GOAN MEDICS By MARCOS GOMES CATAO
Not withstanding VOLTAIRE's mordant quip that "Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing.",medicine has never lost its pristine allure, possibly because, if properly exercised, in the right spirit, it remains one of the most idealistic and altruisitic of professions: Louis is Pasteur's painstaking work in the chemistry of life(the basis for the work of Lister, Roux and others;) the fatal abnegation of Marie Curie's radium research; the tenacious inquisitiveness of Alexander Fleming's mind have all been beacons that have illumed the vision of generations of students contemplating their future, without forgetting the soul-stirring Albert Schweitzer, celebrated organist, eminent BACH specialist, superb doctor and Christian evangelist who preferred to labour in distant, God-forsaken Lambarene (French West Africa) rather than accumulate wealth exercising any one of those professions. And, even to-day the inspiring example of of doctors working selflessly at great personal risk of life as associates of 'Medecins sans Frontieres' (Doctors without borders) in locales of war, pestilence and famine all indicating that the original Hippocratic creed still prevails on the whole. But the ravages of Time have taken a toll:in many countries, fortunately not all, the diaphanous veil of Idealism is being rent by a creeping wave of corrosive materialism. Fifty years back I read a revealing joke in the "Journal of the American Medical Association' that ran as follows: The visitor goes to see the doctor at his house, finds him out and meets his six years old daughter. "Father is at the hospital," she says "he has a very busy day there." "How so?". "Oh, he has a tonsillectomy, an appendectomy and a hysterectomy to-day." "My, my!Those ae very big words for a little girl like you .Do you know what they mean?" "Oh, yes.The tonsillectomy means fifty dollars, the appendectomy means two hundred dollars. The hysterectomy is best of all: it is one thousand dollars." I could not imagine then that there would come a time when, in certain countries, the last sentence of the little girl would epitomize the prevailing philosophy in medical practice. Fortunately, by and large, GOAN doctors have not fallen prey to such sentiments, possibly due to the solid ethical foundations bequeathed them by their forefathers and fathers(general term used, no offence meant to feminists.) Goans have always taken to the medical profession in a big way ever since the first graduates rolled out of GOA MEDICAL SCHOOL in 1846. .Dozens and dozens of others followed over the years, moving out to town and village, hospitals and sanatoria, as 'Delegados de Saude(Govt.Health Officers) in GOA and other Portuguese possessions. Who among us of an older generation can fail to remember the harried village doctor doing his rounds on the bicycle, standard leather bag strapped on the back seat? Or the town doctor who, at the end of a particularly hard case would be recompensed for his diligent labours with a live chicken or a huge bunch of bananas which he accepted with no lack of grace and a paternal smile on his face? And then, that gravest of all occasions, the 'Consulta'(experts' Consultation?) when the attending family physician,wrestling with baffling imponderables to arrive at a confident and precise diagnosis, would request the host to convene one or two other collegues and, when they arrived, all would huddle together discussing and arguing in hushed tones, sometimes with magesterial gestures until they arrived at a consensus, while from afar we watched and admired their learning and wisdom, bemoaning our own ignorance. And when the others had gone, the home doctor would sit and scribble out the prescription tailored for the occasion based on his deep knowledge of pharmacology acquired at the school benches and honed by experience: not for him the cut and dry, one-for-all formulations peddled by avid, commissioned salesmen. Those days are now gone, replaced by cold machines in even colder hospitals. Among the GOAN international trail blazers, Dr.GAMA PINTO deserves pride of place. Born in Saligao, he achieved great fame as an ophthalmologst in Portugal, and then went on to occupy the Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Heidelberg(Germany,)then in the forefront of medicine.. He presided over the Ohthalmological session of the International Congress of Medicine held in Berlin in l890.When we went to Germany, we made it a point to visit Heidelberg to see the town where the GOAN banner had been raised with such distnction such a long time back.. Dr.BETTENCOURT RODRIGUES also ranks high among the early Goan pioneers. Born of Goan parents in the Cape Verde Islands, where his father was posted, he did not attend GOA Medical School but studied medicine in Paris..He then set off for Brazil. He was one of the founding fathers of the 'PASTEUR INSTITUTE' in S.Paulo and, to this day, his full-size statue graces the entrance lobby of the institution. Fortunately, S.Paulo State Govt. has not succumbed to the temptation of disposing of the ancient, yellow and white house to real estate developers, as the Institute is situated on Avenida Paulista, the city's most highly prized and priced locations, known as S.Paulo's 5th Avenue. Later Dr.Rodrigues returned to Portugal and he became Minister Plenipotentiary at the VERSAILLES Peace Conference and in l928/29, Portugal's Foreign Minister. CAMILO DIONISIO ALVARES studied medicine in Lisbon. He discovered Leishmaniasis in Portugal and was the founder of Portuguese Tropical Medicine. FROILANO de MELLO studied in Goa and Germany. He contributed original resarch in leprosy and was a delegate to several International Congresses.. After the events of December l961, he moved from GOA to BRAZIL where