Dr Kanishka Salunkhe
Dar Es Salaam
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Consultant Pulmonologist
Regency Medical Centre
Dar Es Salaam
05.2022 - Current
- Company Overview: 100-bed, fully private, tertiary hospital located in the center of the city.
- Full-time clinical and administrative responsibilities in establishing a multi-pronged respiratory medicine department.
- I consult around 20 outpatients per day, mostly referrals from various primary and secondary care levels.
- A sleep service has been set up under my initiative since August 2022 to date; level III sleep studies are being undertaken in the hospital fortnightly.
- I have established an allergy and difficult airways clinic since June 2022.
- Since September 2023, I have started the Rigid Thoracoscopy service, first in Tanzania.
- Cases usually seen are as follows, but not limited to: asthma and allergy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, upper and lower respiratory infections, tuberculosis and non-TB mycobacterioses, HIV and related OIs, lung malignancies, suppurative diseases of the lung and pleura, pulmonary heart disease, neuromuscular diseases of the chest, sleep disorders, and respiratory failure in the ICU from various causes.
- Procedures done independently in daily practice include: thoracentesis under image guidance, tube thoracostomy, central venous and arterial catheter placement, video bronchoscopy—diagnostic and therapeutic, semi-rigid and rigid video thoracoscopy, thoracoscopy pleurodesis, indwelling pleural catheter placement, and CT and ultrasound-guided biopsies from the lung/mediastinum.
Consultant Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine
Simrita Multispeciality Hospital
Punjab
06.2021 - 04.2022
- Company Overview: A 75-bedded private hospital converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility.
- I started my employment here during the delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The hospital was converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility under my leadership.
- A 15-bed ICU was set up with 15 step-down, high-dependency beds.
- Eight-hour shifts were rotated between two specialists, each from Internal Medicine and Anesthesia, to provide night coverage and weekend overlaps.
- I held weekly mortality meetings with nursing staff and G.P. doctors.
- Latest evidence in the management of the pandemic was discussed and adapted to the local limitations.
- I also attended weekly online and offline meetings with the State Health Department officials to contribute to forward thinking.
- I performed independent procedures such as endotracheal intubation with and without bronchoscopic guidance, mini tracheostomy, tube thoracostomy, and video bronchoscopy.
- I was felicitated by the District Health Authority for having the lowest mortality rate in a COVID-dedicated facility of 17.3% overall, and 24% related to the ICU.
- After the end of the delta wave, I changed my schedule to a full respiratory practice, both inpatients and outpatients.
- I performed elective and outpatient procedures.
- I also conducted a tuberculosis clinic on Saturdays, and during my tenure, I notified 150 tuberculosis patients to the district TB office for financial assistance and contact screening.
- For this, I received a government remuneration of $3,000 at the end of my tenure for the highest notifications from a private TB specialist.
- At the end of my employment, I was invited to deliver a talk to open the launch of the MERM (Medication Event Reminder Monitoring) device in India.
Research Scientist
Indian Council for Medical Research - National AIDS Research Institute
Pune
11.2020 - 03.2021
- Company Overview: A central government apex research institute located in Pune.
- I joined as a research scientist in a project regarding airborne infections, which interests me as a pulmonologist.
- The objective of the study was to provide scientific recommendations to policymakers in the Health Ministry regarding airborne infection control in health facilities nationwide.
- I was involved in designing study tools for data collection, supervising data collection by research assistants, and reporting to the Principal Investigator and stakeholders.
- I worked both in the field to collect data and supervise research assistants, as well as in the office to develop the tools and analyze preliminary data for the interim analysis.
- Owing to my specialty in Pulmonary Medicine, I was also involved in carrying out examinations in the patients of pulmonary tuberculosis and their household contacts.
- They were part of the study population for an RCT on the TB vaccine clinical trial.
- I designed and proposed an addendum to the current study regarding the capture of airborne microflora in culture media located inside the study's HIV medicine centers.
Bonded Medical Officer / Senior Medical Officer
YC Memorial Hospital
Pimpri
06.2020 - 11.2020
- Company Overview: Teaching institution with a respiratory ICU
- During the first wave of COVID-19 Pandemic, I joined this teaching institution as a Medical Officer in a respiratory ICU with 36 Beds
- My primary responsibilities were to triage, admit and treat the patients in the Respiratory/COVID ICU as per the evidence statements issued by the local authorities
- I worked in 10 hour rotations 6 days a week as a medical officer - till I received my specialist degree certificate
- Then I was promoted to Senior level however the roles were largely unchanged
- After promotion I worked 8 hour rotations during the daytime for 6 days a week
- I oversaw a team of 5 Interns and 5 Junior doctors with two fellow colleagues, each from Anaesthesia and Respiratory Medicine
- During the entire tenure, all the beds were occupied for all the days and respiratory related mortality was around 50%
- My working day consisted of working inside the Respiratory/COVID ICU for 8 hours wearing a PPE suit
- During a working shift, I performed: Making hourly rounds to all 36 beds
- To do bedside procedures such as endotracheal and tracheostomy intubations, central venous catheterizations, thoracostomies and cardiopulmonary resuscitations
- Setting up and titrating High Flow Nasal Oxygen, Non Invasive Ventilators and Invasive Mechanical Ventilators
- Clerking daily reports and submitting them to the Department Head
- Teaching institution with a respiratory ICU
- My position was resolved once the restrictions relaxed and the Respiratory/COVID - ICU was converted back to a general ICU
Resident Doctor and Specialist Trainee
National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
New Delhi
04.2017 - 06.2020
- Company Overview: 495 bed tertiary, respiratory only hospital with 20 postgraduate positions for specialist training.
