Dr. Sanjay Panicker - Founder and Managing Director - Amrita homeopathy and Aesthetics Multispeciality clinic

Dr. Sanjay Panicker – Founder and Managing Director – Amrita homeopathy and Aesthetics Multispeciality clinic

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Interviewed by The Success Today – A Digital Webzine.

  1. Could you introduce us to yourself and your business?

I am Dr. Sanjay Panicker. I am the Founder & Managing Director at Amrita Homeopathy & Aesthetic Multispecialty Clinic. I have been treating patients with Classical Homeopathy for 25 years. In these many years, I have been fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to successfully treat more than 3 lakh patients from across the globe.
I am an alumnus of Fr. Muller Homeopathic Medical College, Mangalore. I have worked as a senior consultant and a corporate trainer for homeopathic doctors at a few corporate clinics.
I am an ardent follower of spiritual guru Matha Amritanandamayi, who has been my inspiration and guide in all the steps of my life. Hence, my clinics are named after her in gratitude.
I started my practice in a small town called Tanur in Kerala, in 1997. In a span of four years, we were able to spread to three more centres in Kerala. Later, I decided to move to Bangalore as it has been the dream city for me. In Bangalore, initially, I worked as a corporate trainer at corporate clinics. Then I set up my first centre in Bangalore on February 22, 2015, and launched another clinic in 2016. I have ten employees including five doctors working in my clinics. Fortunate for me, I have the best set of doctors and the best support staff in my clinics and this too has played a key role in my success. I now plan to start another clinic in 2022, which has already been long delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
All these years, my focus has been on treating people who cannot afford contemporary medicine. But because of the higher cure rates, today I not only have just the common man as patients, but also the Directors, CEOs and COO’s of various companies and even celebrities from the film industry seek treatment from me.

  1. What is the role of your family in your achievements?

I derive inspiration from my father, who is a man of great thoughts and my mother, who is a homeopathic practitioner herself and can treat difficult diseases with homeopathic remedies. I also seek motivation and inspiration from the Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda, whose books set me on the purpose of my life.
My wife and daughter have been my pillars of strength throughout my career. My career demands most of my time and they understand the depth of my profession. My success would not have been possible without their support and sacrifices.

  1. What is your ultimate aim as a doctor and how can you create a new path in your profession?

Being a doctor, I am sensitive to the sufferings of anyone in pain and that’s why I learnt the healing method of Homeopathy in-depth, which I have understood is the best, safest and the most advanced form of natural treatment and can heal the sick in the shortest, most reliable and harmless way. Homeopathy is capable of permanently curing most of the health problems and sometimes even curing conditions that are prematurely branded under the category of surgical diseases.
But the system of Homeopathy has been less understood by people and many times it has not been given the due recognition that it deserves. It is so, partially because of lack of proper knowledge transfer to the homeopathic doctors at the college level and later due to the improper knowledge implementation at the clinical practice level, leading to poor disease management. Homeopathy remains deprived of fame also because of the improper documentation of the cured cases and poor communication of the homeopathic cures to the masses. The number of practicing Homeopathic doctors across the country is also scarce. A lack of sufficient government homeopathic dispensaries and hospitals is also the cause of this. Another factor that largely contributes to the cause is the wrong branding of Homeopathy as an unscientific medicine system on websites like Wikipedia, which is trusted by millions.
To fight this lesser presence of homeopathic clinics and doctors, I have come up with the world’s first “Homeopathic Vending Machine”. This machine can be preloaded with medicines and installed in different locations. It can be accessed by all the registered homeopathic doctors across the world and after a video consultation, the concerned doctor can prescribe the medicine for the patient. The patient can use an access pin and withdraw the prescribed medicines from the nearest Any Time Medicine (ATM) machine. If the government or some investors could help raise the required funds, then we can have higher accessibility to all homeopathic doctors across the world. Also, to increase the awareness and faith among young homeopaths, allopathic doctors and doctors of other systems of medicine, I have launched “Amrita Sparsha magazine” which is a free magazine that presents homeopathic cured cases. Also, I have registered “Amrita Academy” for starting courses on practical Homeopathic education to nurture young Homeopaths into confident doctors and to conduct regular CME’s for the allopathic fraternity to familiarise themselves with the homeopathic system of medicine. The focus is to treat acute emergency diseases and surgical diseases successfully, to make people aware of the capacity of homeopathic remedies to miraculously heal the patient in such cases. Chronic disease management will also be dealt with. As a part of educating homeopaths, I have written a book “Paediatric Drug Pictures” on homeopathic remedies in paediatric cases, which will be released in January 2022.

  1. What was the one thing that had first persuaded you to enter into this field of industry?

My mother is a homeopathic doctor and I have seen her practice and cure difficult cases of illnesses. Interestingly, she had not even attended any college to study Homeopathy as there were not many colleges during those days. She started her study in Homeopathy to heal my brother who suffered from asthma. She was guided by our family doctor, Dr Ahmed.
Dr Ahmed has mastered multiple systems of medicines including Allopathic medicine, Homeopathic medicine, Ayurvedic medicine and Unani. I’ve seen him cure many cases of poisonous stings and snake bites. I remember, he once narrated a popular incident from Tanur (a small town in Malappuram district in Kerala) to my parents where a man was stabbed by someone and he lied on the road in front of his clinic with his intestinal loops rolled out on the road. The doctor saw the man and rushed to the spot, kneeled on the road and after medically cleaning the parts, he put back the intestines into the abdomen and sutured his wound, without even thinking of the complications and consequences of involving himself in an attempted murder victim’s treatment. The doctor’s only concern was to save that life. That man survived for many years after the incident.
Another incident that I recall is from my mother’s description of her infected wound due to which she later developed Tetanus with all the typical opisthotonos contractions. Her whole body arched like a bow during the periodical attacks, which are typical of Tetanus. This doctor saved my mother with some homeopathic medicines (probably Hypericum). For our family and the people of Tanur, the word ‘Doctor’ meant ‘Ahmed Doctor’.
My mother suggested I learn this kind of integrated approach of treating diseases as each system has its positives. She would tell me that people need very competent doctors who can confidently take up and cure fatal diseases. This is what inspired me to become a doctor and I chose Homeopathy as the stepping stone in this journey. I have later been able to integrate nutritional therapies, yoga therapies and aesthetic medicine into my clinical practice, with the help of experts from the respective fields.