he continued his great work. He was honoured in Brazil by having a street there named after him. BOSSUET AFONSO, of Betalbatim, studied in GOA, Germany and Viena. He did original research in X-rays. GOA MEDICAL SCHOOL stole a march over GRANT MEDICAL (Bombay), which grduated its first students only in 1851. Of the first batch of eight, three were Hindus, three Christians and two Parsis.Of the lot, four were GOANS: Bhau Daji Lad, J.C.Lisboa, Anant C.Dukle and Sebastiao Carvalho. BHAU DAJI LAD was born at Mandrem(pernem,Goa), coming to Bombay with his father who eked out an existence selling earthern images.At first he worked at the Elphinstone Institute as a teacher.But, when GRANT MEDICAL opened its doors, he joined up.Dr.LAD achieved great prominence as a doctor and as a botanist.He was responsible for the building of the Victoria Gardens and Museum..He was the first Sheriff of Bombay, appointed in 1869 and again, in 1871.Dr.Lad was prominent in projects that furthered the education of women. He founded the Bombay Presidency Association, a political organization, immediate forerunner of the Indian National Congress. J.C.LISBOA was from Assagao(GOA) He too showed considerable interest in botany, possibly because, at the time, cure for diseases was sought in medicinal plants. Dr.Lisboa studied medicinal plants extensively and, his two books "The Grasses of Bombay Presidency" and "The Medicinal Plants of Bombay Presidency" are well known. Two plants have been named after him 'Tripogen Lisboa' and 'Andrepagan Odoratus Lisboa' for the sterling work done in the field. ANANT.C.DUKLE was from Calangute His father went to Bombay in search of a living, with two sons. But, his sudden and untimely death forced the two boys to take up employment at the Mintat Rs3/ per month!The older brother left the job and started a chemist's business,switching on to photography later(as I understand, his descendants continue this business in Dhobitalao).Success in business enabled him to put the brother through medical school. In the course of time, Dukle became a leader in the profession and was appointed the first Superintendent of Vaccination in1858. He was the first to popularize small-pox vaccination. These pioneers were followed by ACACIO VIEGAS. In 1896 when bubonic plague struck Bombay, it was Dr.Viegas who traced the cause of the epidemic and helped save thousands of lives. He is also known as the Father of the Technological Dept. of the University. A street in Cavel, Bombay is named after him. Another GOAN to carve a niche in the pantheon of medicine is V.N.SHIRODKAR who achieved fame internationally by devising an operation in gynecology that carries his name. And who can forget Dr.ERNESTO BORGES, oncologst at Tata Memorial of whom it was said that "he could walk with kings and yet not lose the common touch" Because of his humanism and surgical skill, he made Tata Memorial the Mecca of hundreds of Goans.To many he was literally the 'Saint of lost causes(to apply the term normally reserved for St.Jude, and with due apologies to the Pope for unduly appropriating his power of cannonizing people) , someone they used to turn to in their afflictions. There was ARTHUR d'SA, the ever smiling general surgeon.He presided over the All-India Congress of Surgeons. To prove that the world is small and full of surprises, after many, many years I bumped into Dr.Arthur at LIMA(Peru) at the International Congess of Plastic Surgery, the last place I would have expected to meet him(to avoid misconceptions, I am not a doctor).It was a pleasant surprise for, when you are lost in a sea of strange faces in a foreign land, it is heartening to meet a Goan, specially a known one! CHARLIE PINTO of Candolim, was in the first batch of doctors that specalized in Plastic Surgery in the UK.But, he devoted more of his activity to the Maternity Home he ran at Dadar,near the Portuguese Church. I understand his children now own and run the Holy Family Hospital at Bandra, Bombay formerly belonging to the Medical Missionary Sisters. IVAN PINTO, cardiologist, whom I knew from very young, was always absorbed in his thought processes. highly intellectual. He was the first Indian to pass the MRCP(Lond) examination at the first attempt(MRCP-Ed and MRCP-Dub were easier to get through first shot, as was FRCS). Therefore, when Mrs.Vijaylakshmi Pandit, Jawaharlal Nehru's sister and then India's Foreign Minister visited London, IVAN was invited to the Indian Embassy there to be presented to her. JULIET d'SA SOUZA , renowned Ob & Gyn, was the first Goan, may be the first Indian, woman to occupy a Professorial Chair at GRANT MEDICAL BEATRIZ MENEZES BRAGANZA, descendant of a highly intellectual family from Chandor was the only Indian woman to get a Tata International Scholarship in 1960-61.She did advanced studies at Columbia, Harvard, Copenhagen London and Sorbonne. She did yeoman's work at Tata Memorial. There were those Goan doctors who tried to be of service to the people in fields outside medicine, several of them being elected Mayors of Bombay. They include:M.U.Mascarenhas, Aluisio Colaco, Simon Fernandes and the father and son duo of Alban and Leon d'Souza. This does not by any means purport to be a fully exhaustive list of GOA's illustrious sons in Medicine. There must be many that merited being included and were left out because I have tried to include those that were outstanding or had some sort of "first" in their curriculum. From all those left out or their friends, I crave indulgence: the ommissions are due mainly due to unawareness, not studied design. References: Mons.F.X.Gomes Catao Subsidios parra a historia de Chorao 1966 A.S.Priolkar Goa re-discovered Illustrated Weekly of India Ap.1980 et al. _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list (Goanet@goanet.org)