Devi Shetty facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Devi Prasad Shetty
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| Born | 8 May 1953 Kinnigoli, South Canara district, Madras State, (present-day Karnataka) India
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| Education | Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore (MBBS, MS) Royal college of Surgeons (FRCS) |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Known for | Founder & Chairman, Narayana Health |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Cardiothoracic surgery |
| Institutions | Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Guy's Hospital, London B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre, Kolkata Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru |
| Sub-specialties | Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan (2012) Schwab Foundation's (2005) Dr. B. C. Roy Award (2003) Rajyotsava award (2002) Karnataka Ratna (2001) |
Devi Prasad Shetty (born 8 May 1953) is a famous Indian heart surgeon. He is the founder and chairman of Narayana Health. This is a large group of 24 medical centers across India. Dr. Shetty has performed over 100,000 heart operations. He is known for making healthcare affordable for many people. The Indian government has given him high awards for his work. These include the Padma Shri in 2004 and the Padma Bhushan in 2012.
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Early Life and Education
Devi Shetty was born in a village called Kinnigoli. This village is in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, India. He was the eighth of nine children in his family.
When he was a school student, he heard about Christiaan Barnard. Barnard was a South African surgeon. He had just done the world's first heart transplant. This inspired young Devi Shetty to become a heart surgeon.
He went to St. Aloysius School in Mangaluru. Later, he studied medicine at Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore. He finished his MBBS degree in 1979. He also did his post-graduate work in General Surgery there. After that, he studied at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. There, he earned his FRCS degree.
Amazing Career Highlights
Dr. Shetty came back to India in 1989. He first worked at B.M. Birla Hospital in Kolkata. In 1992, he made history. He performed India's first heart surgery on a newborn baby. The baby, Ronnie, was only 21 days old.
While in Kolkata, he also treated Mother Teresa. She had a heart attack, and he became her personal doctor.
In 2001, Dr. Shetty started Narayana Hrudayalaya (NH). This was a big hospital near Bangalore. He believes that healthcare costs can be much lower. He thinks hospitals can save money by treating many patients. This idea is called "economies of scale."
Dr. Shetty has helped set up many hospitals. He founded the Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Kolkata. He also signed agreements to build huge hospitals. One is a 5,000-bed hospital near Bangalore International Airport. Another is a 5,000-bed hospital in Ahmedabad.
Making Healthcare Affordable
Dr. Shetty wants his hospitals to be very efficient. This helps them perform heart surgeries at a much lower cost. For example, a coronary bypass surgery costs about $1,583 in his hospitals. This is much less than the over $100,000 it might cost in the United States.
He saves money in many ways. His hospitals buy cheaper supplies. They also use natural air flow instead of a lot of air conditioning. Surgeons in his hospitals perform many surgeries each day. They might do 30 to 35 surgeries. In some other countries, surgeons might do only one or two.
His hospitals also help many poor children for free. People in cities sometimes call him the "Henry Ford of heart surgery." This is because he uses an "assembly line" approach. People in rural India call him "Bypasswale Baba." This means "Saint of Bypass." They see him as someone who helps anyone who needs a bypass surgery.
Yeshasvini Health Plan
Dr. Shetty helped create a special health insurance plan. It is called Yeshasvini. This plan is for poor farmers in the state of Karnataka. It helps them get healthcare at a very low cost. Currently, about 4 million people are covered by this plan.
Awards and Special Recognition
Dr. Devi Shetty has received many important awards for his work:
- Padma Bhushan Award for Medicine, in 2012
- Karnataka Ratna Award, in 2001 (This is the highest civilian award in Karnataka)
- Entrepreneur of the Year at ET awards, in 2012
- The Economist Innovation Award in Business Process, in 2011
- Honorary degree from the University of Minnesota, in 2011
- Honorary degree of ‘Doctor of Science’ from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, in 2014
- Schwab Foundation Award, in 2005
- Padma Shri Award for Medicine, in 2004
- Dr. B C Roy Award, in 2003
- Sir M. Visvesvaraya Memorial Award, in 2003
- Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur Of The Year – Life Sciences, in 2012
- Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur of the Year – Start-up, in 2003
- Rajyotsava Award, in 2002
- Indian Of The Year (Public Sector) by CNN-IBN, in 2012
On Television
Dr. Shetty was featured in a Netflix show. It is a docuseries called The Surgeon's Cut. His episode was released on 9 December 2020. The show follows Dr. Shetty as he treats patients. Many of them are children and babies. It highlights how he focuses on low-cost and affordable healthcare. It also shows his team performing many surgeries every day.
See also
- Narayana Health
