BOOK REVIEW
YOUR HEART, MY HANDS
AUTHOR: ARUN K. SINGH, MD WITH JOHN HANC
PUBLISHER: CENTER STREET, NEW YORK. 288 PAGES, 16 APRIL, 2019
Reviewed by M. Saleem Seyal, MD, FACC, FACP
“ I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
D
I awoke and and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy.”
- Rabindranath Tagore (Nobel Laureate Literature 1913)
r. Arun K. Singh is a highly respected,
preeminent and prolific cardiac sur-
geon who gave up his scalpel in 2016
after a distinguished career span-
ning over 40 years. He performed
over 15,000 open heart sugeries on
adults and children, encompassing
the entire spectrum of cardiac surgery. “Your
Heart, My Hands” is a gripping narrative of this remarkable Indian
immigrant physician’s life. His absorbing account of being the oldest
son of a high school teacher is very well presented as he chronicles a
fascinating life. From rural Indian beginnings in a rather impover-
ished family, with unbridled optimism, hard work and perseverance,
he achieved the pinnacle of his American dream. As an adolescent,
he got into all kinds of trouble including academic miseries, wasting
time hopping trains for free rides, keeping questionable company
and flying kites instead of working. He admits to feeling like a
juvenile delinquent and had a rather strained relationship with his
father, but he eventually redeemed himself. He was afflicted with
serious medical issues, including crippling injuries to both his
hands and upper limbs on two occasions. These required multiple
surgeries and long, albeit un-conventional, home physical therapy.
Yet he improved to the point of caridac surgery prowess.
He had dyslexia as well, but it did not stop him from gaining
admission to Darbhanga Medical College, located in his birthplace,
the northeastern state of Bihar in India. He whole-heartedly delved
into his medical studies, though he described the school as medio-
cre. He earned accolades from his teachers and classmates. He was
determined to come to the US for residency and initially wanted
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
to become an orthopedic surgeon after his own treatment. He was
content to take a surgical internship in a small hospital in Worcester,
Mass. after he passed the requisite ECFMG (Education Council for
Foreign Medical Graduates) examination. Money was tight, partic-
ularly after his father had a stroke, and Arun had trouble coming
up with airfare to America. He eventually borrowed money from
his estranged maternal grandfather who was a retired ENT surgeon.
In the summer of 1967, after a circuitous journey with the cheap-
est airfare available via three different airlines with stops in Calcutta,
Karachi, Beirut, Athens, Istanbul, Amsterdam and London, he
arrived at JFK Airport, and finally Worcester, Mass. with $5 in his
pocket and a rickety disingrating suitcase. Very soon after starting
his training, Arun realized that this hospital was a sweatshop—
he was working 110 hours a week—admitting everybody, doing
required scutwork and holding the retractors. The prospects for
actually learning surgery were dismal. He declined the offer to stay
for four years for his “surgery residency” in Worcester and, on the
urging of a friend, moved to New York to the Harlem Hospital, one
of the three Columbia University-affiliated hospitals. On his first
night in the emergency department, he was exposed to a variety of
interesting and challenging situations including gunshot wounds,
stab wound to the heart, drug overdoses and many other surgical
and medically emergent clinical situations. He rapidly learned a lot
and the teaching and supervisory milieu appealed to him. His chief
resident, an Iranian immigrant physician, took him under his wing
and explained the treachery of the pyramidal residency system:
From 12 residents, the number of residents will go down to four
the next year and will further decline in subsequent years. He had
to work harder and he most certainly did, particularly practicing