Dr. Varun Rajan – A Maestro of Medicine, Mridangam, Movies, and More!

We see doctors who are mostly busy rushing through the corridors, immersed in patient care. But ever wondered what their lives look like outside of the hospital walls? Get ready to be inspired by one such doctor who is a reputed urologist, school district topper, and inspiration to many of his students.

Dr. Varun Rajan is a MAHE student pursuing Online MBA in Healthcare Management. His story isn’t just about managing a busy schedule effortlessly but also about making life purposeful with a dash of musical magic, for as he quotes,

All work and no play makes Varun a dull boy!

From Hospital Walls to Harmonies: Dr. Varun’s Hidden Talents

When he’s not busy saving lives in the operating theatre, Dr. Varun indulges in music. He has been a professional Mridangam player for 32 years, performing on numerous stages and in various competitions. But it doesn’t stop there. In a lovely turn of events, Dr. Varun found his singing voice thanks to his wife, Dr. M. Sowmya, who is also an Assistant Professor of Physiology and a trained Carnatic vocalist.

“She heard me humming one day and encouraged me, ‘Why don’t you try singing?’ and here I am!” he shares. They even perform together sometimes, where his mridangam beats complement her ragas.

And when asked what his Mridangam would say if it could talk, Varun jokes that it would complain about the tiresome efforts he makes to get it perfectly in tune just before a performance and about the wrong notes he might have played while practicing. Besides music, Varun loves reading good books, travelling with his family, mentoring his students, writing short stories, and watching movies and cricket in his free time.

A Case that Remained: Dr. Varun’s Toughest Moment

For Dr. Varun, being a doctor came with its own set of setbacks and emotional challenges. When asked about the hardest case he has had to diagnose, Dr. Varun recalls a case from his post-graduation in General Surgery where his colleagues and him operated on a 16-year-old boy, expecting it to be a routine case. However, the report brought them shocking news: a rare and advanced cancerous growth. “It was a huge shock because he was very young and the only son of a single mother,” Varun shares. Despite their best efforts, the boy passed away in four months because the cancer had progressed to an advanced stage. The case is even published in a national journal due to its rarity, but for Dr. Varun, the profound emotional impact of losing that young boy remains.

Who Keeps Him Going: Inspiration and Support

Dr. Varun draws inspiration from his parents and his mentor, Prof. Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, a renowned urologist in Coimbatore. From his mother, he learned valuable lessons like perfection, time management, punctuality, and 100% sincerity. Another setback for him was losing his mother in 2011.

Then there’s his wife, Dr. M. Sowmya, whom he proudly calls his ‘No. 1 fan!’. And his cute daughter, Laya. Laya, it seems, has already inherited her parents’ musical genes, having started singing after seeing them constantly sing around the house. “That’s something for passive learning!” he marvels. At a tender age of four and a half, his daughter’s understanding nature is also a huge help; when he has his MBA webinars, she’ll sweetly say, “Okay Papa, I’ll bug Mom instead”.

Improving Patient Care: Online MBA in Healthcare Management

With such a busy life, what made Dr. Varun decide to pursue an MBA? The reason stemmed from a powerful realization he had when visiting a small nursing home that had limited resources, a shortage of hospital beds, and a lot of disorganization among the staff. He noticed that the hospital director didn’t have an MBA, which made him realize that an MBA in Healthcare could equip someone to manage things better and truly elevate patient care. He searched for MBA programs online, Online Manipal popped on his screen, and as he puts it, “The rest, as they say, is history!”.

For his post-graduation, Dr. Varun got selected in MAHE, but due to various circumstances, he had to return to Coimbatore. His family is also full of MBA graduates. The desire to be a graduate from an Institution of Eminence and to continue his family’s legacy, MAHE’s Online MBA helped him hit two strikes with one swing.

As a medical doctor, Dr. Varun initially found it challenging to understand the concepts in MBA, but he thanks his MAHE Online professors, Prof. Ujwal, Dr. Everil Fernandes, Dr. Tarushree, Prof. Shreevatsa Gudi, Prof. Raghavendra Nayak, Dr. Aruna, and Dr. Sampath for guiding him and helping him achieve academic excellence.

Super-skill: Time Management, Passion, and Creativity

With stressful lives, everyone needs an anchor to ground to, and such an anchor for Dr. Varun is his secret weapon: excellent time management, a super-skill he inherited from his mother. He makes sure to allocate time to do justice to all his commitments each day. And in case he misses, he tries to compensate for the lost hours the next day. And to relax? “There’s music playing in my ears all day!”, he says.

Dr. Varun’s story truly shows the power of passion, strength, efficiency, and smart time management. He reminds us that with dedication and a touch of creativity, it’s possible to be a jack of all trades as well as master them!

At Online Manipal, we’re proud to be a part of such inspiring journeys. An Online MBA in Healthcare Management from Manipal Academy of Higher Education enables remarkable individuals like Dr. Varun Rajan to pursue their academic dreams anytime, anywhere, and most importantly, fit learning into the busiest of schedules. We believe in empowering students to become more than just better professionals – to be better people and help them fulfil their aspirations.