2020 ANNUAL REPORT
THE GLOBAL IMPACT
OF A
CMC MEDICAL EDUCATION
DIGITAL ACCOMPANIMENT
This year, Vellore CMC Foundation board members interviewed several of CMC‘s alumni whose groundbreaking work has impacted millions of patients globally. We sought to answer the question: what is it about a CMC education that produces some of the world’s most renowned scientists and doctors?
MEET CMC'S ALUMNI GLOBAL LEADERS
CMC Vellore is rated the top private medical institution in India today. It is without a doubt that CMC’s alumni are living testaments as to why this is so. During our interviews, we learned how their CMC education vaulted them into esteemed roles throughout the world. We learned about four distinct ways in which CMC transformed each person’s career: teaching the ethos of “ministering to others”; instilling an innovator’s mindset; providing unparalleled mentorship; and inspiring each of them to continue giving back to India. We invite you to watch the video interviews below.
MINISTERING TO OTHERS
CMC instills an intrinsic value of ministering to others in all of her alumni, and this value was set by her founder, Dr. Ida S. Scudder. In our interview with Dr. Shiv Pillai, he described this as a “mindset that’s inculcated in every person, and you learn to do things, because it’s the right thing to do.” He went on to say that there are “fine institutions everywhere in the world…but they always run on the principle of having to be financially solvent. Whereas in Vellore, that is not the goal. The goal is to reach as many people as possible, treat them, and do the right thing. Those values don’t go away.”
DR. SHIV PILLAI
Professor of Medicine and Health Sciences and Technology (HST), Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Immersive Learning and Digital Innovation, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
INSTILLING AN INNOVATORS MINDSET
Nearly all alumni we interviewed spoke to the dedicated work ethic required of CMC clinicians. They learned to make the most of scarce resources—whether this was manpower or equipment—and they delivered the best possible care to patients with what they had. This education and training created students who learned to think big and problem-solve. And so, it makes complete sense that CMC alumni have gone on to do groundbreaking work.
Chief of Thoracic Surgery in the Department of Surgery, Northwestern Medicine
DR. ANINDYA DUTTA
Professor and the Chair for the Department of Genetics, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
DR. KANTA SUBBARAO
Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, Doherty Institute
PROVIDING UNPARALLELED MENTORSHIP
CMC’s faculty have left a lasting impression and impact on each of its alumni. Each person we spoke with mentioned a CMC teacher who not only instilled in them CMC’s values while inspiring them to pursue their passions, but also served as an important bridge to their next endeavors.
The educators at CMC also inspire future educators, and there’s a clear ripple effect. Dr. Madhukar Pai, who serves as the Canada Research Chair in Translational Epidemiology & Global Health at McGill University, said, “I could be happy with a lifetime of nothing but teaching; I would not miss anything else. I owe CMC a huge debt for inspiring me to become a teacher.”
DR. RAJ NARAYAN
Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Neurosurgery Services, Northwell Health
DR. MADHUKAR PAI
Canada Research Chair in Translational Epidemiology & Global Health, McGill University
GIVING BACK TO INDIA
It is without question that CMC alumni have a strong connection to their alma mater. They all speak fondly about the 50-hour shifts and long days and nights spent with their fellow classmates. They speak about their teachers, whom they remain in contact with. They cherish and carry forth CMC’s values of ministering to patients and providing quality care to all regardless of their circumstances. These alumni have continued to support CMC and India in one way or another — whether it is through COVID-19 relief efforts, or pursuing research in a specific field as Dr. Madukar Pai did with tuberculosis (which is an especially relevant and devastating disease in India). Dr. Raj Narayan, who was one of the youngest doctors in the U.S. to be offered a chair of neurosurgery position, is currently developing guidelines for the management of severe brain injury to be implemented in India. With Vellore being the epicenter of head injury in the country, Dr. Narayan’s work will undoubtedly have a tremendous impact in how acute head injuries are managed.
CMC alumni are glued together by a shared experience — one where they have CMC’s values deeply ingrained into who they are as humans and as physicians. They have gone on to create change internationally, and they are individuals who deeply believe that every person deserves the best possible health care. And so, when they approach and serve patients, they lead their care with this mindset. Perhaps, the greatest ripple effect of all is the patients whose lives are transformed because they receive care from a CMC alumni.