Sharmila Anandasabapathy, MD, knew she wanted to focus on endoscopy when she first started her career.
While leading an endoscopy unit in New York City, Dr. Anandasabapathy began developing endoscopic and imaging technologies for underresourced and underserved areas. These technologies eventually made their way into global clinical trials.
“We’ve gone to clinical trial in over 2,000 patients worldwide. When I made that jump into global GI, I was able to make that jump into global health in general,” said Dr. Anandasabapathy.
Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Sharmila Anandasabapathy
As vice president for global programs at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Dr. Anandasabapathy currently focuses on clinical and translational research.
“We’re looking at the development of new, low-cost devices for early cancer detection in GI globally. I oversee our global programs across the whole college, so it’s GI, it’s surgery, it’s anesthesia, it’s obstetrics, it’s everything.”
In an interview, Dr. Anandasabapathy discussed what attracted her to gastroenterology and why she always takes the time to smile at her patients.
Q: Why did you choose GI?
A: There’s two questions in there: Why I chose GI and why I chose endoscopy.
I chose GI because when I was in my internal medicine training, they seemed like the happiest people in the hospital. They liked what they did. You could make a meaningful impact even at 3 a.m. if you were coming in for a variceal bleed. Everybody seemed happy with their choice of specialty. I was ready to be an oncologist, and I ended up becoming a gastroenterologist.
I chose endoscopy because it was where I wanted to be when I woke up in the morning. I was happy there. I love the procedures; I love the hand-eye coordination. I liked the fact that these were relatively shorter procedures, that it was technology based, and there was infinite growth.
Q: Was there a time when you really helped a patient by doing that endoscopy, preventing Barrett’s esophagus or even cancer?
A: I can think of several times where we had early cancers and it was a question between endoscopic treatment or surgery. It was always discussed with the surgeons. We made the decision within a multidisciplinary group and with the patient, but we usually went with the endoscopic options and the patients have done great. We’ve given them a greater quality of life, and I think that’s really rewarding.
Q: What gives you the most joy in your day-to-day practice?
A: My patients. I work with Barrett’s esophagus patients, and they tend to be well informed about the research and the science. I’m lucky to have a patient population that is really interested and willing to participate in that. I also like my students, my junior faculty. I like teaching and the global application of teaching.
Q: What fears did you have to push past to get to where you are in your career?
A: That I would never become an independent researcher and do it alone. I was able to, over time. The ability to transition from being independent to teaching others and making them independent is a wonderful one.
Early on when I was doing GI, I remember looking at my division, and there were about 58 gastroenterologists and only 2 women. I thought at the time, “Well, can I do it? Is this a field that is conducive with being a woman and having a family?” It turned out that it is. Today, I’m really gratified to see that there are more women in GI than there ever were before.
Q: Have you ever received advice that you’ve ignored?A: Yes. Early in my training in internal medicine, I was told that I smiled too much and that my personality was such that patients and others would think I was too glib. Medicine was a serious business, and you shouldn’t be smiling. That’s not my personality – I’m not Eeyore. I think it’s served me well to be positive, and it’s served me well with patients to be smiling. Especially when you’re dealing with patients who have precancer or dysplasia and are scared – they want reassurance and they want a level of confidence. I’m glad I ignored that advice.
Q: What would be your advice to medical students?
A: Think about where you want to be when you wake up in the morning. If it’s either in a GI practice or doing GI research or doing endoscopy, then you should absolutely do it.
Lightning round
Cat person or dog person
Dog
Favorite sport
Tennis
What song do you have to sing along with when you hear it?
Dancing Queen
Favorite music genre
1980s pop
Favorite movie, show, or book
Wuthering Heights
Dr. Anandasabapathy is on LinkedIn and on Twitter at @anandasabapathy , @bcmglobalhealth , and @bcm_gihep .
