BMJ 2015;350:h1277 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1277 (Published 11 March 2015)
Page 1 of 2
Observations
OBSERVATIONS BMJ CONFIDENTIAL
Kartik Modha: Digital health pioneer Bevan or Lansley? Who has been the best and the worst health secretary in your lifetime? I’m not convinced that politics should be involved in healthcare.
Who is the person you would most like to thank and why? What was your earliest ambition? To get a man to run across the TV screen, get into a rocket, and fly off. My dad was convinced that IT was the future, so he bought a BBC Micro 32K in the mid-1980s. At age 5 I learnt that typing exactly what was written in the programming section of the BBC Micro handbook made something happen on the screen. It was so primitive, yet still amazing. The rocket program took me all day to enter, and when I finally pressed “Return” a small man ran across the screen and got into a boxy red rocket that lifted off. Then the screen went black, and “Bad command” flashed up—but I was pleased that I’d at least seen the man run into the rocket and take off.
Who has been your biggest inspiration? My wife, Balraj Sidhu. She is kind, fun, hardworking, and generous. Her personal academic journey is very inspiring.
What was the worst mistake in your career? Not doing enough research on a practice I worked in after obtaining my CCT [certificate of completion of training] as a GP. High staff turnover is particularly telling.
What was your best career move? Becoming a GP. Healthcare has so much room for innovation that it’s possible for creative clinicians to improve things. The “portfolio GP” career makes it possible to pick the types of clinical work you enjoy and to be flexible with your time so that you can start your own projects or pursue personal interests. Tiko’s GP Group and myHealthSpecialist.com have been possible mainly because of the flexibility offered by the portfolio GP option and also because of the kind support we have received from thousands of GPs and specialists. For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Nanny Esther, a family friend who died a few years ago. She was in her 90s and was always very articulate until the end. She helped me to understand intuition and when to apply it.
To whom would you most like to apologise? To my parents, for seeming always to be so busy. They worked incredibly hard to give us opportunities in life, and now that they have time to spend with us, we have so little.
If you were given £1m what would you spend it on? Family, friends, and digital health projects.
Where are or were you happiest? Lying on a beach in Goa in the sunshine, with fresh lime soda (salted) and fresh pineapple chunks on a table next to me. I’m stretched out on a deckchair, getting an Indian head massage while the waves break gently on the sand.
What single unheralded change has made the most difference in your field in your lifetime? The internet. We are now communicating at a rate never previously possible. Online GP groups are forming and effecting change at a national level. Low morale across primary care in general means that more people are taking matters into their own hands.
Do you support doctor assisted suicide? No. I don’t think that it should fall within the remit of medicine, which at its heart endeavours to heal. Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
BMJ 2015;350:h1277 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1277 (Published 11 March 2015)
Page 2 of 2
OBSERVATIONS
Biography Kartik Modha, 33, is a north London GP and digital health pioneer who set up the country’s largest GP only Facebook group (Tiko’s GP Group) and later founded myHealthSpecialist.com, an online service enabling patients and doctors to choose a private specialist on the basis of doctors’ recommendations. The website, which received 140 000 profile views in 2014, is currently free to all users, and specialist subscriptions aim to provide funding for long term development. Modha is also a clinical lead at Doctor Care Anywhere, a service offering online GP consultations. He believes that digital technologies will allow patients to take charge of their own care.
What book should every doctor read?
What personal ambition do you still have?
Transpersonal Development: the Dimension Beyond Psychosynthesis by Roberto Assagioli.
To have more control over my time.
What poem, song, or passage of prose would you like mourners at your funeral to hear? Spontaneous words from people I love.
What is your guiltiest pleasure? Paneer tikka and masala mogo sizzler with assorted chutneys and a pint of ice cold Cobra, especially at the Marten Inn near Leicester. My friend Ricky took me there, and now I’m hooked.
If you could be invisible for a day what would you do? Board a rocket just before it went into space.
Clarkson or Clark? Would you rather watch Top Gear or Civilisation? What television programmes do you like? Masterchef, Great British Menu, The Apprentice, NCIS, Family Guy, Grand Designs, and The Big Bang Theory. I now also have the Breaking Bad box set, and I’m going to take the plunge.
What is your most treasured possession?
Summarise your personality in three words Relaxed, ambitious, hopeful.
Where does alcohol fit into your life? Socially.
What is your pet hate? Slow internet.
What would be on the menu for your last supper? See “guiltiest pleasure.”
Do you have any regrets about becoming a doctor? No.
If you weren’t in your present position what would you be doing instead? A professional event organiser.
A gold kara (bracelet) given to me by my father in law before I got married last year.
Kartik Modha would like to dedicate this interview to his late father in law, Jaswir Sidhu, who was a kind, inspiring man and an endless source of encouragement.
