All in the family

2020 SMA Physician of the Year Dr. Biswa Datta learned medicine from his physician father. His children also became doctors, and he hopes his grandchildren join the profession, too

By Girard Hengen

Growing up in Dacca, Bangladesh, Dr. Biswa Datta learned about medicine at the knee of his physician father.

Much later in life and half a world removed from his childhood, Dr. Datta – by then a pediatrician in Yorkton, Saskatchewan – passed along his love of medicine to a new generation, his daughter and son who are physicians, too.

“My father was my role model, and I followed in his footsteps,” said Dr. Datta, who is now based in Regina and is the recipient of the Saskatchewan Medical Association’s 2020 Physician of the Year Award.

“When I was a little boy I used to be with my dad at his medical clinic,” he continued. “I would accompany him from time to time on his house calls. That was my initiation into my love for a career in medicine. From my father I learned a lot, and marvel now at the fact that he had no antibiotics, insulin, or any vaccines available then to help him treat his patients.”

Educated at Dacca Medical College in Bangladesh and in England, Dr. Datta came to Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital in 1973 as chief resident and teaching fellow in the department of pediatrics. He met Indra, who was working on a PhD in political science, while visiting his sister in Kolkata, India. The two were married and moved to Yorkton in 1976, where Dr. Datta became the only pediatrician in the region.

“Instead of a career in political science, Indra concentrated on the well-being of the Datta family,” Dr. Datta said. Their children Anita and Samir, born and raised in Yorkton, attended the University of Saskatchewan and graduated from medicine. Anita is a pediatric neurologist/epileptologist at Vancouver Children’s Hospital and Samir is a family physician in London, Ont.

Family matters for the Dattas – from one generation to the next and possibly the next, medicine has been a constant.

“It gives me great joy that both my children are in the medical profession,” said Dr. Datta. “In my family, we have been physicians for four generations. I hope my grandchildren will follow the family tradition and study medicine.”

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The 2020 Physician of the Year Award was presented Oct. 30, 2020, as part of the SMA’s virtual 2020 Fall Representative Assembly. Dr. Datta was surprised to receive the annual award, but he shouldn’t have been. In letters supporting his nomination, patients describe him as an “angel” and a “saint.”

“I have shared with many that Dr. Datta is like an angel that came into my son’s life to save him,” one patient’s parent wrote. “In our eyes Dr. Datta is a true role model of excellence, diligence, and kindness. He is also a hero to my son and I truly don’t know where we would be today without Dr. Datta’s excellent care for us.”

THE CHILDREN THAT I TOOK CARE OF AND THEIR FAMILIES WERE LIKE ONE BIG FAMILY FOR ME.

“To his patients he is a miracle worker, to his peers a mentor, and to us a blessing,” one patient wrote. “On behalf of our family, we would like to thank him for the extraordinary care and service that he has provided not only to our children, but to the countless others he has had under his care. Dr. Datta is without question the best at what he does and truly one of a kind. An award of this magnitude is truly deserving and long overdue.”

One of his co-nominators wrote: “Dr. Datta greets each patient with a smile and joy in his eyes. He is passionate about being a doctor to the core of his being. This love for his profession radiates out to his patients every single day … Dr. Datta helps to support the caregivers of these sick children in so many ways. He is so much more than just a doctor. He is a saint in many eyes. He gives hope to the hopeless. He gives joy to the joyless. He loves all who he meets and aims to bring joy to the children. He sees the good in everyone and believes for the best.”

Dr. Datta said he was honoured to receive the award. “I never expected it. I will cherish it and it’s just a blessing for me. I don’t know how to express my feelings to be recognized by the SMA as Physician of the Year. I’m really very surprised and very honoured.”

HE GIVES HOPE TO THE HOPELESS. HE GIVES JOY TO THE JOYLESS. HE LOVES ALL WHO HE MEETS AND AIMS TO BRING JOY TO THE CHILDREN. HE SEES THE GOOD IN EVERYONE AND BELIEVES FOR THE BEST.

During his fellowship in the early 1970s at RUH, Dr. Datta travelled to Yorkton by air ambulance to pick up sick babies and transfer them to Saskatoon. He got to know the obstetrician in Yorkton, who asked him to set up a pediatric department in the east-central city.

“I was impressed by the kindness and dedication of the staff at the (then) Yorkton Union Hospital,” he said. “That was the sole reason for choosing Yorkton. I never regretted the decision. Initially I had thought I would stay one or two years in Yorkton, but the wonderful community and the staff at the hospital was a big factor in our staying longer. Yorkton became our home.”

It became a home with challenges. He was on call 24 hours a day. The work was demanding. With no backup in a rural setting, he had to stabilize sick babies with support from hospital staff before sending them by ambulance to larger centres. His own family sacrificed so he could pursue his career in medicine.

“The children that I took care of and their families were like one big family for me. I felt a very special kinship with the children and the families,” he said. “It is very kind of the families who supported my nomination to remember me fondly even after so many years. I also feel very honoured that I get to see the children of the children I had taken care of.”

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Dr. Datta left Yorkton after 25 years to establish his practice in 2001 at the Regina General Hospital. In addition to his regular work, he teaches medical students and residents, which he sees as an opportunity to share his experience and knowledge and leave a legacy with the next generation of physicians.

Like all physicians, he has had to make adjustments to his practice due to the pandemic, seeing patients one at a time in his office. He has consoled worried parents and advised them on what to do when the virus hits close to home within their family. At work, he wears a face shield and gown, a look that can be intimidating for his tiny patients.

“They’re scared of the white coat. Children don’t like the white coat,” he said. “I used to put on my ordinary jacket but now children see me with the mask on, the plastic cover on and the white coat. They really get scared.”

Pandemic or not, Dr. Datta has been on a remarkable journey, from following his father while on rounds in Dacca to setting out for a new life on the Canadian Prairies almost 50 years ago.

“I came to Saskatchewan in 1973. Since then, I have lived and worked in Saskatchewan. The bitterly cold winters force us to build tenacity against all odds. I always say I matured and became stronger because of my living in Saskatchewan.” ◆