“Being a doctor and serving the people was my dream right from my childhood.

I grew up in a small town called Choppadandi in Karimnagar district. The lack of proper healthcare facilities in our village pushed me to pursue MBBS and take up the medical profession as my career choice.
I moved to Hyderabad for my higher education and pursued MBBS at Gandhi Medical College, where I got a seat purely out of merit.

After my training period, I was first posted at a tribal village in Allapalli in a dense forest in the Kothagudem district. There was no road or transport. We would have to walk for long distances to reach people.

It took me a month to get used to it. The villagers were rooted in their traditional methods and beliefs. It was a tough one to crack because even pregnant women preferred delivery at their homes. It was their way of living, but I had to explain medicine and science to them. In fact, there were no ambulance services when I first started working. Everything was a challenge, right from basic medicines, but I didn’t give up. I grew up in a similar environment and I knew how difficult things could get.
We had to travel at least 15 km for any kind of treatment. It was taboo to permit women to study – let alone send them to a city. But I did it with the kind support of my family.

I knew early in life that there are many villages like mine with absolutely no medical facilities and I wanted to serve people in such places. So, posting in a tribal village didn’t upset me. It made me happy that I could help those who needed healthcare. My life has been full of learning experiences. City Life was new. Medicine was challenging. Treating people in the interior hamlets was tough. But I was ready for it and I look forward to serving the people in the future as well. That’s a promise I had made for a lifetime.”

• Dr. Sujatha Mamidi