Owing to the sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy food intake, increased mental stress and tobacco & alcohol consumption, an increased number of youth today fall prey to lifestyle disorders such as diabetes, obesity, hypertension and many others. Despite seeming simple at first, these disorders become the root cause of much more complicated health conditions such as heart and kidney disease in the long run, which has a very adverse impact on other bodily functions. As a result, we are seeing a heightened demand for skilled endocrinologists who are capable of understanding the root cause of a health condition and accordingly provide treatment in such a way that the patient recovers holistically.

Dr. R Santosh(Co-Founder & Endocrinologist, Magna Centres for Obesity, Diabetes and Endocrinology)is one such highly qualified endocrinologist who is well renowned across the medical fraternity for his profound subject matter expertise and patient-centric approach. Having completed his MBBS from BJ Medical College, Pune, Dr. Santosh went on to pursue MD in Internal Medicine of JIPMER Pondicherry. To further hone his skill sets and satiate his hunger for knowledge, he then took-up DM with specialization in Endocrinology from PGIMER, Chandigarh.

Later, he shifted to Hyderabad and joined Apollo Hospital Group as the Consultant Endocrinologist of Apollo Sugar Clinics. Since the center was a new setup, Dr Santosh also gained significant exposure to other admin related functions apart from his usual role as a doctor. However, after working there for three years, he moved out of Apollo and setup his own venture named Magna Centers for Obesity, Diabetes & Endocrinology in 2013 along with three other fellow endocrinologists.

“Like any other aspiring medical professional, I too was inclined towards taking-up specialization in cardiology, orthopedics or radiology. However, the spark within me to become an endocrinology specialist was lit by the Head of an unit in Medicine at BJMC, who used to teach us a lot about endocrinology during our MBBS. Also, since every condition in endocrinology has a solution, doctors get the satisfaction of completely curing their patients in majority of the cases, which is very rewarding to me as a medical professional. Most importantly, this is one field where almost 95 percent of patients don’t need to be hospitalized and can be treated at preventive care level itself. As a result, I am able to maintain a very healthy work-life balance”, says Dr. Santosh, explaining the inspiration behind taking up specialization in endocrinology.

One-stop-Shop for all Endocrinology Needs

As a full-fledged endocrinology clinic, Magna offers treatment mainly in the areas of

Andrology, Obesity, Diabetes, Thyroid, Pediatric Endocrinology, PCOS and many other endocrine related problems. Given the increasing cases of obesity among youngsters lately, the team of endocrinologists at Magna leave no stone unturned to ensure 100 percent patient satis-faction. Thus, the center has a separate team for obesity management comprising of nutritionists, exercise trainers and psychologists who handhold obesity patients through their entire recovery journeys. In the case of PCOS patients, Dr. Santosh treats the underlying basic pathophysiology related to PCOS, due to which most of his patients are doing much better and their concerns are better addressed (in addition to the treatment offered by the referring dermatologist, gynecologist or fertility specialist).

“We are a group of endocrinologists who aspire to provide personalized and evidence based healthcare for patients with endocrine disorders. We are committed to offer all the facilities pertaining to diabetes and endocrine care under one roof. It is our endeavor to provide investi-gations at affordable rates that are at par with diagnostic center’s rather than corporate hospitals. As a team, we have a commitment to our patients and the community to build a healthy society by promoting preventive care”, adds Dr. Santosh.

We are a group of endocrinologists aspiring to provide personalized & evidence based heal- thcare for patients with endocrine disorders

Unique Approach to Patient Care

Dr. Santosh follows an integrated approach to treating his patients, wherein he focuses on prevention of further complications once the patient has developed an endocrine problem. Rather than providing patients with a single time consultation, he handholds them throughout their entire recovery process by providing every kind of support and care through the team at Magna. Explaining a case study, Dr. Santosh says, “Two years back, I was approached by a female patient who weighed 108 kg and was told by numerous gynecologists that she could never conceive due to her being over weight. Despite putting all possible efforts to lose weight and spending lakhs of rupees in fertility treatment, she could neither lose weight nor conceive.

With the help of our in-house team of dieticians, exercise counselors & psychologists, and by prescribing the latest approved medicine, we were able to help her reduce her weight to 99 kg, and she even got pregnant after that! Making such a dramatic difference in a person’s life has been one of most satisfying moments for me in my career so far”.

Started initially as a clinic in Hyderabad, Magna today has four centres in Hyderabad, and one each in Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai and Greater Noida. Till date, Dr. Santosh has treated over 50,000 patients with numerous endocrine disorders, and is currently the visiting endocrinologist in a leading maternity hospital named Fernandez Hospitals. He has also addressed over 1000 scientific forums so far, and even has 47 publications and four textbook chapters to his credit. Owing to his exemplary contribution to the field of endocrinology, Dr. Santosh has also been conferred the honorary Fellowship of American College of Endocrinology – FACE by American Academy of Clinical Endocrinologists and Abdul Kalam Excellence Award for his work in diabetes and endocrinology.

Advising aspiring medical professionals, Dr. Santosh says, “Since majority of the patients can be cured completely, the satisfaction that you get as an endocrinologist is immense. The number of patients seeking endocrinologist’s assistance is less due to lack of awareness among general public, but this will no doubt improve in the coming days. Thus, I urge the younger medical professionals to take-up specialization in this field and contribute towards a better, healthier society”.