Kerala Pioneering Pediatric Surgery in India

Abstract

Pediatric surgeons of Kerala are very proud to have led the development of superspeciality in any branch of medicine in Kerala and also superspeciality of Pediatric surgery in whole of India. Late Prof. Raman Nair returned in 1954 after training under Dr. Everett Koop in US. Same year, in his far-sighted vision for future development of the speciality, he moved to SATH, Medical College, Trivandrum and started Pediatric surgery as a speciality attached to Paediatrics department; this was the beginning of Pediatric surgery in India. He opted for Pediatric surgery as a full time job and did not do any general surgery work in adults. He was the first full time Pediatric surgeon of India; during the next few years, 2 surgeons, one in Calcutta, Prof. UC Chakraboty and Prof. D Anjaneyulu in Hyderabad started working as full time Pediatric surgeons. In Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, Pediatric surgery developed much later and then all over the country.