Culture of Excellence
President said, and there in May, we saw first time how 48 degree Celsius will be there and outside, the outside temperature. And then midday we conducted the, a new test, and that made India a nuclear weapon state. And that also gave me another type of happiness.
Then I said, "Okay, these are all some different, some space." I said, "We prepare for the nation." I prepared for the nation, India 2020 vision.
How by the year 2020 India can be economically developed nation. We give a blueprint, a roadmap in 1998, with the complete, areas specified and what should be done. And this book, finally a book also come, India 2020, it's famous book.
And all these six. Another work, and including parliament discuss, and politically they accepted those days. So all these things happened.
But she was nothing impressed my student. You know student when you are taking class, you will know. She said, "I didn't ask all this thing, but you give me one thing which gave you bliss, Anand."
You know? Bliss means Anand. Equal it is Anand. Now, finally, I told her, "See, when I was in DRDL Hyderabad, I was working as a director of the establishment, and also my specialization composite material, how to make a composite material."
The Agni missile, the introduction I gave for Agni, carry a what is called a heat shield, because when it reenters with 15 times the sound speed, reentry time, before 2,000 kilometer it goes, the temperature outside will be normally 4,500 degree Kelvin. It will be burning.
It's a flame. That means inside the nose cone, inside the heat shield, the material what you carry, it may be any important material, and that should be in temperature, the room temperature what you are having. This is the requirement. So we I we developed a material what's called carbon-carbon material.
So you know carbon composite. This carbon-carbon material we developed it, at the tip we have put this fellow so that whenever temperature, very high temperature flame comes in, this will protect inside, will be always 25, 28 degree Celsius. So this very light material we used.
So this is, this is called heat shield for Agni. One day a orthopaedic friend, Professor BN Prasad, at that time he was in Nizam's Institute of Medical Science. He is a orthopaedic surgeon, orthopaedic surgeon.
One day he was visiting me. Orthopaedic surgeon was visiting my lab. I showed him the precious thing, the heat shield.
He lifted, he found it's very light, very light, very light. He was always saying very light. And then, and heavy, its strength also you see very high temperature, strength also very low.
So strength will be kept always. So all this thing was highly impressed. He said, "Kalam, I want to take you to my orthopaedic ward in Nizam's Institute of Medical Science."
So he put me in his car, took me to the hospital, and took me to the orthopaedic ward, where are 30, 40 people who are having knee surgery. And about 15 young boys and girls, they had, the caliper fitted. You know, for a polio patient, they fit the caliper.
That caliper, each, both caliper put together weighs four kilogram. He told me, "See that as soon as we went, they were removed that caliper, they did not wear it. As soon as they saw the doctor immediately started fitting it."
So heavy, it's, so uncomfortable. He told me, "You see the scene, and you have got a fantastic material for the use of missile. Why not you use that material, missile material, use it for this, my children?"
So we took it as a challenge. We took dimension. We take 22 molds we made in, two weeks time, three weeks time.
And then, we got, 15, calipers. Or we call it a FORO, floor reaction orthosis, a FORO. And I took it to hospital with my team, composite team, and we fitted to each, child.
And child, when they wore, so light they started running. Because that four kilogram becomes 400 gram. Four kilogram, one tenth, 400 gram.
The children were so happy and they started running. When the, when the mothers saw this one, they start, I saw the tears. I said, "That was the bliss I got," I told.
So my, all of you my feeling is that answers as my student. All of you are fortunate to be in a noble profession, to remove the pain with compassion and experience. Very important. See, one is treatment, another is compassion.
Both, today I was, in Tiruvallur at a school. I a girl asked me, you know, question. About 12 questions were there.
One question she asked. Before our question answering, I asked, "What class you are study?" The girl said, "I am 10 plus one."
"What subject you have gained?" She said medical subject she has taken. That's biology, medical science, and physics, bioscience.
All these things she has taken. "And I hope you are becoming a doctor." I said, "Yes, I my dream is to become a doctor so that I can remove the pain," she said.
Fantastic statement the girl made. "I want to remove the pain." But you know, I said, my answer was, "You know, normally we all of us human beings, we have one biological heart, isn't it?
