Versatile surgeon

"Practice honestly and ethically,” is the counsel Dr Ratan Edibam of Poona proffers to the medical profession. "That aspect is going haywire,” he rued, speaking to Parsiana on September 19, 2022. On completing 50 years as a surgeon at the city’s Jehangir Hospital, he was felicitated on August 27 "with a commemorative plaque by Hospital chairman Sir Cowasji Jehangir… who spoke about his dedicated and selfless service,” noted Edibam’s wife Shernaz, a retired school principal. Others, including colleagues, residents and students, narrated their experiences of working with Ratan.

The doctor says he has performed "all types of surgeries… general, orthopedic, thoracic, urology.” Super specialties were only just emerging when he started his career in 1972, he noted. Active as a medical teacher, Edibam recalled that among his most complicated procedures was that of a young patient with an aneurism in the aorta. "A part of it had to be grafted… about four to five inches.” A lengthy procedure, but satisfying, he shared.
An avid listener of Western classical music, the doctor has a collection of over 6,000 compact discs. "Opera, chamber music, symphonies…I like them all,” he said.
The couple has two children, Naushad who is a maxillo-facial surgeon in the USA and Mehernavaz Contractor, based in Australia. "We have five grandchildren,” Ratan stated.