Vocational Talk

The meeting opened at 12.45pm when President Mark Rossiter welcomed 23 Rotarians.

The main business was the coming bi-annual Big Dinner, which takes place on 21st April. There are still tickets available. More tables are needed, as are auction and raffle prizes.

The speaker today was Rotarian Dr Debabrata Ghosh who was giving an account of his life until now, which has taken him from Calcutta to Kinghorn.

Debu was born in a town near Calcutta which had an important railway junction.  His father was a GP and he was the eldest of 7. When he was young he played a lot of football and went hill walking. After school, he went to Calcutta to study Medicine and after graduating in 1962 he fulfilled a lifetime ambition and came to the UK to continue his career. He started studying from scratch and achieved his MRCP Edin in 1973.

By his own admission, he was not completely happy with the way things were turning out professionally but Professor Anderson of Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow kindled his interest in geriatric medicine. He was attracted to the discipline because it needed a different approach to many conditions and so he embarked on his career in this field of Medicine. He worked at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and became senior registrar there and later joined Victoria Hospital Kirkcaldy in 1977 as a consultant.

His two children, a son and a daughter, were born in 1979 and 1982 and are both doctors,working in the fields of psychiatry and oncology.

Dr Ghosh explained his part in the development of the department of Geriatric Medicine in Fife Region which is based on initial assessment as a day patient wherever possible and then the elaboration of an individual treatment plan.

The service has expanded greatly since he joined. He became Head of Department in 1984. In 1995 he oversaw the introduction of an acute need facility.

Debu was granted FRCP Edin in 1982 and 1986 in Glasgow.

He has been fully retired since 2006 when he started doing yoga to try to improve his arthritic condition. This was so successful that he was able to stop all arthritis medication. He now teaches Yoga in the community and even to his fellow Rotarians before meetings, which is proving most beneficial!

President Mark reminded members that the club AGM will be held next week.

The meeting closed at 1.55pm with a toast to Rotary International