Biography

Few people take the road less travelled and achieve a degree of success on that road. Dr Vidushi Sharma’s success story can show the way to many. It is a proof of the fact that you don’t have to follow the beaten path to make it big in life. To accomplish something out of the ordinary, have the courage to go over and beyond. Follow your vision, put in your best efforts, focus on your goal long enough, get going and dare to keep going. You are sure to carve your own niche.

Childhood & Early Education :

Dr Vidushi was born in small town called Palwal in Haryana. She was brought up in an upper middle class family. Her father was an Air Force Officer and mother was a school teacher who taught for some time in Central Schools. She was the only child of her parents and that made her more responsible contrary to the popular notion that an only child is spoiled.

“My parents laid great emphasis on my education and took special care to teach me well at home during the initial school years,” tells Dr Vidushi. She has fond memories of her early days and describes her childhood as ‘quite good.’ “Life in Defence Camps is great for children as the surroundings are safe and clean and there is plenty of space for kids to play. It also inculcates in you a sense of discipline and teamwork. On the whole the defence atmosphere was a big help in shaping my personality and character,” she states.

Dr Vidushi experienced many transitions during her childhood since her father regularly got transferred from one place to another as is the norm in the defence services. Thus she studied in various Central schools. “I studied in Kanpur, then shifted to a small place called Devlali in Maharashtra, followed by Allahabad and then Agra from where I completed my class IX,” she details.

The practice of frequent uprooting and moving to new schools can be a wrenching experience for most children. But Dr Vidushi remained positive and courageously took it all in her stride. The frequent switching of schools over a period of time made her fairly flexible and adaptable. She began to adjust easily to the new environment, made friends and caught up with the studies maintaining her grades all at the same time.

“In school, I was one of the good students,” tells Dr Vidushi. “In addition to studies, my parents always encouraged me to participate in the extra-curricular activities so as to foster all-round development,” she adds. “I enjoyed taking part in debates, dramatics, story-telling, recitations and such other activities. All that made me confident in front of the microphone, helped me speak fluently and get over the fear of public speaking,” she shares.

When Dr Vidushi was in class Xth, her father got posted from Agra to New Delhi. That’s where she felt stressed out for the first time in life. “I experienced a cultural shock on moving from Agra (a smaller city) to New Delhi (a metro). It was kind of an eye opener for me with an exposure to the big, though not so bad world out there,” she reveals.

Dr Vidushi did her Class XIth and Class XIIth also from the same school. To be on the safer side, she opted for both Maths and Biology so that in case she didn’t get into one stream, she could fall back on the other. But keeping both options open meant she had to work doubly hard. So she did and her efforts bore fruit.

“I did well in both engineering and medical entrance exams and got selected in many medical and engineering colleges. I also got a selection letter from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi,” she shares. “In those days a medical seat was considered more prestigious, so I decided to pursue medical (MBBS) studies,” explains Dr Vidushi.

“I wasn’t set on any one career till then, but the real clincher was the unexpected admission into All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) at New Delhi, after which I decided to pursue medicine,” states Dr Vidushi.

Working in Australia did wonders for her.

“Till I reached Sydney, I was a happy-go-lucky person and didn’t bother much about the career,” she confesses. “But after I got exposed to the World Ophthalmology and had a chance to meet the bigwigs in the Ophthalmic World, things started getting clearer and I began to have my own strong views about what I wanted to do in life especially career wise,” says Dr Vidushi.

One thing was sure. She had no plans of settling abroad and was determined to come back to India.

When Dr Vidushi along with her husband decided to move back from Australia to India, they chose to settle down in Kota (Rajasthan), a non-metro city near her husband’s village. They started their own private practice there, unsure of how the city would work out for them, as none of them had ever stayed in the city before. It was primarily an emotional decision fuelled by abstract feelings like “working where you feel a sense of belonging etc.”

Many doubted their wisdom to take such a decision. Some even discouraged them by saying that it would be impossible for them to succeed in such a small place. Conventional wisdom also suggested that it would be very difficult for them to adjust to the semi-urban life after having lived in big cities for so many years and worked in state-of-the-art Institutes. But only they knew what they had in mind and what they were up to.

