- Email: [email protected]
Specialist Life—Janesh Gupta
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 123 (2005) 126–127 www.elsevier.com/locate/ejogrb
Specialist Life—Janesh Gupta
Janesh Kumar Gupta, was born on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. He emigrated to England at 11 years of age from Kenya and studied at Leeds Medical School from 1982 to 1987. As a fourth year medical student he started his work for his MD which he attained in ‘‘Maternal Positions in Labour’’ under Professor Richard Lilford’s supervision. He trained in the West Yorkshire Region during his early years in obstetrics and gynaecology, getting his training in Leeds and Bradford. During this time he completed a year’s research post when he attained an MSc. in obstetrics and gynaecology in ‘‘An investigation of the clinical effectiveness of medical cervical dilators’’. This was one of the early pieces of work involving the effects of RU486 (mifepristone) on the pregnant and non-pregnant cervix. He became a Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in 1992. He then moved to Ninewells Hospital and Medical School as a senior registrar and then became the youngest consultant in the specialty at 31 years of age in 1995. In 1998, he was head-hunted to the academic department at the University of Birmingham to set up and develop the Minimal Access Surgical Training (MAST) Unit of which 0301-2115/$ – see front matter # 2005 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2005.10.007
he still the Director. In 2004, he was made a Fellow of the RCOG. In Birmingham, Janesh Gupta has had a significant leadership role in leading, developing and establishing a region-wide referral centre for hysteroscopic and gynaecological laparoscopic surgery. These advances have been nationally and internationally recognised, culminating in a book published in 2005 ‘‘Handbook of Outpatient Hysteroscopy’’. The laparoscopic Centre is nationally recognised for complex endometriosis surgery and attracts referrals from all over the country. Janesh Gupta’s current research interests are in benign gynaecological disorders: clinical trials and basic science research in the areas of menorrhagia/chronic pelvic pain/ endometriosis. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers. He is conducting randomised controlled trials in the effects of Laparoscopic Uterosacral Nerve Ablation (LUNA) in chronic pelvic pain and a large £1.2 million Department of Health (HTA) funded primary care randomised trial in the medical treatment of menorrhagia. He has had a significant contribution to international education as he is the Series Editor and author of undergraduate problem-solving textbooks in Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Sciences. This is following the highly successful publication of the book, ‘‘Core Clinical Cases in Obstetrics and Gynaecology: A Problem Solving Approach’’ (2nd edition due out late 2005). Janesh Gupta is the UK Receiving Editor for this Journal, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and on the Editorial Board for Surgical Endoscopy and Gynecological Surgery. 1. Why did you choose Obstetrics and Gynaecology? I found my answer as a fourth year medical student. I found this specialty vibrant and exciting as it was dealing with young happy women who were undergoing a physiological part of their normal lives, i.e. pregnancy and delivery. It is a fast moving specialty, which involves a combination of medical and surgical intervention, i.e. caesarean section. I now find gynaecology more stimulating particularly in the areas of chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis and therapeutic outpatient local anaesthetic interventions.
Specialist Life / European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 123 (2005) 126–127
2. Who was your most influential teacher? Professor Richard Lilford was instrumental to me for encouraging me as a medical student to consider obstetrics and gynaecology as a career. I was his first ever medical student when he was appointed as Professor in obstetrics and gynaecology in Leeds in 1986. I was attracted to the research element at an early stage. Richard Lilford still continues to be my mentor in the present day. 3. What job would you have chosen if you had not preferred Obstetrics and Gynaecology? I would have gone into Law and probably become a barrister. I now do a significant amount of medicolegal work which is challenging and stimulating. 4. What is your favourite music? I like all types of classical music. 5. Which films or theatre performances have you enjoyed recently? Films that my children enjoy, i.e. Harry Potter/Star Wars have been recent favourites. 6. Which song do you like to sing most? ‘Every breath you take’ by Police. 7. What are your favourite books and what are you reading now? Mainly children’s books between the ages of 9–12, which my children like to have read to them before bedtime. My current favourite is Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz, books part of the Alex Rider series. 8. For which painter would you spend much money? David Shepherd who paints big wild cats such as tigers and lions. 9. What is your preferred menu? Chinese food is an all time favourite. 10. What can you cook best? Beans on toast! I do not often cook because my wife is absolutely brilliant at it. I believe in the saying ‘‘too many cooks spoil the broth’’. 11. What was your most enjoyable buy? Golf GTI Mark II when I first qualified as a doctor. 12. How do you can best relax? Watching DVDs. 13. What are your hobbies? Squash and photography. 14. What is for you the greatest temptation? The world famous and mouth-watering Ben & Jerry’s cherry Garcia ice-cream! 15. Where is your favourite place to travel to? Mombasa, Kenya where I was born.
