Sanchithachandar

Dr. B. S. Srinath

Dr. B. S. Srinath, fondly known as Dr. BSS, is a renowned surgical oncologist practising in Bengaluru, India. During his 40 years as a practising surgeon, he has played a key role in the development and management of three renowned hospitals, namely, Bangalore Institute of Oncology (now, HCG), Rangadore Memorial Hospital and Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Centre. He is currently the Head of the Institution and Senior Consultant Surgical Oncologist at Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Bangalore. He also serves as the Managing Trustee of Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation, Bangalore.

Early Life

Dr B.S. Srinath was born on 23 January 1950, to Mr P.V. Subbaraya Sastry and Mrs Jayalakshmi Sastry in Bhadra Colony, Shimoga District, Karnataka. The youngest of 9 siblings, he lost his mother to typhoid when he was a year old. He later spent most of his childhood with his maternal grandparents and siblings. Growing up, he would help his father in the farms and look after the family cattle. He finished his matriculation from Paper Town High School and his Pre-University from Silver Jubilee College, Bhadravathi.

Professional Training and Career

He graduated from the JJM Medical College Davangere, the University of Mysore in 1971. He trained as a surgical junior resident in JIPMER, Pondicherry and earned his post-graduate degree in General Surgery from PGIMER, Chandigarh where he was mentored by Dr B.L. Talwar. Following this, he worked as a Consultant General Surgeon in a Mission Hospital in Kerala between 1979 and 1980 before moving to the United Kingdom for fellowship and research. In 1981, Dr. B.S. Srinath completed the professional qualification of FRCS (Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons) from Edinburgh and Glasgow in the United Kingdom to be able to practice as a senior surgeon in Ireland or UK. He continued to stay in the United Kingdom working as a Registrar in Surgery at University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, Cardiff and conducted research in Cancer, Nutrition, and Immunity before moving back to India in 1983. In 1983, he joined KIDWAI Institute of Oncology, Bangalore as an Honorary Assistant Surgeon with his focus on mastering the treatment of cancer for every patient in the society. In 1986, he started working as Assistant Professor of Surgery at M S Ramaiah Medical College and Hospital in Bangalore with an aim to share his knowledge with the aspiring oncologists and medical students. By the year 1992, he started spearheading anticancer campaigns, conducted cancer awareness, and early cancer detection camps across Karnataka and bordering regions of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu targeting mofussil and rural areas to help support the economically weaker section of the society. Between the period of 1992 and 2010, he worked as Consultant Surgical Oncologist, Senior Consultant, and Managing Director of Bangalore Institute of Oncology. He later worked as Senior Consultant Surgical Oncology (2010 – 2013) at Rangadore Memorial Hospital while managing the working and operations of Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation as the Managing Trustee. Over the past 25 years, Dr. B.S. Srinath has successfully created awareness about the hazards of tobacco consumptions and the consequences of smoking and chewing tobacco. He produced a documentary titled “Tobacco the Devil” and distributed it among schools and colleges at no cost in an effort to reduce the consumption of pan masala and tobacco among the students. Moreover, he has published many books aiding patients and founded Cancer Information Centre, a charitable trust to procure medicines and subsidized costs and to provide free ostomy appliances at rural centres. During his tenure as Chairman of Karnataka Cancer Society (2007-2008), he established diagnostic centres to provide Radio diagnosis, Ultrasound, and Laboratory services to the society at a very reasonable price. He also established the first-ever charitable pharmacy to distribute chemotherapy medicines among the patients at the cost price and also at no cost to the patients who were below the poverty line. Since 2012, Dr. B.S. Srinath has been continuously devoting his time in working as Consultant Surgical Oncologist at Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital and Research Centre and managing the trust for Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation. The hospital was started with 250 beds and is slowly achieving its goal to establish a 600 bedded charitable cancer hospital with all modern facilities under one roof, medications at subsidized rates, and free food for the people in need.

Awards and Memberships

Since, the early stage of his career, Dr. B.S. Srinath has been honoured with a number of awards and recognition. Few of his achievements are:

• Best outgoing student, University of Mysore

• Two Gold Medals during his MBBS

• First to the University in final MBBS

• Pfizer Post Graduate Award

• Recipient of ORS Award from The Department of Education, Her Majesty’s Government of UK

• Freemasons Silver Jubilee Prize

References:

1. Cancer Cure-Challenges Unmet – TEDx talk by Dr. B.S. SRINATH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpAQcDukBz8

2. Dr B S Srinath speaking at"FIGHT AGAINST CANCER" event (Citibiz TV news) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE2l7QK24wk

3. Be the cause behind the cure – greatandhra.com article https://www.greatandhra.com/articles/special-articles/be-the-cause-behind-the-cure-83333

4. Chazhikattu Hospital Board of Directors https://chazhikattuhospital.com/board-of-advisors/

5. A study on the effects of yoga on symptom management in breast cancer patients http://www.ijoy.org.in/article.asp?issn=0973-6131;year=2009;volume=2;issue=2;spage=73;epage=79;aulast=Hosakote

6. German Hospital Delegation https://indien.ahk.de/events/event-details/german-hospital-delegation/

7. Free health camp – City Today Article https://citytoday.news/free-health-camp-more-than-3300-people-take-part/

8. Tobacco – The Growing Epidemic E-book https://books.google.co.in/books?id=wdLiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&dq=dr+b+s+srinath&source=bl&ots=im4CfwXm7E&sig=ACfU3U1p38qRjOfig3UluXRarbwzNwUOKA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWtvqzuYviAhXFdn0KHXg8BNM4KBDoATAHegQICBAB#v=onepage&q=dr%20b%20s%20srinath&f=false

9. The IAOMR National Postgraduate (PG) Convention http://www.jiaomr.in/article.asp?issn=0972-1363;year=2014;volume=26;issue=4;spage=477;epage=478;aulast=;type=3

10. Next is Here – TEDx Event Talk https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/14384

11. Free cancer treatment for poor at Bangalore – Times of India News Article https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Free-cancer-treatment-for-poor-at-new-hospital/articleshow/6464771.cms