Dr Vidushi was certain of the choice she had made and knew exactly the path she was daring to tread on. No matter what others said or advised, she along with her husband was determined to start her own venture. She had decided to live life on her own terms and there was little that could change her mind.

“Initially, we had plans of joining a big Institution in India. But at the last minute, we cancelled our plan and took a decision straight from the heart to come back to Kota and set up a private practice there,” she explains.

“In this era of market surveys, planning consultants and all, when people first check the viability of a private practice in a particular area, we were jumping into unknown waters for Kota was a place that I had never seen before (except the railway station) nor did my husband ever live there. Yet we reached there in December 2005, with bags and baggage, almost no funds, no place of our own and no roadmap,” describes Dr Vidushi.

Moving to Kota came with mixed feelings. On one hand, they felt good that they would be closer to their roots, would have a chance to do something good for the people, could add value and make a difference in their life. On the other hand, there was apprehension and uncertainty in the back of their mind about how they would go about setting up and running their own practice.

It wasn’t easy for this doctor couple who had the best of qualifications, rich International experience and sound academic background to come back to a small city in India and set-up a practice from grassroots.

“It was indeed a challenging, uphill task to start everything from a scratch, build up a working team, put up the necessary infrastructure etc.,” confesses Dr Vidushi.

Success they say can be measured in different ways. One should choose that which resonates with you and makes sense to you. Dr Vidushi and her husband set out to define what success meant to them and began chalking out a plan to accomplish their goals.

It might sound simple enough to set up your own venture once you have a vision and a blueprint but in reality it is anything close to being simple.

With the help of some family members and friends, they finalized a place. It was in fact a newly constructed Orthopaedics hospital and was let out as the owner had to shift to another city. They were also lucky to get the services of a trained operation theatre (OT) technician, who helped them to start the OT set-up.

Thus began their journey of setting up their own SuVi (Suresh-Vidushi) center. “The initial days were difficult as it happens with every new venture,” remembers Dr Vidushi. The road wasn’t smooth, challenges were aplenty; every step was paved with hurdles and difficulties. They struggled and went through tough times. But they neither lost hope nor faith. Instead they stuck their neck throughout, remained put and followed through their goal with the trust that their vision is right and the hard work will eventually pay off.

“In the initial days of our practice, we had no optometrists, a very limited staff and an absolutely no frills set-up. We would do everything ourselves, but never hesitated, got embarrassed or felt the need to show off to the patients that we were ‘big’ doctors. We would in all humility call up our operated patients to check with them if they were doing all right. Sometimes we would even give a call to our OPD patients,” discloses Dr Vidushi.

“Things moved very fast and we were always busy trying to keep up with the increasing workload,” she says. There was no compromise on the quality of patient care and the services offered. At the same time, moving to Kota proved lucky for us on the personal front, as we were blessed with a daughter (Ishita), who I believe brought generous doses of good luck with her,” expresses Dr Vidushi.

It’s been nine years since they first started and they can now look back with pleasure and contentment. Like Steve Jobs said- “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

“Looking back, I think what helped us to do well was our dedication and sincerity, the fact that we never tried to impress the patients with our knowledge or experience, but genuinely did our best to help them,” introspects Dr Vidushi. “Another reason was our flexible approach and attitude,” she states. “We did well overseas also, but when we came back, we understood the peoples’ mindset and adapted ourselves to our surroundings. We began the practice without having any hang-ups, which I commonly see in doctors who have been trained in reputed institutions,” she describes.

Dr Vidushi stresses upon the importance of establishing a rapport with the patients. “In private practice, you need to cultivate good communication skills, be able to talk and make the patient understand what you are doing. You may be a great doctor, writing the best of prescriptions, but unless you can inspire confidence and win your patient’s trust, you will not be a successful doctor, forget about becoming a popular doctor. It is the ‘word of mouth’ publicity that works best in the local base of patients,” she opines.

“Our efforts in patient care and small gestures endeared us to many of our patients, who went out of their way to spread the good word around,” she feels. “There were of course other things too, like my husband’s efforts in Public relations and his networking with the local print media. These are still not very respected words in the medical profession, but are becoming increasingly necessary in today’s world,” she admits. Initially, we did not know many people in the city except a few relatives, but organizing OPD camps at public functions, regular academic involvement in local Indian Medical Associaion (IMA) and in association with local Ophthalmic Soctiety meetings, public awareness lectures at various fora, etc. also helped. Here my public speaking skills honed from my school days came in very handy.