  1. With such cut-throat competition in this industry, what is it that makes the services you offer exceptional?

People come to us with a lot of faith in Homeopathy. I have trained my team to do all that they can do to make sure that the trust of my patients is not broken.
I have been working on integrating technology with medicine. We use all the latest hair and skin diagnostic and treatment tools in the clinic including video microscopes, woods lamp, skin analyzer, laser therapy, electroporation and mesotherapy machines. My team also ensures that the medicines are untouched by hand and hygienically blister packed, taking into consideration all the latest hygiene measures in place concerning the Covid-19 pandemic, thus helping in retaining the efficacy of homeopathic medicines. We use the best possible homeopathic medicines in every case to maintain high success rates, irrespective of the higher cost involved.
I don’t believe in running after money. I value myself and my system of medicine more than anything else because I know the value we can add to the lives of my patients, and hence I charge accordingly. I have seen a disappointing trend among people where they don’t hesitate to spend a few hundred on a cup of tea that they get to enjoy in a branded tea shop but will hesitate to spend a few hundred rupees extra on medicine or a test which the doctor suggests is important for them. Sadly, many had to acquire the mindset that they have to be cautious about doctors overcharging them. It is not that I charge less than my competitors but I provide value for what I charge for.
Patients come to a doctor because they want to be cured of their disease. At my clinic, we only take up the cases which I feel we can cure. We don’t over-promise. We try to deliver more than what we promise. I ensure that nobody who comes to the clinic is denied treatment for want of money. It’s the humane touch that we need to have. A cut-throat business mindset will never take you ahead in the long run.

  1. Your achievements in this industry are more than impressive. Would you like to highlight some of them?

In my 25 years of practice so far, my biggest achievement has been the love, trust and blessings of my patients. My spiritual guru says, “ when we help others to solve their problems, their blessings will reflect as divine grace which flows towards us”. This is my only strength.
I am neither from a rich background nor am I a very influential person. I set up my first clinic with just Rs.1500 in hand. Later, opportunities barged in like blessings. This is what I believe has helped us grow from a small village-side single-room clinic to the well-equipped clinics in Bangalore with ten employees.
I started the “Amrita Sparsha Foundation” for the poor and needy. We have supplied nearly 20000 packets of food to the underprivileged in the past year and carried out other CSR activities in old age homes and orphanages. We have also been able to launch the Amrita Sparsha Magazine, which is presently a free quarterly magazine. We’ve also stepped in the direction to start the “Amrita Academy of Continued Medical Education” to train doctors for a better tomorrow in the health sector. Also, we are the only clinic among nine others in Bangalore to have an integrated system of Homeopathy, Nutrition, Aesthetics and Yoga.
For my contributions in the industry, I have been honoured with several awards like the ‘Successful Treatments Award’ and the ‘Best Homeopathic Doctor Award’. I’ve also had the great honour to receive ‘India’s most Prominent Health Care Award-2017’ from Indian Cricketer Mr Kapil Dev. The latest addition to my list of achievements is the ‘Excellence in Homeopathy’ award from Shri Shripad Naik (Hon’ble Minister of State for AYUSH) and the ‘Pillars Of India Award-2021’ by ESN Publications, in memory of Late Shri Abdul Kalam (Ex-President of India), with an objective to recognize my contributions in the field of Homeopathy.
I attribute all my awards and recognitions to my family, friends, well-wishers, patients, and above all, to my teachers who made me what I am today.

  1. Does your work ever feel unexciting to you? If so, how do you stay driven and motivated towards it?

I am passionate about everything I do for my patients and clinic. This clinic is like my child and everything I do for my clinic has my deepest emotions involved. Starting from the structure of the clinic to the recruitment process, website to the social media pages, creating designs for the packing material to the consultation of patients and prescriptions, everything was monitored by me in the initial days of my practice. But now, I have a team that is trained to get things done exactly as I want.
I strongly believe that the purpose of my life is to heal patients and support them during their tough times. Since childhood, the idea of a banyan tree, that gives shade to many, has been exemplary for me. There are times when I feel a bit overwhelmed by the too many difficult cases to handle and other responsibilities. During such times as well, I try to find the answers to my problems through discussion with my family and friends, and sometimes through prayer and meditation. Spirituality gives me the inner strength to handle tough situations and focus my mind on my long-term vision.

  1. You have achieved so much in life. Is there any specific advice you’d like to share with the new people entering this industry?

I haven’t grown enough to advise others. But, some lines of Swami Vivekananda have left a deep impression upon me, which I would like to share.

• “Get up and set your shoulder to the wheel. How long is this life for? As you have come into this world, leave some mark behind. Otherwise, what is the difference between you and the trees and stones? They too come into existence, decay, and die.”

• “Be not in despair, the path is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor; yet despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal.”

• “If money helps a man to do good to others, it is of some value. But if not it is a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of the better.

• “Take risks in life. If you will you can lead! If you lose you can guide!”

• “All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cried that it is dark.”

• “Have faith that you are all my brave lads, born to do great things. Let not the bark of puppies frighten you- No! Not even the thunderbolts of heaven!”

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