This Vitreoretinal Surgeon is the Ray of Hope to patients who lost their eyesight

Dr Gitumoni Sharma – Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon, Guwahati

Caring for people and doing good to them was always ingrained in her since her childhood. Being the eldest of 4 siblings, caring and being responsible, were the two traits that she grew up with. Her father’s profession took their family to the remotest of places in Northeast where accessibility to main city life was difficult. In spite of such hindrances in life, Dr Gitumoni Sharma, overcame all odds to become the first lady vitreoretinal surgeon in Northeast and one of the renowned eye surgeon nationally.

After completion of her studies from Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, she shifted to Guwahati, which was nearer to her ancestral village, to pursue higher studies and excelled to become an eye surgeon, followed by an anterior segment surgeon with super-specialisation. Later, for further super-specialisation, Dr Sharma went on to compete entrances across various premier eye institutions in the country and became the first lady practicing vitreoretinal surgeon amongst the north-eastern states.

Dr Sharma proudly announces her feat, she says,

“I am an NABH (National Accreditation Board of Hospitals) Assessor and was a NABH Coordinator and Quality Consultant. I acquired fellowship in clinical research and have a number of research publications to my credit in various indexed and non-indexed regional, national and international journals.”

Besides having a successful professional career, she is a beautiful wife and a caring mother of two adorable angels, aged 6 and 12. Her husband, Dr Sagarmoy Purkayastha, is also an eye surgeon, and together they stay in Guwahati along with her in-laws.

Dr Sharma has been a talented soul all throughout her school and college life. If not practicing, she likes to spend time to pursue her passion in cooking, singing, dancing, knitting, and anchoring – all delivered with dedication and utmost zeal. From very beginning of her school days, she was winner of youth parliament competition. Thereafter, had attended several patrol leader training camps of Bharat scouts and guides, and was the recipient of the highest leadership award by the Honourable Governor of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in 1992. During Medical College days, she was also selected for NCC contingent to Republic Day from Dibrugarh, Assam, in 1993. She has led several administrative positions besides being a vitreoretinal consultant including holding national conferences, annual day functions of the institute etc. and state conferences and CME’s. She had attended Leadership development programme sessions at All India Ophthalmological Society. And was in charge of the nursing and Library of the Institute. She worked as Quality-in-Charge and was instrumental in acquiring NABH certification of MGM Eye Institute as a NABH Coordinator.

As a successful surgeon, Dr Sharma has always taken inspiration from her parents, who have always stressed upon the value of good education in one’s life. She feels that to pursue a profession, it is very important to consider her own interests, values, skills and preferences and be innovative. A pre-planned roadmap is needed to achieve satisfaction in the job. Started her career at the age of 30, and in last 18 years of professionalism, she shares her secret of success,

“I have a positive attitude with a sense of optimism and so, mostly I work towards the solution rather than dwelling on the problem which has helped me and the people around me to achieve their goals.”

Not only in medical field, Dr Sharma has excelled in all possible fields where she has ventured. Plethora of awards and achievements across several fields prove beyond doubt about her talented spree. She has been successful with beauty pageant titles across several categories like Mrs India, Mrs Beautiful Hair, Mrs East India etc. She also got 1^st prize in Bihu Dance from AMC Dibrugarh. She was awarded Best Paper on Retina session in 2017 by CSOS conference, Bhilai. She also emerged as the winner in DR and medical retina section for Physical Poster Award in Jaipur, AIOS.

To all young ophthalmologists who want to make a difference by serving the society, Dr Sharma advices to work consistently in the areas of passion and expertise, and that would definitely lead to success. Serving the needy gives solace to her soul and hence should be encouraged. Helping the poor and under-privileged can only make this world a better place.

If you’re inspired with this story, do share it with your friends and family & be their fountain of positivity! Don’t forget to share your views and experiences with us in the comment section; we care for all of you!