Bangalore's prominent heart surgeon - actually one of India’s best. He was educated and trained in general surgery from the Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore (1982). He attained basic training in Cardiac Surgery at the West Midlands Cardiothoracic Rotation programme. This was followed by his appointment at the Guy’s Hospital London - Cardiothoracic Unit, between 1983 and 1989. In 1989 Dr Shetty and his team set up a 140-bed hospital Research Institute in Calcutta. In 1997 he and his team set up the Manipal Heart Foundation - a 450-bed heart operation facility. A recent addition to his list of accomplishments is the Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, a full-fledged cardiac hospital built on 5 acres of land in Calcutta.

Dr. Shetty completed the Pre University Course at St Alosius College in 1969.

Some of his pioneering achievements include: -

The first heart surgeon in India to venture into neo-natal open-heart surgery Performed the first open-heart surgery in the world to close a hole in the heart with the help of a microchip camera Used an artificial heart for the first time in India Performed the first surgery in India using the blood vessels of the stomach to bypass the blocked arteries of the heart

Performed Asia’s first dynamic cardiomyoplasty operation Dr Shetty's another claim to fame is his effort in reducing the cost of heart operations. The package pricing system devised by him has made heart surgery affordable to the common man. He is also responsible for introducing the concept of assembly line heart surgery, which aims at reducing the cost of surgery and achieving zero mortality. But perhaps his greatest achievement has been his work with children. He operates free for kids under twelve, and of his 13000 operations in a 16 year career span, over 5000 operations were on children.

We were extremely touched after visiting the ICICI-Manipal Children’s Heart Wing, especially on seeing a 14 day old prepped for an operation the next day.

Dr Shetty will bring heaven and earth together to spot a compassionate vein in people. He says, If I am given a choice I would like to treat only poor patients. But unfortunately the economic reality does not allow me to do that."

Dr Shetty’s personal mission is to make cardiac surgery affordable by creating a chain of heart hospitals in every state in India to serve the working class. “There are clever people and some people are cleverer than me. I like to associate with people cleverer than me” says Shetty. This says a lot about his competence and strength of character. But the defining characteristic of people he would like to associate with is compassion.