Beyond the operation theatre: Expanding the orthopaedic surgeon’s role in public health & preventive care
GUEST COLUMN
Dr BKS Sanjay
The concept of beyond the operation theatre urges us to view the role of the orthopaedic surgeon through a broader and more responsible lens. Our work is not limited to treating fractures, performing surgeries or correcting deformities. It extends into society—through awareness, prevention, promotion of healthy lifestyles and guidance on avoiding disability. This wider role enables us to protect people before injury occurs, reduce the burden of disease and contribute meaningfully to a healthier nation.
My journey began inside the operation theatre, where bones were fixed, joints repaired and pain relieved. With time, I realised that the most important fractures demanding attention lay outside—on roads where accidents claim lives, in schools where children silently develop deformities, in villages where elderly people walk with fragile bones and in workplaces where unnoticed ergonomics shape lifelong disability. My evolution from surgeon to road safety activist, writer, poet, columnist, motivational speaker, advocate and social worker was not a change of career, but a shift in purpose.
The role of the surgeon extends far beyond surgical skill. We must become leaders in awareness, champions of prevention and credible voices for safety. Whether advocating road safety, guiding schools on musculoskeletal health, educating elders about bone strength or training industries in ergonomics, our impact multiplies when we step beyond hospital walls.
Orthopaedic surgeons must lead awareness by helping communities understand everyday risks to musculoskeletal health. Awareness is not merely information—it is responsibility. Surgeons can reshape how people think about posture, nutrition, injuries, road safety and ageing, empowering healthier choices long before illness or injury occurs.
Prevention is the highest form of healing. The surgeon who prevents injury saves more lives than the one who only operates. Preventing road traffic injuries, screening children for deformities and guiding fall prevention for elders create ripples across society. By promoting safe behaviour and physical activity, surgeons reduce disability, pain and suffering—protecting not only bones and joints, but futures too.
Surgeons who witness trauma understand how a single moment of negligence can alter a lifetime. Using this insight, we must influence policy, collaborate with government agencies, support community leaders and educate citizens. When surgeons speak for safety, society listens—and tragedies can be prevented before they reach hospital doors. Beyond clinical expertise lies empathy—the quality that reassures a parent, motivates an injured athlete, or restores hope to an elderly patient. Through education, emotional support, and clear communication, surgeons help individuals make informed decisions. As counsellors, we heal not just bones, but confidence and courage. An orthopaedic surgeon must also serve as a guide—leading patients and communities toward safer lifestyles. By explaining options, teaching posture, advising exercise, and navigating rehabilitation, surgeons provide clarity and empower prevention and timely care.
Every trauma case carries a preventable story. I have stood beside families shattered by moments of carelessness—a missing helmet, an unfastened seatbelt or over speeding. These experiences shaped my mission- to make road safety not merely a rule, but a culture. Through awareness campaigns, collaboration with police and schools and first-responder training, lives can be saved long before they reach the operating table.
Children carry the future and their posture carries their future health. School visits revealed heavy bags, prolonged screen time and silent deformities. This led to focused efforts in posture education, school screening, sports injury prevention and guidance for parents and teachers. As society ages, fragile bones and preventable falls often rob elders of independence. Simple measures—vitamin awareness, balance training and early detection—can restore dignity, mobility and strength. In the workplace, poor posture and ergonomics cause lifelong suffering. Through ergonomic training and assessments, chronic orthopaedic conditions can be prevented before medical intervention is required.
As a writer and poet, I discovered that words can heal in ways surgery cannot. Columns and poetry carried awareness into homes and public spaces. My Hindi poetry collection Uphaar Sandesh Ka, and reciting poems to patients created a human bridge—easing anxiety and strengthening the doctor–patient bond. Through storytelling, I connected with people beyond medicine, inspiring safer behaviour and healthier routines. Several stories remain etched in memory- a rider saved by a helmet; a child corrected early; an elderly woman regaining confidence through physiotherapy; a worker relieved of pain after ergonomic correction. These reaffirm that prevention is not an addition to healthcare—it is its foundation.
With age comes not just years, but wisdom and clarity too. At this stage, we become mentors and policy shapers, guiding the next generation toward safer, healthier paths. At AIIMS Guwahati, this philosophy is being translated into meaningful action. The institute is extending healthcare to remote villages through telemedicine, reaching underserved populations through outreach programs, strengthening surgical services, advancing training and preventive strategies, promoting research and implementing public health initiatives that touch thousands of lives. Each effort reflects our belief that institutions must not only treat disease but also transform society. Treating a patient changes one life; transforming society shapes generations.
An orthopaedic surgeon’s true contribution lies not only in joining fractured bones but in joining communities, ideas and efforts to prevent these fractures. The surgeon of tomorrow must be a clinician, communicator, advocate, educator, counsellor and a compassionate human being. A healthier, safer and stronger society can be built only when every citizen participates with commitment and consciousness. Nation-building is not the responsibility of one individual or only of policymakers—it is a collective duty. Each of us, in our own unique way, must contribute to realise the Viksit Bharat vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the progress of 150 crore Indians.
(An orthopaedic surgeon based in Dehradun, the Padma Shri recipient author is also the president of AIIMS Guwahati; views expressed are personal)