What, if anything, are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h1277 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Pushing for less paperwork.
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 2
Observations
OBSERVATIONS BMJ CONFIDENTIAL
Kartik Modha: Digital health pioneer Bevan or Lansley? Who has been the best and the worst health secretary in your lifetime? I’m not convinced that politics should be involved in healthcare.
Who is the person you would most like to thank and why? What was your earliest ambition? To get a man to run across the TV screen, get into a rocket, and fly off. My dad was convinced that IT was the future, so he bought a BBC Micro 32K in the mid-1980s. At age 5 I learnt that typing exactly what was written in the programming section of the BBC Micro handbook made something happen on the screen. It was so primitive, yet still amazing. The rocket program took me all day to enter, and when I finally pressed “Return” a small man ran across the screen and got into a boxy red rocket that lifted off. Then the screen went black, and “Bad command” flashed up—but I was pleased that I’d at least seen the man run into the rocket and take off.
Who has been your biggest inspiration? My wife, Balraj Sidhu. She is kind, fun, hardworking, and generous. Her personal academic journey is very inspiring.
What was the worst mistake in your career? Not doing enough research on a practice I worked in after obtaining my CCT [certificate of completion of training] as a GP. High staff turnover is particularly telling.
What was your best career move? Becoming a GP. Healthcare has so much room for innovation that it’s possible for creative clinicians to improve things. The “portfolio GP” career makes it possible to pick the types of clinical work you enjoy and to be flexible with your time so that you can start your own projects or pursue personal interests. Tiko’s GP Group and myHealthSpecialist.com have been possible mainly because of the flexibility offered by the portfolio GP option and also because of the kind support we have received from thousands of GPs and specialists. For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Nanny Esther, a family friend who died a few years ago. She was in her 90s and was always very articulate until the end. She helped me to understand intuition and when to apply it.
To whom would you most like to apologise? To my parents, for seeming always to be so busy. They worked incredibly hard to give us opportunities in life, and now that they have time to spend with us, we have so little.
If you were given £1m what would you spend it on? Family, friends, and digital health projects.
Where are or were you happiest? Lying on a beach in Goa in the sunshine, with fresh lime soda (salted) and fresh pineapple chunks on a table next to me. I’m stretched out on a deckchair, getting an Indian head massage while the waves break gently on the sand.
What single unheralded change has made the most difference in your field in your lifetime? The internet. We are now communicating at a rate never previously possible. Online GP groups are forming and effecting change at a national level. Low morale across primary care in general means that more people are taking matters into their own hands.
Do you support doctor assisted suicide? No. I don’t think that it should fall within the remit of medicine, which at its heart endeavours to heal. Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
BMJ 2015;350:h1277 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1277 (Published 11 March 2015)
Page 2 of 2
OBSERVATIONS
Biography Kartik Modha, 33, is a north London GP and digital health pioneer who set up the country’s largest GP only Facebook group (Tiko’s GP Group) and later founded myHealthSpecialist.com, an online service enabling patients and doctors to choose a private specialist on the basis of doctors’ recommendations. The website, which received 140 000 profile views in 2014, is currently free to all users, and specialist subscriptions aim to provide funding for long term development. Modha is also a clinical lead at Doctor Care Anywhere, a service offering online GP consultations. He believes that digital technologies will allow patients to take charge of their own care.
What book should every doctor read?
What personal ambition do you still have?
Transpersonal Development: the Dimension Beyond Psychosynthesis by Roberto Assagioli.
To have more control over my time.
What poem, song, or passage of prose would you like mourners at your funeral to hear? Spontaneous words from people I love.
What is your guiltiest pleasure? Paneer tikka and masala mogo sizzler with assorted chutneys and a pint of ice cold Cobra, especially at the Marten Inn near Leicester. My friend Ricky took me there, and now I’m hooked.
If you could be invisible for a day what would you do? Board a rocket just before it went into space.
Clarkson or Clark? Would you rather watch Top Gear or Civilisation? What television programmes do you like? Masterchef, Great British Menu, The Apprentice, NCIS, Family Guy, Grand Designs, and The Big Bang Theory. I now also have the Breaking Bad box set, and I’m going to take the plunge.
What is your most treasured possession?
Summarise your personality in three words Relaxed, ambitious, hopeful.
Where does alcohol fit into your life? Socially.
What is your pet hate? Slow internet.
What would be on the menu for your last supper? See “guiltiest pleasure.”
Do you have any regrets about becoming a doctor? No.
If you weren’t in your present position what would you be doing instead? A professional event organiser.
A gold kara (bracelet) given to me by my father in law before I got married last year.
Kartik Modha would like to dedicate this interview to his late father in law, Jaswir Sidhu, who was a kind, inspiring man and an endless source of encouragement.
What, if anything, are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint?
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h1277 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Pushing for less paperwork.
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
