Date:07/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/07/stories/2009010760000400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Rotary award for heart surgeon

Staff Reporter

— Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Hearty moment: Carborundum Universal Chairman M.M. Murugappan (second from left), confers the ‘for the sake of honour award’ on heart surgeon V.V. Bashi in Chennai on Tuesday. Rotary Club of Madras Marina president N. Ramachandran (right) and secretary K.M. Ramkumar are in the picture.

Chennai: The Rotary Club of Madras Marina conferred the ‘for the sake of honour award’ to heart surgeon V.V. Bashi, for his contribution to the field of healthcare.

Carborundum Universal Chairman M.M. Murugappan on Tuesday presented the award to Dr. Bashi, who is chief surgeon at the Centre for Cardio Thoracic and Cardio Vascular Care at MIOT Hospitals.

The award citation said that Dr. Bashi had performed over 12,000 open heart surgeries. He has presented about 100 scientific papers and served as visiting surgeon at various hospitals abroad. He completed his Master’s degree at the Government Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram in 1980, and later received training in cardio-thoracic surgery at CMC Vellore and in coronary artery bypass surgery at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia.

Dr. Bashi said that rapid advancements in cardio care have “now made a bypass surgery safer than crossing Mount Road at seven o’clock in the evening.” He recalled how open heart surgery was a risky operation in the late seventies and early eighties. “In those days, a surgery could go up to seven or eight hours with no time to even drink water,” he said.

MIOT Hospitals founder P.V.A. Mohandas and ophthalmologist Mohan Rajan offered felicitations. Rotary Club of Madras Marina president N. Ramachandran, secretary K.M. Ramkumar and club service director M. Rajagopal also spoke.