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16. Which kind of sport do you mostly perform? Squash. 17. What is your special interest in politics? Foreign affairs. 18. Which charity do you support? Diabetes UK. 19. What would you change if you were a dictator for a day? Bureaucracy and red tape. 20. What developments in Obstetrics and Gynaecology do you foresee? The future is in medical therapy such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and gene therapy that will lead to the demise of elective surgery in all aspects except for emergency work. The future of the gynaecologist as a pelvic surgeon will almost disappear in the next 10 years. This is likewise going to be a similar scenario in all other surgical specialties. 21. What do you think is the biggest achievement of our profession the past 20 years? Clinical care based on evidence that has changed practice for better patient outcomes. 22. What is your attitude to artificial abortion? A necessity as bringing up an unwanted child has its potentially adverse effects on the mother and family unit as well as society. However, the issue that is important to be addressed is one of contraception. 23. What is the biggest failure in Obstetrics and Gynaecology? Still continuing to treat low risk women in obstetrics under medical supervision which leads to a higher risk of operative intervention. The move should be towards midwifery led care. 24. Which publication are you most proud of? Systematic review of ultrasound measurement of endometrial thickness for predicting endometrial cancer in women presenting with postmenopausal bleeding. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2002 Sep;81(9):799–816. This work has led to a national guideline on managing women with postmenopausal bleeding. 25. With whom would you like to change for one month? Bill Gates. Janesh K Gupta* Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TG, UK *Tel.: +44 121 607 4751; fax: +44 121 607 4795 E-mail address: [email protected]
Specialist Life—Janesh Gupta
Janesh Kumar Gupta, was born on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. He emigrated to England at 11 years of age from Kenya and studied at Leeds Medical School from 1982 to 1987. As a fourth year medical student he started his work for his MD which he attained in ‘‘Maternal Positions in Labour’’ under Professor Richard Lilford’s supervision. He trained in the West Yorkshire Region during his early years in obstetrics and gynaecology, getting his training in Leeds and Bradford. During this time he completed a year’s research post when he attained an MSc. in obstetrics and gynaecology in ‘‘An investigation of the clinical effectiveness of medical cervical dilators’’. This was one of the early pieces of work involving the effects of RU486 (mifepristone) on the pregnant and non-pregnant cervix. He became a Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in 1992. He then moved to Ninewells Hospital and Medical School as a senior registrar and then became the youngest consultant in the specialty at 31 years of age in 1995. In 1998, he was head-hunted to the academic department at the University of Birmingham to set up and develop the Minimal Access Surgical Training (MAST) Unit of which 0301-2115/$ – see front matter # 2005 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2005.10.007
he still the Director. In 2004, he was made a Fellow of the RCOG. In Birmingham, Janesh Gupta has had a significant leadership role in leading, developing and establishing a region-wide referral centre for hysteroscopic and gynaecological laparoscopic surgery. These advances have been nationally and internationally recognised, culminating in a book published in 2005 ‘‘Handbook of Outpatient Hysteroscopy’’. The laparoscopic Centre is nationally recognised for complex endometriosis surgery and attracts referrals from all over the country. Janesh Gupta’s current research interests are in benign gynaecological disorders: clinical trials and basic science research in the areas of menorrhagia/chronic pelvic pain/ endometriosis. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers. He is conducting randomised controlled trials in the effects of Laparoscopic Uterosacral Nerve Ablation (LUNA) in chronic pelvic pain and a large £1.2 million Department of Health (HTA) funded primary care randomised trial in the medical treatment of menorrhagia. He has had a significant contribution to international education as he is the Series Editor and author of undergraduate problem-solving textbooks in Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Sciences. This is following the highly successful publication of the book, ‘‘Core Clinical Cases in Obstetrics and Gynaecology: A Problem Solving Approach’’ (2nd edition due out late 2005). Janesh Gupta is the UK Receiving Editor for this Journal, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and on the Editorial Board for Surgical Endoscopy and Gynecological Surgery. 1. Why did you choose Obstetrics and Gynaecology? I found my answer as a fourth year medical student. I found this specialty vibrant and exciting as it was dealing with young happy women who were undergoing a physiological part of their normal lives, i.e. pregnancy and delivery. It is a fast moving specialty, which involves a combination of medical and surgical intervention, i.e. caesarean section. I now find gynaecology more stimulating particularly in the areas of chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis and therapeutic outpatient local anaesthetic interventions.
