No stopping after retirement: Dr Badwe to strengthen breast cancer dept at TMH

Dr Badwe joined Tata Hospital in July 1983 as a resident doctor and became a director in 2008. He got an extension as a director earlier. While there were only two hospitals- TMH in Parel and ACTREC in Kharghar when Dr Badwe took over as a director of TMC

Mumbai: Fifteen years after holding the post of director at Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Dr Rajendra Badwe will retire today (November 30) at the age of 67. Dr Sudeep Gupta, the director of TMC’s ACTREC at Kharghar takes over as the new TMC director from December 1.

No stopping after retirement: Dr Badwe to strengthen breast cancer dept at TMH

However, with the shortage of doctors in the breast cancer department of Parel’s Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Dr Badwe said he will continue to practise. “There will be no holidays. I will now focus on strengthening the breast cancer department as few doctors have left in a few months,” he said.

The department saw close to 5,000 new breast cancer patients last year. “Right now, the two surgeons running the clinic face a lot of pressure. We are in the process of getting new doctors. We are also looking into Indian-origin doctors from abroad willing to join Tata Hospital,” he said.

Dr Badwe joined Tata Hospital in July 1983 as a resident doctor and became a director in 2008. He got an extension as a director earlier. While there were only two hospitals- TMH in Parel and ACTREC in Kharghar when Dr Badwe took over as a director of TMC, eight more cancer hospitals were added that are part of the National Cancer Grid- a network of major cancer centres. He was also involved in various research that got TMC international accolades. One of them was a simple intervention of local anaesthesia (0.5% lidocaine) as an anti-cancer agent just before the breast cancer surgery that significantly improved the risk of death and recurrence by 29% and 30% respectively.

“Lots of important studies are going on including the cannabis studies that need to be taken forward. ACTREC Hospital too is expanding at a breakneck speed. We had started the hospital with 130 beds. It is now 500 beds and by the end of next year, it will be 880 beds, bigger than TMH,” he said.

During his tenure as TMC’s director, TMC reached new heights and saw the opening of a centre for epidemiology, a childhood centre, and proton therapy. “There have been several instances where I have failed in treating a patient, lost a patient and yet the relative comes with the next patient showing faith in me and the hospital’s treatment. That is a measure of success for me,” he said.