Padma Deskit, Ladakh's first female surgeon, wanted to be a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, but her hopes were dashed after her father was diagnosed with cancer. As the eldest child, Deskit prioritised family and returned to Ladakh.
Deskit completed her MBBS from Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi and her postgraduation in surgery from Jammu Medical College. After giving up hopes about the coveted fellowship, she served as general surgeon in the Jammu and Kashmir health department, stationed at a hospital near Siachen in Nubra. While serving there, she found out about the stark shortage in specialists and equipment in Ladakh, leading to frequent patient referrals to hospitals elsewhere.
In 2016, a young soldier from the Ladakh Scouts regiment of the Army, arrived at the hospital with subdural haematoma, a severe head injury. Initial treatment did not help and his condition worsened, and an emergency surgery was the only option. Drawing from her neurosurgical experience in Jammu, Deskit conducted a groundbreaking surgery under challenging conditions, marking a turning point in her career and the medical history of Ladakh. Since then, she has dedicated herself to saving lives in Ladakh, where harsh climate, tough terrain and poor health care facilities often lead to tragic outcomes for patients.
Recalling the case of the young soldier, Deskit said he was just 20, and surgery was his only hope. Initially, she wrestled with the decision to operate as she felt nervous about the outcome. Then she reached out to a neurosurgeon in Delhi, who told her that the soldier's fate was in her hands. "Ultimately, I proceeded with the operation as the final recourse," she said.
After a taxing four-hour surgery at the Army hospital, the soldier was shifted to intensive care. Morning arrived with a glimmer of hope as there were signs of recovery. As Deskit returned to check on her patient, she saw him smiling at her. "I was overwhelmed. As tears welled up, I felt an immense sense of relief," she said. A few days later, the soldier was transferred to Sonam Norbu Memorial (SNM) Hospital, the main health care facility in Leh, for further observation. He made a full recovery eventually. That development spurred Deskit to handle more such challenging cases, including one of acute subdural haematoma in a Nepali labourer. Despite being put on a ventilator for ten days and going through all possible complications, he survived.
Deskit's timely intervention also saved the life of a tehsildar, who had slipped into coma caused by diabetes while he was on election duty. He was lying in his room for two days where someone found him unconscious. "We went to the Army hospital and brought an ambulance and revived him after surgery," she said.
She also rescued a prominent politician who had sustained a serious head injury after his vehicle skidded on snow. Heavy snowfall hindered his evacuation out of Leh. "As his condition worsened, we were in a predicament about the future course of action. Given his political status and because many people came to visit him, I opted to perform the surgery here," said Deskit. The procedure was a success, and it involved the removal of a fraction of his skull. "We later inserted a titanium implant to fully cover the affected area, leading to his complete recovery," she said.
Handling with care: Deskit (centre) with a patient.
In 2017, Deskit was awarded a scholarship by the Royal College of Surgeons of England for a programme called Surgical Training for Austere Environments. Although the course was for doctors working in conflict-ridden regions such as Syria, Yemen, and Afghanistan, she received an invitation after she published a paper detailing the surgeries performed in the resource-limited settings of Ladakh. The opportunity exposed her to advanced surgical procedures, significantly enhancing her skills in managing critical cases, such as damaged arteries, severe burns, amputations, head injuries and blast-related trauma.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Deskit came across a migrant worker who was admitted to the SNM hospital with a burst artery in his foot. He suffered the injury while trying to carry two heavy sacks of flour at his village. Transporting him from his village to the hospital during the lockdown proved a big challenge. Deskit, with the help of her colleagues, managed to get him to the hospital in an ambulance. He was referred to a Srinagar hospital for treatment, but he declined, allowing Deskit to perform the surgery. She applied the skills acquired during the course in London and the surgery turned out to be a big success.
While serving in the remote corners of Ladakh, Deskit came across multiple cases of skin cancer caused by the exposure to intense ultraviolet rays. Local people believe it to be punishment for past sins, leading to their isolation, especially because of the stench from the infected wounds. Deskit once found a woman who was kept segregated because of the odour from the cancer on her face. It prompted her to launch an initiative to offer reconstructive treatment for such patients by collaborating with doctors from AIIMS, Delhi. After this, she organised medical camps in Leh to treat skin cancer patients with the support of doctors from AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. "Assisting a specialist in reconstructive surgery from Delhi during one such camp was particularly beneficial," she said. She is now all set to travel to Miami on a scholarship to learn advanced procedures in reconstructive surgery.
Deskit attributes her success to the unwavering support from her husband, a scientist at the Defence Research and Development Organisation, and her mother who steps in to help during her busiest days, to care for her children and to manage her home. "My husband is incredibly supportive," she said. "He understands the demands of my profession and the time I must dedicate for it, even if it means being away from our family."
Deskit, however, says that not everyone was supportive. In pursuing her ambition to become a surgeon, she faced resistance from friends and relatives, especially because of social norms that confined women within certain roles in medicine. "I often heard discouraging remarks about the unlikelihood of a female surgeon getting married as she will have to treat male patients for conditions like hernia," she said. "I made a deliberate choice to challenge such stereotypes. Now, no one dares to question me," she asserted. "I carry out my duties without bothering about social expectations."
Deskit said that during her MBBS days in Delhi, she was troubled by derogatory comments from both students and teachers aimed at those belonging to reserved categories. “Despite securing admission under the Scheduled Tribe category, I did well academically. I never felt that belonging to a specific category made my journey any easier.”
She stressed the importance of understanding the background of reserved category students. "Many people fail to recognise the challenges these students face. They lack access to quality education and other facilities," she said. "When I applied for postgraduation in Jammu, I deliberately competed in the open merit category to dispel the misconception that reserved category students lack competence and merit," she said. "My selection for postgraduation, based solely on merit, gave me immense satisfaction."
Despite going above and beyond the call of duty to provide medical care in Ladakh, Deskit says she is worried about legal challenges that doctors face. Often, the lack of proper infrastructure and other facilities result in undesirable outcomes and doctors bear the brunt of litigation. She said it was a bigger hurdle than scaling the hills near Siachen just to secure internet connectivity for sending patient reports to doctors outside Leh.
But the satisfaction of helping the needy trumps everything else. "This summer, we performed surgery on a patient and successfully removed an ovarian tumour that weighed 3.5kg. The patient was from Turtuk near the Line of Control," she said. "We also operated on patients in the early stages of cancer, striving relentlessly to save lives.”