Dr Vidushi and her husband now have a good set-up of their own with all the modern diagnostic and surgical equipments for Ophthalmology. “We can now have the luxury of devoting time to academic endeavours once again,” she says with much satisfaction.

“As far as medical profession is concerned, I have no regrets being an Ophthalmologist but I do feel that medical profession in general and the branches that deal with life and death on a daily basis, in particular, are becoming increasingly stressful. The patients’ attitude towards the doctors has also undergone a sea change,” feels Dr Vidushi. “Instead of regards and feelings of gratitude for doctors you sometimes see violent reactions from the patients. So, while it is doesn’t much bother the doctors sitting at the top in their high walled big hospital campuses, it is quite troublesome for a doctor sitting in a far-flung PHC, CHC or a District Hospital to deal with irate relatives. Perhaps as a medical professional, we need to do something to protect the more vulnerable among us,” she insists. (Some thoughts on the topic of Violence against Doctors are shared on YouTube video- Violence against Doctors- Here is the link: click here

“Sometimes, comparisons with other professions are inevitable. Many doctors feel that other professions offer a lot more free time, are less stressful as they do not deal with life and death issues on a daily basis and have shorter duration of the training period,” expresses Dr Vidushi. “However, over time, I have come to realize that it all depends on one’s temperament. You should choose your profession according to your personality type and mental make-up. There are some people who thrive in the competitive, stressful jobs whereas there are others who like to live a more laid back life,” she opines.

“Life as a woman professional is difficult in every field; medical field is no different, with so much balancing to do between kids, work and home,” feels Dr Vidushi. “There is a big debate going on currently whether women can ‘have it all.’ True, it is indeed challenging for women to justify themselves in various roles. In India, things are even more difficult because of the mindset problem and the lack of ‘work-life balance’ culture. This is more so in the medical profession, where the patients expect you to be available at any time that they have an emergency problemreasons out Dr Vidushi. “However, one thing that women doctors must get out of their mind is that ‘patients do not prefer women doctors.’ While there might be some patients who are more inclined to consult a male doctor, but this is an exception rather than the rule. In fact, more and more patients are preferring lady doctors because they feel the women are more caring and they can trust the lady doctors more,” she says. “At the end of the day, it is only your technical and communication skills that will determine your success in the medical field,” declares Dr Vidushi.

Dr Vidushi thinks that the medical profession is also undergoing major changes like most other fields and even though the youngsters seem to be shifting away from the medical profession and considering more lucrative options, this is likely to change in the future as new models of medical practice are emerging that offer doctors a better work-life balance.

It has not taken her long to realize that at some point everyone, particularly women, have to decide their relative priorities in life and work accordingly. “We all have to make certain compromises in life and the key is to decide which compromises are worth making, and for what,” she advises. “I don’t think women should enter into a competition with men at all,” comments Dr Vidushi. “We need to realize that the ultimate aim of life is to be happy though this can mean different things to different people,” she adds.

“Success is not synonymous with happiness, though it does contribute to a feeling of contentment and accomplishment,” admits Dr Vidushi. “For this reason, while it will always be true that ‘nothing succeeds like success’, in the current marketing-driven world, we should not get too carried away by the image that we have of people and must remember that there are many unsung heroes, who are contributing to society, working for people and are happy in their work,” she says.

Dr Vidushi has seen many ups and downs but considers the struggle as a part of life. “When the stakes are high, you learn to cope up with the challenges. There is no other way out,” she expresses.

In this competitive world, not every venture kicks off. If it were easy, every doctor would have been running a successful private practice. While most people start off with great zeal, after a while the initial burst of enthusiasm wanes; their confidence begins to shake and they get off the bus too soon. But Dr Vidushi is different. She has followed through with her goal and has gone all the way. The result is there for everyone to see. Today SuVi Eye Institute is a huge success and she is seen as an icon of success. But this hasn’t changed her. She remains committed to her goal and continues to work hard for she knows there no end to success, it’s a process and her journey is still on.