Career Moves

Specialised Experience in Level III Neonatal Intensive Care (1989 - 2002)
From April 1989 to February 1991 : Westmead Hospital Sydney
Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Registrar in Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia from April 1989 to January 1990 which is the second largest Level III NICU in Australia. Subsequently he was promoted to Senior Registrar from January 1990 to February 1991 on account of his exemplary performance. He was directly in charge of the 22 bedded, 11 ventilated NICU for care of premature babies born of 24 weeks gestation and birth weight of 500 gm onwards.

From March 1991 to December 1991 : Child Trust Hospital Madras
Consultant Neonatologist, Child Trust Hospital Madras. This is a Pediatric subspecialty hospital where the neonatology department has 15 beds with 4 ventilators. There he was directly involved with the patient care and the management of the sick ventilated babies.

From January 1992 to Feb 1999: PVS Memorial Hospital Cochin
Appointed as Head of Perinatal medicine, ABISHEK pediatric foundation, PVS Memorial Hospital Kochi - 17. This is a 22 bedded centrally air-conditioned level III Intensive Care unit and was at that time the only high - risk pregnancy centre of Kerala. The unit has 8 ventilators (including one High Frequency Ventilator), Infant Star, Bear Cub, Patient - triggered Ventilator (SIMV - Savi) and Volume Cycled Ventilator (Siemens 300 C). The department has crossed 2,10,000 ventilatory hours in 7 years of its functioning and has attained 92% success in ventilating babies born of 26 weeks gestation and with birth weight of 800 gm onwards. The department was started in September 1993 by Dr. P.K. Rajiv and it currently serves as an apex institution providing level III care of babies in this region. It also imparts "on hands training" to prospective pediatricians with a view to give them working knowledge to start their own ventilatory units. The unit has 1:1 nurse to baby ratio on all shifts and a training programme is conducted for nurses going overseas. The department has a "Medline" which has back files from 1983 onwards. This facilitates research and developmental activities and the department publishes two research papers every year. The department has 2 consultants and 4 registrars who stay in -house.

From April 1999 to Jan 2002 : Mallya Hospital Bangalore
Appointed as head of newborn intensive care for the 14 bedded 6 ventilated NICU. High frequency ventilation was started for the first time in Karnataka and the departmental survival during this period was above 90%. He was also project co-ordinator for the same.

From February 2002 onwards : Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre
Invited by the management of AIMS to start the most technologically advanced neonatal intensive care unit in the country. The advanced technology consists of all modalities of high frequency ventilation, nitric oxide therapy and spirometry. The department consists of 20 beds and 8 ventilators and in the second phase a 40 bedded 12 ventilated NICU is envisaged. The recent success in the administration of sildenafil citrate in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension of the newborn was the first of its kind in India.