Dr. K. Bhujang Shetty: In Memoriam.

Abstract

Dr K. Bhujang Shetty, Founder-Chairman and Managing Director of Narayana Nethralaya was a dynamic ophthalmologist with an indomitable spirit. Dr Shetty had humble beginnings in a small village near Kundapur. At Baldwin Boys High School, Dr Shetty was the perfect student—the school captain, and sports captain, known for his athletic skills in the football and hockey team. As he grew older, he found himself drawn from the green of the sports ground to the white of the operation theater. He completed his MBBS from Bangalore Medical College and postgraduation from Minto Ophthalmic Hospital and Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Bangalore. Soon after his residency, he started his own private practice in Srirampur in 1982, which then moved to its current premises in 1993. He nurtured a silent dream to serve the community, and patience and perseverance were his virtues. The transformation of this young ophthalmologist into a consummate professional and a visionary leader was the result of his positive and focused mindset, pious humbleness, sheer hard work, and innate financial wisdom. Today, Narayana Nethralaya is one of the leading multi-specialty eye hospitals in the country delivering world-class eye care by the highly trained ophthalmologist and utilizing cutting-edge technology. The Institute provides high-quality education and training in ophthalmology. Under Dr Shetty’s leadership, Narayana Nethralaya has intuitively invested in an ecosystem conducive to ground-breaking research and innovation. The new knowledge that it constantly produces and disseminates has ushered in paradigm changes in the basic understanding of several diseases and the way we practice ophthalmology today. Dr Shetty successfully involved Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar to promote and create awareness about eye donation and founded the Dr Rajkumar Eye Bank. This is the State’s largest Eye Bank with more than 65,000 eye pledges and 10,000 tissues donated. The movie star pledged to donate his eyes which the family fulfilled. Even after the untimely death of his son Puneeth Rajkumar, his corneas were donated to Narayana Nethralaya and used for transplantation and restoring sight in four patients. Dr Shetty helped initiate the Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis for Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) program to tackle blindness caused by Retinopathy of Prematurity, which was undertaken as a Public Private Partnership. It is the world’s largest telemedicine program and has screened more than 80,000 infants. Dr Shetty recently founded the Narayana Devalaya, a 5-storied eye hospital, with no cash counters, to fight against correctable blindness in the poor. Dr Shetty in his late 60s, took up research related to the reversal of diabetes. He met weekly with researchers at the GROW Research Laboratory at Narayana Nethralaya to discuss ideas to take it forward. He himself followed and shared his scientific methods of diabetic control through diet and lifestyle changes that could benefit thousands of people. Dr Shetty has shown what a bright young ophthalmologist with an ignited but uncluttered mind can do to build an outstanding legacy. The entire ophthalmic fraternity mourns the loss of this monumental figure.