Dr S.P.S Grewal, Founder and Managing Director, Grewal Eye Institute, Chandigarh

How many people can boast of a WHO fellowship at Morefields Eye Hospital for advanced training in application of Ophthalmic Lasers and also the membership of Computer Professional's Association in Chandigarh. Precision in delicate eye surgeries or drawing a portrait or specialising in close-up photography- there are many hues in the life canvas of Dr.Grewal.

Let's talk a bit about his professional journey. After passing the final year MBBS examination, Dr. Grewal did his 1year internship in surgery, obstetrics, gynecology, pediatrics, neonatology, medicine, eye and ENT. He also spent 3 months surveying the entire population of a village to ascertain the state of their health in addition to providing primary care, immunization and public health service.

He followed his degree course with post graduation (MD) in Ophthalmology from P.G.I Chandigarh. During this period Dr. Grewal was awarded the senior research fellowship by C.S.I.R to carry out research on the astigmatism after cataract surgery, and the factors affecting it. The training included extensive clinical and surgical training in glaucoma surgery, corneal transplants, iridectomies, retinal detachment surgeries etc. After completing his education ,he took up a job as senior lecturer and became in-charge of retina care unit at department of Ophthalmology, Govt Medical College, Patiala. Here, he set up a ordinal care unit for the first time in Punjab, the only centre to do vitreo retinal surgeries in the state. Later he became a senior consultant in P.G.I. Under his guidance a special eye trauma clinic was started in the institute to look after the patients with severe injuries to the eye. It gave him a unique experience in the field.

He has been a passionate social worker too. He established Roshni Trust, which frequently organises medical camps for patients who cannot afford the cost of laser surgery. In fact, huge demand for medical camps led him to start a clinic cum hospital from his home. "t met with such a huge success that very soon I had to buy a space and set up a state of the art hospital in Chandigarh," Grewal says as he takes us around the hospital

Undoubtedly, his stamp is there all over the place. He has done the design and interior of the in-house patient area, which looks like a nice mini hotel room where u feel relaxed and invigorated. "I didn't visit any hospital before setting up the clinic as it could have influenced my creativity." All the photographs/portraits in his hospital have been done by him. So is the robust IT infrastructure in the hospital; we teased him on how he is saving cost on everything.

Grewal established GEI in May 1993 with the seed capital of Rs40 lakh. "Performing an operation is like a therapy, which i enjoy the best." No wonder, for the last 25 years he has performed more than 50,000 surgeries.

What made us admire him more was some of the procedures that he has in place. For example, as a walk-in patient, you are given a handout on the demands and rights of a patient. His success stems from the fact that he always thinks about the patients first and there is no compromise on quality of service. Today, he manages 70 staff, 10 full-time doctors, 2 part-time doctors, and gets more than 3000 patients a month. And he hasn't missed the medical tourism bus too. Every month 15-20 foreigners visit GEI for medical treatment. They have every reason to do so as GEI has been adjudged as 4th best eye care hospital in the world.

To share his world-class knowledge, Grewal has also started school of optometrics where a 4 yr degree course in ophthalmology is taught in collaboration with IGNOU. "We have 12 students right now. We plan to increase the batch size to 30 next year," says Grewal. He has also started a fellowship training program for students from other countries such as Egypt and Ethiopia.

After Chandigarh, a GEI hospital was recently opened in Mohali and a third one will soon be operational in Panchkula, Haryana.

The doctor entrepreneur seems unstoppable in his pursuit of reaching out to more people as he has already drawn a grandiose plan of opening GEI centres across India.