Always you and me, all of us got one biological heart. But doctors should have two hearts," I said. Apart from biological heart, they must have one more heart.
So the question of, I asked, "What is the second heart?" You know, nobody will can. Finally, I said, "It's a kind heart."
Because doctor service, medical service needs compassion to the patient because you find not one patient. You have to treat hundreds of patient with pain. In that environment, you have need kindness and compassion.
So I visualize all the doctors, they've got two hearts. Good doctors. Now, medical profession, one of the important thing, friends, when I see Dr. Sanjeev's life, Dr. Ramu Tejal life, and all your life, I see one great quality we need what is called culture of excellence. Culture of excellence. All of you can hear me?
Yes. Last row? Yes. Now, friends, you belong to the medical community of multiple fields. You should stand for a culture of excellence.
The excellence not by accident. It is a process where an individual continuously strives to better oneself. The performance standards are set by themselves.
They work on their dreams with focus and are prepared to take calculated risk and do not get deterred by failures as they move towards their dreams. Then they step up their dreams as they tend to reach the original targets. They strive to work to their potential.
In the process, they increase their performance, thereby multiplying further their potential. This an unending life cycle phenomena, culture of excellence. They are not in competition with anyone else but themselves.
That is a culture of excellence. I am sure each one of you will aspire to become a unique with culture of excellence, because that is needed. When you see a patient and the diagnose method is changed, and the treatment method is changed, and you are the one area, you have to be completely updated continuously.
That means, your knowledge should continuously needs addition. Friends, medicine, when I'm seeing all of you medicine is undergoing a paradigm shift. The understanding of genome, the dynamics of proteins, and the ability of technology to see various process of the cells have zeroed on to inflammation.
Inflammation as the root of all the diseases. You will agree. Now, with these discoveries also came a scientific advances in understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease, leading to innovative therapies that focus on addressing the cause of disease instead of just treating symptoms.
It is essential our medical scientists and clinicians working in the field of healthcare and research have to revisit traditional pharmacological approaches, to medicine and healthcare and develop scientific treatment protocols to use them for many acute and chronic disease and disorders. Now, when I'm telling to you in 2013, that's last year, cancer research found a sea change in research and development, because I visited the Anderson Laboratory in USA.
According to the science journal, it's called the Advanced of Sciences, AAAS, promising results emerged from the clinical trials of cancer immunotherapy. Cancer immunotherapy, in which treatment target the body's immune system rather than tumors directly. Tumor follow, you know, in cancer.
You will treat something, it will come somewhere else. Okay? So the, so then, the question is, the, 2013 research says the immune system targets the body's immune system in which rather than the tumors directly The treatment push T cells and other immune cell to combat cancer. So far, this process works only for certain cancer and a few patients.
It is considered to be an important scientific breakthrough, though the ultimate impact on the disease not known. It was reported, the results so far have been highlighting its success. It is possible immunotherapy in future may find solution for many other diseases.
Only person I can ask, Amma, whether it's possible. Professor, I was there a few weeks back at Edinburgh University. I saw something I thought sharing to the young doctors.
Professor Chandran, in one of the laboratory, showed his work on deploying technologies typically used for eye care professionals, and use it to develop, detect neural disorders. Let me read it. Professor Chandran, he's from Edinburgh University.
A laboratory I visited, cancer laboratory, show his work on deploying technologies typically used by eye care professionals, and use it to help detect neural disorders. Using optical scanner devices, his team is mapping the inside of the eye, particular retina. They are going further and targeting the optical nerve, a small opening into the retina, which carries neurons and photoreceptors from the eye to the brain.
Using the advanced technology, they are, they are able to peep down the optical nerves in the specific region of the brain and make a longitudinal and cross-section image of it. He showed me a number of images. These images clearly show any odd neural pattern or any potentially at-risk neural form.
Thus, using this technology, Professor Chandran and his team is able to detect early disorders and administer preventive care in the, in the typical area. Now, friends, I would like to say that, six virtues of medical care, one we have to possess whoever the medical care. Let me now share with you six virtues which a medical caregiver should possess.
