THE GOLDEN ERA OF SMS MEDICAL COLLEGE

The tenure of Dr Sudhir Bhandari as the principal and controller of the country's leading medical institute, Sawai Mansingh Medical College, has been very commendable, exemplary and incomparable. The allaround development of SMS Medical College, done under his leadership, has not happened during the tenure of any previous principal and the results and evidence of which are visible from time to time directly or indirectly all around Sawai Mansingh Medical College.

The first of the works done by Dr Sudhir Bhandari is the development of the infrastructure of various departments located in the Medical College and attached hospitals. New dimensions were established in all the departments at the cost of Rs 1500 Crores during his four years tenure. The first of these is the 24-storey IPD with 1100 beds, a unique entity across the country. The tower, whose foundation has been laid recently, has a helipad and air ambulance facility and will be completed in the next 30 months.

Apart from IPD Tower, the State-of-the-Art Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (which will have facilities for heart disease patients), Institute of Neurosciences (affiliated with state-of-the-art facilities for brain diseases), highend institute of Ophthalmic Sciences (for eye diseases) and 700 bedded Institute of Topical Medicine, all will be wonderful gifts of Dr Bhandari to SMS Medical College and the entire state.

The development of 500 bedded IPD block with ICU, ward etc at the two women hospitals affiliated to SMS Medical College, namely Zenana Hospital and Mahila Chikitsalaya was also possible during the tenure of Dr Bhandari. SMS Hospital and other attached hospitals like JK Lon and TB hospital also got the facilities of Advanced medical ICU, stroke ICU, and pre-fabricated ward during his enure. Eight storeyed state-ofthe-art super speciality hospital dedicated to highend facilities with 6 modular operation theatres and 350 beds for departments like Urology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, Hepato Pancreato Biliary Surgery, was also started during the tenure of Dr Bhandari.

Along with infrastructure development, Dr Bhandari uplifted the institute by providing stateof-the-art equipment in all departments. These include the Navigation System of the Neurosurgery Department, Laser Machine of the ENT Department, Robotic Surgery System and MRI Machine of Urology Department, DSA Machines, C-scan in JK Lone Hospital etc to name a few. During the tenure of Dr Bhandari, NICU/PICU was started in various hospitals like JK Lone, Gangori Hospital, Mahila Chikitsalaya, Zenana Hospital and Sethi Colony Hospital. Many blood banks were also upgraded in these various hospitals. The IVF Center of Mahila Chikitsalaya developed during the tenure of Dr Bhandari, is proving to be a boon for childless couples.

The 20 bedded negative pressure ICU in the Infectious Diseases Hospital, the day-care dialysis centre for patients with endstage kidney disease and Skin Bank for Burn patients started in the SMS Hospital is a testament to the strong leadership of Dr Bhandari. During his tenure, Dr Bhandari developed a 7-storey State Cancer Institute with state-of-the-art facilities for cancer patients. It is emerging as one of the leading Cancer Medical institutes all over India and the modern diagnostic techniques like GAMMA camera and PET scan available here are setting an example across the country.

Along with these upgradation works, Dr Bhandari also established many new departments at SMS Medical College during his tenure, including Palliative Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Tropical Medicine, Sports Medicine, Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Hepato Pancreato Biliary Surgery, Pediatric Nephrology and Surgical Gastroenterology, and these will further put SMS Medical College on the world map in future. Due to Bhandari's visionary vision, Sawai Mansingh Medical College is one of the leading selective institutes in the country, where a maximum number of UG and PG students come to study. During the tenure of Dr Bhandari, the number of PG seats in SMS Medical College increased from 389 to 600 and DM/MCH seats from 78 to 92.

Along with the state-ofthe-art facilities for the patients, Dr Bhandari also did commendable development work for the students studying in Sawai Mansingh Medical College and the faculty doctors, including the construction of hostel rooms for 100 UG girls, and 10 storey PG hostel of 632 rooms and 5 storey Doctors Flat building. When the whole world was battling the Covid pandemic in the year 2020, Dr Bhandari's efficient leadership and unimaginative hard work established Sawai Mansingh Medical College as a role model in covid management. When the general public and many health care workers themselves were suffering from fear psychosis of this new disease, Dr Bhandari himself took the task of Covid management to the forefront and set an example for everyone.

Due to Dr Bhandari's unique thinking, conscientiousness and tireless hard work, Rajasthan achieved unprecedented success in covid management. SMS Medical College became the first institution in the world, whose medical facility, day-care facility, oxygen supply system, ICU facility, Covid RTPCR test, C-scan etc were exemplary. During this period, 30,000 corona-positive patients were successfully treated and discharged from this institute. Along with the diagnosis of patients, research is also being done on various aspects in SMS Medical College under the guidance of Dr Bhandari and more than 100 research papers have been published

Due to the exceptional leadership of Dr Bhandari, Sawai Mansingh Medical College has been leading in the management of COVID Associated Mucormycosis (Black Fungus) all over the country, as a result of which the death rate due to this disease in Rajasthan (About 7%) is the lowest in the country (although in terms of a number of cases, Rajasthan was at the third place in the country). During the tenure of Dr Bhandari, SOTTO was established in Rajasthan, under which our state is the leading state in the country in organ donation and today SMS Medical College is the first government institute in North India where transplants are being done successfully on a day to day basis. This in itself is a grand achievement for the state.

Due to the extraordinary personality of Dr Bhandari, the successful implementation of various health care schemes of the state government, fulfilling the interests of the common people, including Chiranjeevi yojna, Free medicines, free test scheme etc could be possible. Dr Bhandari is working wholeheartedly for the state government's concept of NIROGI RAJASTHAN. During the tenure of Dr Bhandari, SMS Medical College was awarded 14th rank by India Today all across the country. Undoubtedly it will not be an exaggeration to say that Dr Sudhir Bhandari is not only a great doctor, but he is such an unprecedented, visionary, exemplary and outstanding personality, during whose golden tenure the Sawai Mansingh Medical College reached a height which it had never climbed before.