(In this edition of Movers and Shakers in Medicine we present Dr. Salil Midha, a Cardiologist who has worked tirelessly to provide health care for the poor in India and around the world)

Dr. Salil Midha is the Chief of Cardiology at the Melrose Wakefield Hospital (MWH). He started the Cardiac Rehab and Cardiac Catheterization Lab at this hospital. He also started the Echocardiography and Nuclear Cardiology  at the hospital in 1982 and has directed the Intensive Care Unit for over twenty years. He initiated the Angioplasty program with the state.  He is a member of the Cook Guillow Society and had has made significant donations to Melrose Wakefield Hospital.

He was born in Rewari, Hariyana, India and graduated from the medical college in Rohtak, Haryana, India. He has one sister and two brothers. There are several doctors in his family. He came to the US in 1975 and while doing his internship and residency, he was named the best Intern and best Resident for two consecutive years. He is married to Madhu and they have two daughters and a son.

Giving back to the community is very important for Dr. Midha. He is the President of the Boston Cardiac foundation and previously was Vice President of Project Pacer International for India operations. Project Pacer was founded by Dr. V.K.Saini. He has implanted over 300 Pacemakers. He and his colleagues hold the record for implanting the maximum number of pacers in a single day. Their name is entered in the Limca book of records. As part of the Boston Cardiac Foundation he has gone on over forty-five missions to help the poor in India and South America.

An avid golfer, a few years ago he won the Indian Golf open championship. One of his favorite hobbies is to collect golf balls from the different golf courses that he has played at. He has supported the Hallmark Golf Tournament for over twenty years and helped raise significant monies for charity. Another hobby is for him to take pictures with people he admires like Bobby Jindal.

He is an active member of the Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE) and Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin(AAPI).  He received the 2008 Community Service award from IMANE.

Who is his inspiration? “My principal in high school, Mr. Hari Ram was one of my greatest inspirations. He was one of the most disciplined people I knew. He taught us to be punctual and inspired us to work hard. Most importantly he showed us the importance of helping people in need and taught us how to get along well with people.  My parents are also a great source of inspiration for me”, says Midha.”In the Boston area I was very inspired by Dr. Saini. His charity work is a great source of inspiration”

If he had to do things over, would he still choose to be a doctor? “Yes” comes the emphatic answer. “It is very satisfying to see people get better. However I do wish I had more of a work life balance and spent more time with my children while they were young” says Midha.

His wife is very religious and the couple has gone on several pilgrimages. They have visited Jagannath Puri and Somnath temples and hope to travel to Kanyakumari this year. He has travelled extensively to several places and considers Hawaii his favorite travel destination.

His favorite film is Guide, favorite stars Amitabh Bachan, Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. He loves Indian vegetarian meals especially Black Dal and Cauliflower curry. His favorite book is the Godfather and he loves listening to the Bollywood hit numbers of Mohammad Rafi, Asha Bhosale, Lata Mangeshkar and Kishor Kumar.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love” a quote by Mother Theresa is very inspiring to him as is Mahatma Gandhi’s quote “ The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer”.

Any message for our readers? “To succeed in life one must be focused. Intelligence is great but will take you only so far. Using commonsense to deal with issues will take you further. For a doctor to succeed one must have ability, availability and affability.  But one needs commonsense to connect all three and become successful”
 

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