Dr. Kirtikumar Rathod attended a very ordinary school with no full-time teachers in a small town in India. His interest in science ultimately led him to being selected to study medicine. He was selected for surgical training at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India, one of the most prestigious institutes in the country. There, he had the opportunity to work with and learn from many leading surgeons and physicians.
Dr. Rathod earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 2002 from Shree Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College in Dhule, India. He finished his Master’s in General Surgery in 2008 from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, India, one of the most prestigious institutes in the country. After his general surgery training, he finished his paediatric surgical training in 2011 at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, one of the best surgical centers for children in the country. He received the Best Young Researcher Award in Pediatric Surgery in 2011 by the Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons.
He has worked with children in India, the Middle East and the United Kingdom as a pediatric surgeon for more than 10 years. Being a child surgeon, he teaches the delicate way of handling fragile tissues. His areas of interest are basic science, surgical education and the use of technology for promoting health for all.
Dr. Rathod currently works in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jodhpur, India where he is associate professor of pediatric surgery. His current position involves managing babies and children with surgical conditions. He is especially interested in minimal access pediatric surgery where major surgeries are done in children with tiny incisions, thus providing excellent post-operative outcomes and patient satisfaction. He also serves as the principal investigator of research projects in his department and acts as a guide for residents’ dissertations.
“I was very proud to be selected for the Master’s of Science in Global Child Health program at St. Jude,” he says. “Many children around the world do not have uniform access to good quality or advanced health care facilities. I believe this opportunity will help me share my concerns with other experts in the field so that we can come up with solutions for these children with scarce resources.”
Education
MS - Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry, India (2008)
BS - Shree Bhausaheb Hire Government Medical College, Dhule, India (2002)