Well – known paediatrician Dr. Sarojini Raman passed away on Feb. 6. She was a resident of Mylapore.
Sarojini was born in Chennai in 1930, and lived in a joint family with her maternal grandfather Dr. Seethapathy Iyer, a very popular general practitioner, during her school years.
She grew up spending time with her grandfather who inspired her to become a doctor, especially a child specialist.
She studied in Queen Mary’s College Chennai and went on to complete her MBBS at Lady Hardinge, Delhi. She then spent a year at the Children’s Medical Centre, Boston in an internship, and worked in London to complete the Diploma in Child Health (DCH). She returned to Madras, having felt a strong need to practice her skill, just like her grandfather.
Sarojini started paediatric practice with the legendary Dr. T. S. Achar, at the Children’s Hospital, Egmore, and after 8 years, started her own practice as a paediatrician along with her cousin, the late Dr. N. S. Murali at Seethapathy Clinic, Royapettah.
As a firm believer in being a family-focused doctor, she was very particular about preventive medicine, immunisation and educating the mother about the baby’s needs, and most importantly the role of the father in the care of the infant, from birth to the teens. Hence, she started consultations on weekends particularly Sundays, so that a father did not have a legitimate reason to not visit the doctor and pass on the responsibility to the mother.
Dr. Sarojini Raman had the intuitive ability to connect with children, and took time to help provide wholesome and preventive care and not just treat the presenting illness. Her record-keeping was meticulous and she often got upset with the current generation of doctors for not looking beyond the clinical problem.
She also gave free care to the underprivileged patients who travelled great distances to see her. She had been a true ‘4G doctor’, having seen the fourth generation patients from the same families.
She passed away after 56 years of dedicated service, and worked till her last day before a brief illness took her away. She is survived by her daughter Kanaka Ravi, who can be reached on 9003072315.
