Legends in Orthopedics: Prof. A K Gupta

Prof. A K Gupta (1917–2007)

Prof. Arun Kumar Gupta was born on December 17, 1917. He obtained his M.B.B.S. in 1941 and M.S. General Surgery in 1944 from Patna Medical College. After completing his education, he joined the Short Service Commission of the Army and served in India, Malaysia, and Singapore. He left army in 1947 and went to attend United Liverpool Hospital in the UK. He got his M. Ch. (Ortho) from Liverpool in 1951 and later also obtained F.R.C.S. in 1952 from Royal College of Surgeons, England.¹

Prof. A K Gupta came back to India in 1953 and joined Irwin Hospital (Today's Maulana Azad Medical College and LNJPN Hospital) in Delhi where he served till 1955. Later, he joined as a Lecturer of Orthopedics at S.N. Medical College, Agra, where he worked from 1955 to 1957. He then joined as a Reader in Orthopedics at G.S.V.M. Medical College, Kanpur, and played a key role in establishing the Department of Orthopaedics there. M.S. Ortho degree course was started here in 1960 and he trained a total of 38 M.S. and 36 D. Ortho surgeons during his tenure. A lot of his students accomplished senior professional and academic positions in India and abroad. He became Professor and Head of the same Department in 1959 and served till his retirement in 1976.¹

He was completely devoted to patient care and teaching throughout his life. He was a committed teacher, diligent surgeon, and esteemed leader. Prof. Gupta was a voracious reader and had vast knowledge of orthopedic literature. His main clinical interests were rickets and osteomalacia, pediatric femoral neck fractures, osteotomies around hip, correction of foot deformities and hand and lower limb deformities of poliomyelitis, and Hansen's disease. He was an active member of Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) and served as its Secretary from 1963 to 1966 and then graced the Chair of Vice President of IOA in 1967. He served as President of IOA in 1975–1976 and was awarded the highest honor of “IOA - Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 51^st Annual Conference of IOA in 2006 at Delhi.¹

On his name, “A K Gupta Trophy” is awarded every year to the best chapter of IOA, and “A K Gupta Gold Medal” is presented to the best paper presented at UP Chapter of IOA (UPCON). UPCON 2008 and the January 2008 Issue of Bone and Joint Diseases Journal were dedicated to the commemoration of Prof. A K Gupta.¹

He was diagnosed with cancer in the last 2 years of his life and left for heavenly abode on December 30, 2007, at the age of 90 years. He is remembered as a compassionate surgeon and loving teacher by all, who came in contact with him.¹

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.