Surgical Precision: Dan is the Man

“OBEY your Mataji” is a clichéd phrase, but one near and dear to Prof Dilip Dan, 49, who, as a boy harvesting bananas and cutting grass in Rio Claro, was motivated by his mother’s dream of his becoming a doctor.

Dan has emerged as a Caribbean pioneer in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery, with 77 international medical publications to his name, and having topped American colleges in surgical exams.

This illustrious career was nurtured in Rio Claro, where he woke up at 4.30 am to catch a minibus for the journey to Presentation College, San Fernando.

The Maha Sabha’s Indian Arrival Day 2018 annual dinner function on May 20 honoured Dan, who in turn showered praise on his devout Hindu parents, especially his Mataji – his mother. He described her special qualities: a dedicated housewife who ensured her four children had enough food, clothes and books, she was one of those women in the village who openly spoke her mind, especially in support of her husband – a woodcutter, rice and cane farmer – through thick and thin.

As a boy, he understood the struggles of his mother and father, remembering how some of the vegetables and fruits the family harvested were sold in the village and, even though they didn’t have much themselves, they used the money to help other families in need. Dan said his mother pinned all hopes on his becoming a doctor and since Form 1, he never lost sight of fulfilling that dream.

His schooldays were hectic, he remembered. He arrived home at 5 pm after a 26-mile journey from San Fernando along the winding Naparima Mayaro Road. Dan often slumped in his seat and dozed off.

“I got up every day at 4.30 am to reach Rio Claro junction in time for the bus. I had to catch up on much-needed sleep,” he said.

On one such journey, when Dan was a Form 1 student, a schoolgirl senior to him asked what he planned to do with his life after college.

“I said I wanted to win a scholarship and study medicine. She laughed. Then she suggested I be more realistic,” said Dan in his quiet voice.

Along the way, through tired eyes, he would glimpse fellow students already in their homes; perhaps they had already finished their homework or had dinner.

That daily routine curbed Dan’s extra-curricular activities. He sat down and studied each day, even on Christmas Day, but worked equally hard in the family’s garden picking cocoa, oranges, cutting fig and grass, and hunting in the Rio Claro forest with his father.

Dan won a national science scholarship and placed second in the 1988 Maths Olympiad. Thereafter, his academic accomplishments have been riddled with superlatives, ever since he won the clinical, surgery, psychiatry, medicine and pathology medals in the UWI graduate class of 1993, at Mona, Jamaica.

Now a young doctor, Dan pushed his mother’s dream further and went to Buffalo State University, New York. He had applied for a residency to do postgraduate studies in surgery, but when he reached the interview panel, he came up against doctors already exposed to the cutting edge of surgery in North American hospitals. He remembered the blistering cold morning of that interview.

“I was not prepared for this. The staff was surprised to see me, but supportive. After talking to the other doctors, I felt I didn’t have a chance. But I think I had a decent interview for the resident post.”

Feeling a bit dejected, he hopped onto a bus and went to Niagara Falls, since, he recalled, smiling, he figured, “After all, I’m already here. I might as well grasp the opportunity.”

But he got the job, out-performed his peers and a year later, the university hospital fired a surgeon in order to keep Dan. He returned to TT in 2002.

Addressing the Maha Sabha award function, Prof Vijay Narayansingh said Dan was deserving of the title “father of laparoscopic and bariatric surgery in TT”

Commonly called keyhole surgery, laparoscopy is a modern technique in which only small incisions are made. Tiny cameras are inserted in the body and specially designed surgical instruments are used. Success in such procedures depends as well on the skilful hands of the surgeon. One doctor, who requested anonymity, attesting to Dan’s surgical skills, said, “In the medical fraternity, we call him ‘the robot.’”

Dan’s academic achievements include: a Ted Jesuit resident award 1999; being among the top one per cent in the US board examinations in surgery; a US fellowship in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery; attaining a professorship in 11 years; and publishing 77 articles in international medical journals. (Other surgeons in this part of the world, Narayansingh said, have never written more than 50.)

Dan has introduced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery in TT at the San Fernando General Hospital, and trained surgeons in Jamaica, St Lucia, Barbados, Guyana and Puerto Rico. He was awarded a Humming Bird (Gold) medal in 2015. He is a past president of the Society of Surgeons of TT; member of the Society of American Gastro-Enterological Surgeons since 2003 and fellow of American College of Surgeons (2005); a Fellow of the Caribbean College of Surgeons (2008); vice president of the Caribbean Association of Endoscopic Surgeons; president of the Caribbean Obesity Society; and a member of the board of the John E Sabga Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer since last year. He’s won awards from South West Regional Health Authority and the TT Medical Association.

His current leadership roles include being a university examiner, head of UWI’s department of surgery (St Augustine); president of the TT chapter of the American College of Surgeons and the Caribbean Obesity Society; vice President of the Caribbean Association of Endoscopic Surgeons, and a council member of the Caribbean College of Surgeons.

What advice would Dan give his countrymen? His reply shows he’s still a country boy at heart. Obey your parents, he says, especially your mother, and avoid the temptation of getting things easily.

“Be the best you can be, whether it is washing cars, planting vegetables, a doctor, or lawyer.”

The father of two – Anjanaa, nine, and Pavan, eight – Dan still manages to find time for gardening, though he has moved to St Joseph Village, San Fernando. And Narayansingh, while praising Dan for the time he devotes to teaching other doctors, adds a more personal touch: not many people know, he says, that Dan is the owner of seven cows.

Dan’s parents, who still live in Rio Claro, attended the function, along with his three siblings: a sister–who is an accountant, his brother – a computer analyst, and a younger sister who is a dental surgeon.

Dan works at the San Fernando General Hospital, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, and the private nursing homes West Shore and Surgi Med. And while he cannot count the hours he works, he assured that he gives his wife, Sarita and their children the time they deserve.

He also finds time to visit his parents in Rio Claro often.

“I value where I come from. That’s what helps me cope with the stresses of life.”