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In a first-of-its-kind feat in the history of RGUHS, a graduate from a medical college in Mangalore has set a record for academic excellence by securing 17 gold medals.

Dr Santhosh Narayanan from A J Institute of Medical Sciences was awarded the medals at the 15th annual convocation of RGUHS on Monday.

As he walked away with his spoils, barely managing to balance the heap of medals presented to him, his parents, both medical professionals, welcomed yet another doctor into their family.

Dr Narayanan has been a consistent topper in all the semesters of the MBBS course among the graduating batch of about 3,542 students.

He not only got an overall high aggregate of marks, but topped in each of the subjects that were part of his course work.

“He has always been sincere. Not a single day did we have to ask him to study. Though we were a family of doctors, we never pressured him to take up the course. He did it out of his own interest,” said the student’s father Dr Lakshminarayanan C M, Head of the Department of Surgery at the Malabar Medical College in Kozhikode. His mother, Dr Gomathi Lakshminarayanan, works at the Government Medical College, Kozhikode.

“My sister and brother-in-law are radiologists,” said Santhosh, attributing his success to his family.

Oncology his choice

Dr Santhosh aspires to be a haemato-oncologist. He has, at present, secured a seat at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Pondicherry, for post graduation in General Medicine.

“I’m looking at research in Oncology,” the gold medallist told mediapersons. His interest in Oncology stems from the fact that cancer has largely remained incurable and its treatment remains expensive. “Treatment of cancer is today a mystery. I want to work towards making cancer completely curable.”

‘Rural service a boon’

He also saw the mandatory rural service in medical courses a boon to society. Access to healthcare is concentrated in cities. It is important to have doctors at the right place, he said.