Specialist Life / European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 123 (2005) 126–127
2. Who was your most influential teacher? Professor Richard Lilford was instrumental to me for encouraging me as a medical student to consider obstetrics and gynaecology as a career. I was his first ever medical student when he was appointed as Professor in obstetrics and gynaecology in Leeds in 1986. I was attracted to the research element at an early stage. Richard Lilford still continues to be my mentor in the present day. 3. What job would you have chosen if you had not preferred Obstetrics and Gynaecology? I would have gone into Law and probably become a barrister. I now do a significant amount of medicolegal work which is challenging and stimulating. 4. What is your favourite music? I like all types of classical music. 5. Which films or theatre performances have you enjoyed recently? Films that my children enjoy, i.e. Harry Potter/Star Wars have been recent favourites. 6. Which song do you like to sing most? ‘Every breath you take’ by Police. 7. What are your favourite books and what are you reading now? Mainly children’s books between the ages of 9–12, which my children like to have read to them before bedtime. My current favourite is Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz, books part of the Alex Rider series. 8. For which painter would you spend much money? David Shepherd who paints big wild cats such as tigers and lions. 9. What is your preferred menu? Chinese food is an all time favourite. 10. What can you cook best? Beans on toast! I do not often cook because my wife is absolutely brilliant at it. I believe in the saying ‘‘too many cooks spoil the broth’’. 11. What was your most enjoyable buy? Golf GTI Mark II when I first qualified as a doctor. 12. How do you can best relax? Watching DVDs. 13. What are your hobbies? Squash and photography. 14. What is for you the greatest temptation? The world famous and mouth-watering Ben & Jerry’s cherry Garcia ice-cream! 15. Where is your favourite place to travel to? Mombasa, Kenya where I was born.
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16. Which kind of sport do you mostly perform? Squash. 17. What is your special interest in politics? Foreign affairs. 18. Which charity do you support? Diabetes UK. 19. What would you change if you were a dictator for a day? Bureaucracy and red tape. 20. What developments in Obstetrics and Gynaecology do you foresee? The future is in medical therapy such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and gene therapy that will lead to the demise of elective surgery in all aspects except for emergency work. The future of the gynaecologist as a pelvic surgeon will almost disappear in the next 10 years. This is likewise going to be a similar scenario in all other surgical specialties. 21. What do you think is the biggest achievement of our profession the past 20 years? Clinical care based on evidence that has changed practice for better patient outcomes. 22. What is your attitude to artificial abortion? A necessity as bringing up an unwanted child has its potentially adverse effects on the mother and family unit as well as society. However, the issue that is important to be addressed is one of contraception. 23. What is the biggest failure in Obstetrics and Gynaecology? Still continuing to treat low risk women in obstetrics under medical supervision which leads to a higher risk of operative intervention. The move should be towards midwifery led care. 24. Which publication are you most proud of? Systematic review of ultrasound measurement of endometrial thickness for predicting endometrial cancer in women presenting with postmenopausal bleeding. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2002 Sep;81(9):799–816. This work has led to a national guideline on managing women with postmenopausal bleeding. 25. With whom would you like to change for one month? Bill Gates. Janesh K Gupta* Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TG, UK *Tel.: +44 121 607 4751; fax: +44 121 607 4795 E-mail address: [email protected]