Whereas working in a extremely respected non-public hospital in New Delhi, Dr S M Ziaur Rahman encountered an impoverished affected person from Bihar — drained, anxious, and much from residence. That assembly would go on to change not simply two lives, however the very panorama of healthcare within the village he had as soon as left behind.
“I met a affected person whose blood strain was 20/150. Throughout our dialog, he talked about that he got here from a rural space that lacked entry to docs. I bought interested in his background, so I requested him extra about the place he was from. To my shock, he stated Khagaria — my very own district in Bihar. That affected person had come all the best way from Bihar to Delhi [1,200 kilometres] only for the remedy,” he shares.
This revelation shook him. “Regardless of the presence of world-class medical care in locations like Delhi, there was nonetheless an absence of sufficient companies in my area. This expertise lit a spark in me — a willpower to work in my hometown and enhance healthcare entry there,” provides Dr Rahman.
On the time, Dr Rahman was working within the non-invasive cardiac division and had a transparent path forward: a steady, high-paying profession within the metropolis. However that single dialog woke up one thing deeper — a pull in the direction of residence, the place healthcare was not a enterprise, however a lifeline.
“In cities, healthcare is enterprise; again residence, it’s about survival,” he says. That turned the cornerstone of his mission: to offer accessible healthcare to the folks of his hometown.
An harmless childhood promise
Dr Rahman was born into an impoverished farmer household in a small village in Bihar’s Khagaria district. His father owned about 5 acres of land and three buffalo.
“This was our household’s solely asset,” he says. “However regardless of our circumstances, my father by no means as soon as insisted that I tackle the tasks of farming or tending to the buffalo. Even my mom by no means pressured me to go to the flour mill to grind grains. As an alternative, my mother and father inspired me to deal with my schooling. They positioned all their religion in my schooling, and I by no means wished to betray that belief.”
Dr Rahman was only a youngster when he learnt certainly one of life’s harshest classes. As soon as, he accompanied his ailing mom and youthful brother to a hospital. They couldn’t afford to pay for 2 separate consultations, which led to humiliation by the hands of a compounder.
“I used to be about 5 – 6 years previous when my mom took me and my youthful brother to a hospital. We didn’t find the money for, so she requested the compounder if each of us might be handled underneath the identical prescription to save cash. He reacted harshly, scolding us for being poor. I used to be too younger to grasp all the things, however I bear in mind the disgrace,” he recollects.
“The physician, whom I revered and nonetheless contemplate my position mannequin, was compassionate and didn’t deal with us poorly. This expertise stayed with me,” he shares.
The indignity of being scolded for poverty turned a turning level in Dr Rahman’s life — one which formed his resolve to remodel healthcare for the underprivileged. “In the future,” he vowed, “I’ll develop into a physician who by no means turns anybody away for lack of cash.”
One other incident that additional pushed him in the direction of his objective got here in class, when his biology instructor requested a query at school. Dr Rahman answered it immediately. “He blessed me and stated I’d develop into a physician someday.”
“This acknowledgement from him, adopted by my classmates affectionately teasing me by calling me ‘physician sahab’, instilled a perception inside me. I started to check a future in medication, perceiving the instructor’s phrases as a blessing and guiding gentle,” he provides.
With a scholarship from a charitable belief in Delhi, he pursued his medical schooling at Patna Medical Faculty. His willpower noticed him by, enabling him to fulfil his dream of changing into a physician. Due to his educational prowess and empathetic nature, he went on to earn a coveted residency at Apollo Hospital, the place he specialised in non-invasive cardiac procedures.
Constructing a hospital from scratch in Khagaria
In 2010, Dr Rahman based the Nationwide Medicare Hospital & Analysis Centre in Khagaria, a 50-bed facility that provides common check-ups in addition to emergency companies, together with therapies for snake bites — a standard menace in rural Bihar.
For Dr Rahman, work doesn’t finish with the setting solar. Nights typically discover him attending to emergencies, sleeping solely after guaranteeing sufferers’ stability. “We function between 11 am and 11 pm. Typically, I would like to increase working hours, too. Simply final evening,two coronary heart assault sufferers got here in. I got here again residence after midnight.”
But, he finds stability. “I sleep soundly throughout non-working hours. This permits me to perform higher,” he provides.
This, Dr Rahman says, has been his way of life for the previous 15 years. Over these years, Dr Rahman’s impression is mirrored within the 1000’s of sufferers he has handled.
A blessing in the course of the darkest days
Considered one of his sufferers, Hamza Khaild, recollects how Dr Rahman’s kindness saved his household from monetary break. “In 2022, my father had a paralytic stroke in the course of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. We admitted him to a hospital in Begusarai, however in a single week, the invoice touched Rs 1 lakh. We have been devastated.”
“Then, we consulted Dr Rahman, and he suggested us to shift my father to the CCU at his hospital. We took him there, and we obtained immense assist — they charged nothing for the CCU. Their kindness was a blessing throughout a difficult time, and so they have aided many others equally. I can by no means repay them for his or her generosity!”
The hospital, underneath Dr Rahman’s relentless workmanship, treats about 70 sufferers every day — lots of whom can’t afford even the modest Rs 50 session payment. For him, medication transcends the business acquire — it’s, above all, a sacred obligation.
When requested if he ever regrets leaving a high-paying job within the metropolis, Dr Rahman replies, “I lead a easy life, free from materials wishes, and that brings me peace. Extra importantly, I’ve constructed a deep reference to this neighborhood. My sufferers typically convey me thekua (a standard jaggery-based candy provided throughout Chhath Puja), curd, and ghee throughout Makarsankranti. Typically, they carry candy potatoes and greens from their fields. These gestures of gratitude fill my residence greater than any materials wealth might.”
“Respect from my friends and smiles from my sufferers gas my spirit greater than any luxurious ever might,” he says with a contented smile.
In forsaking a lifetime of materials abundance, and by bringing high quality healthcare to doorways beforehand locked by poverty, Dr Rahman continues to construct a legacy that positively alters the course of his neighborhood’s future.
Edited by Khushi Arora; All photographs courtesy Dr S M Ziaur Rahman