This, I have read in a book titled Medicine and Compassion, authored by Rinpoche, a Mongol, Buddhist Mongol, Rinpoche, co-authored by, David R. Shlim, M.D. It's a nice book. Name of the book, Compassion and Medical Care.
The f According to the authors, first virtue is generosity. That is, the doctor should have a mind of generosity. Second virtue is pure ethics, because just now I had a specialist in ethics area is here, ethics area, and that's I am very happy to know.
May I know, sir, who is that, sir? Who is specialty, special medical ethics, eh? Eh? Dr. Hegde. Dr. Hegde.
Dr. Swaminathan PM Hegde. PM Hegde. Okay, so first virtue is generosity. The second virtue is pure ethics.
Third is tolerance, because you will be in the midst of pain. A doctor or nurses, they always, they are in the midst of pain. That's why tolerance. The fourth is perseverance.
Doctor never gives up. Never gives up. He will always say, "I can save this situation," or save, prevent the disease or cure the disease. Fifth is cultivating pure concentration.
When you see a patient, he should feel, "My doctor sees me. Sees me through." Not just keep a thermoscope and get away. And the way you treat the patient, he feels in this, the cultivating the pure concentration of the patient.
The last virtue is intelligent. That means no, field in the country, in any part of the world, it needs updating. Because medical field in equipment, in diagnosis, in treatment, continuously every day it's changing.
Fortunately, internet is there. These virtues will empower the caregivers with a humane heart. I am sure the medical who are present here and elsewhere will have all these six virtues that will reinforce confidence of the citizen in the healthcare system.
So finally, in conclusion, I would like to say, what I will be remembered for? What I will be remembered for? Okay. First, friends, I want to leave you with a thought today.
What is the one action which will make you great? Every one of you has a page in the history of the world. What is that page?
How do you make that page which is going to be referred by the prosperity? There's a need to give a vision to your ambition. What I will be remembered for?
What I will Each one of us has to ask the question, what I will be remembered for? And if you find an answer, for this question a few lines, that of, that of out-of-box idea will drive you for the rest of your life. You will definitely thinking something different on our out-of-box mission.
What are they? Can I visualize along with you? I'm not a doctor, but I want to visualize along with you. Each one of you will derive your own vision to remember.
For example, you see this light. When you see this light, immediately we remember a personality. Even though electricity was discovered, Faraday, long ago, but application was given a person, Thomas Alva Edison.
When the light you see, Thomas Alva Edison. When the telephone bell rings, you remember Alexander Graham Bell. So what a lady who got two Nobel Prizes, you will remember it's Madame Curie, because one for discovery of radium.
However, she treated cancer patient using the radium. For both, she got two Nobel Prize. So they're all unique people.
So what I'll be remembered for, you will be definitely thinking something different. An out-of-box mission today, what are they? You are going to say today, what I'll be remembered for.
Can I visualize along with each one of you will derive your own vision? I'm not putting boundary condition. Will you be remembered for bringing smiles of health and joy to all the patients?
When the patient reaches you will be having haunted by patients. But smile, can you wear the smiles? Will you be remembered for helping creating a unique cost-effective vaccine against malaria?
Malaria is not going out of our country. And thereby saving more than one million people, mostly children and who are in trouble. Will you be remembered for creating a roadmap for reviving the 23,000 primary healthcare centers across the nation, which would enable them to deliver the much-needed primary health facilities to a remote region?
Madras doctors want to be in Madras. Nobody want to go to the primary health centers. Will you be remembered as a champion of preventive?
This is very important, sir. Will you be remembered as a champion of preventive healthcare in the areas of cardiology, diabetic, and infectious diseases? Because you will be the great teacher.
You are treating a patient. Patient doesn't come alone. He comes with his family.
And when the patient gets cured, he become a teacher. When you teach, when you tell him how to, why he got the disease, how it can be prevented, he will give you attention to you. He will care for you.
Will you be remembered as a great teacher in preventive care for diseases, families of patients? Will you be remembered for contributing in a unique way in finding a cure for diseases such as cancer and HIV? Now, friends, my best wishes to all of you for success in your mission of removing the pain of the needy patient.
May God bless you all.