- Rotations were posted into every department for at least one month, while Respiratory ICU was 3 months.
- Departments included: Respiratory Medicine - Weekly outpatient clinics totalling approximately 200 patients, supervised by senior specialists.
- It involved ward rounds, approximately 40 patients every day.
- Respiratory Critical Care - 12 Bed advanced respiratory ICU, weekly 2 days and yearly 3 months continuous rotation.
- Tuberculosis and Drug Resistant Tuberculosis clinic.
- Respiratory Emergency Medicine.
- Interventional Pulmonology.
- Pulmonary oncology - I attended around 10 patients per week in the clinic under the supervision of the head oncologist.
- Assisted in patient follow-up, supervised chemotherapies, attended MDDs, performed radiological stagings, and, as part of my research, conducted cryotherapy interventions.
- I also administered the then novel agents, such as pembrolizumab, afatinib, and crizotinib, in the management of metastatic lung malignancies under supervision.
- Allergy and Immunology
- Miscellaneous activities such as pulmonary rehabilitation, COVID-19, microbiology, spirometry and plethysmography, and sleep medicine, weekly journal clubs, grand case presentations, CMEs, and faculty lectures were attended regularly according to the yearly academic calendar.
Medical officer
Rural Medical Hospital
Patan
12.2016 - 02.2017
- Company Overview: Remote rural 20 bedded hospital.
- Worked as a fresh medical graduate to independently work in a remote rural 20 bedded hospital as a GP.
- I also worked as a government officer responsible for public health initiatives such as vaccinations and awareness campaigns.
Education
European Diplomate - Adult Respiratory Medicine
University of Bern
Bern, Switzerland01.2021
Diplomate of National Board - Respiratory Medicine
National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
New Delhi, Delhi, India01.2020
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery -
Seth G S Medical College and King Edward Memorial Hospital
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India01.2015
Skills
- Pulmonology
- Intensive Care Medicine
- Sleep medicine
- Allergy and Immunology
- Bronchoscopy with EBUS
- Thoracoscopy
- Image-guided biopsies
- Pulmonary hypertension
Accomplishments
Won 1st Prize in National Council of Chest Physicians pulmonology Quiz (2020)
Additional Courses
- MRCP (UK) Part II (Written), 2020, Pass
- MRCP (UK) Part I, 2019, Pass
- European Respiratory Society - Training in Sleep Medicine, 2023
- NHS (UK) Certification course in Intensive Care Medicine, 2024
Publications
- Massive Haemothorax After Insertion of Double Lumen Haemodialysis Catheter Due to Injured Superior Vena Cava - A Case Report, MAR Journal of Pulmonology, 5, 05/09/22
- A Comparison of Combined Cryotherapy and Chemotherapy versus Chemotherapy Alone in Centrally Located Advanced Lung Cancer, Advances in Applied Science and Research, 10.36648/0976-8610.15.1.45, 03/21/24
References
- Dr Suchit Kamble, Scientist E, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, ICMR - National AIDS Research Institute, Pune, India, skamble@nariindia.org
- Dr Rupak Singla, Head of Department, Chest and TB Medicine, National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases, New Delhi, India, drrupaksingla@yahoo.com
Research
A comparison of combined cryotherapy and chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in centrally located advanced lung cancer., 2024
Languages
English
First Language
Swahili
Proficient (C2)
C2
Timeline
Consultant Pulmonologist
Regency Medical Centre
05.2022 - Current
Consultant Pulmonary and Critical Care medicine
Simrita Multispeciality Hospital
06.2021 - 04.2022
Research Scientist
Indian Council for Medical Research - National AIDS Research Institute
11.2020 - 03.2021
Bonded Medical Officer / Senior Medical Officer
YC Memorial Hospital
06.2020 - 11.2020
Resident Doctor and Specialist Trainee
National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
04.2017 - 06.2020
Medical officer
Rural Medical Hospital
12.2016 - 02.2017
European Diplomate - Adult Respiratory Medicine
University of Bern
Diplomate of National Board - Respiratory Medicine
National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery -
Seth G S Medical College and King Edward Memorial Hospital