24 years as an Entrepreneur & Leader. He has always been committed to ‘Awareness & Behaviour Change in Healthcare Sector’ and continued this passion as the founder of World’s largest Health Writers Network, which dedicatedly runs the Health Media Capacity Building/Training Program for the past 15 years consistently under HEAL Foundation. He also mentors a dedicated healthcare communication solution provider organisation – HEAL Health Connect Solutions which provides 360-degree solutions to organisations in the health space. World Bank, Food Standards and Safety Authority of India, International Committee for the Red Cross, HealthCare at home, Cipla, Medtronic, Maharishi Ayurveda, BAXTER etc., are some of his recent associates.” 

Dr. Swadeep mentions, “It has brought satisfaction to me to help patients and caregivers in need of guidance. I have supported 14,000 patients in various ways such as the second opinion and the ‘Line of Treatment’ during the past 24 years of my career. I have a passion for helping patients.” The healthcare industry is changing on several different fronts especially after the global COVID-19 pandemic from virtual and augmented reality to smart medicine and biotechnology. The year 2020 has witnessed some of the biggest drivers of change. With efficient use of technology, innovation, and further advancements in medical science, the healthcare industry is expected to come through triumphant from the crisis.” says he. Read the full conversation.