"I wasn’t the brightest student. But I was relentless."
Those words sum up the journey of Dr Kishan Rao; a surgeon, teacher, author and the founder of one of India’s most influential medical education platforms.
Born in a remote village in Karnataka, he grew up far away from the glitz of the city. Dr Kishan Rao didn’t top his class. But he carried a fire that couldn’t be graded; something more valuable and enduring — self confidence.
Dr Rao excelled in everything he laid his hands on, from music to sports to culturals, he immersed himself in all the opportunities life brought along the way. His insatiable curiosity became his compass and confidence, his fuel.
While he was studying at Bangalore Medical College, he dreamed not of surgery but of service on a larger scale; “Why treat 40 people when you could eradicate malaria for all?” he’d muse. Civil services called out to him but fate had another plan. Gently nudged by his parents he took up Surgery and got a postgraduate seat at Agartala.
It was there where he found his true mettle. Far from home between unfamiliar syllables, the language barrier hit hard. With no knowledge of Bengali, he struggled to connect with patients. But in two months, he learned the language and went a step further.
He authored a Bengali medical guide for non-local doctors, a book that now exists in 12 regional languages and supports healthcare professionals across India. He also began to write; books that demystify surgery, decode clinical cases and make theory come alive.
Yet, medicine to him was never just science; it was society. He noticed food being wasted in college hostels while several slept starving on the streets. So he started Hope India, repacking untouched food for the homeless. This tiny act of empathy caused a ripple effect across many colleges.
Later, he founded The Empath Society with a group of compassionate like minded medicos for conducting free medical checkup and health awareness campaigns in slums, orphanages, old age homes, airports, military bases etc.
But his most impactful contribution came in with the birth of The White Army, a free online medical education platform that has transformed the way medicine is taught and learned in India.
What began with him just sharing interesting clinical signs in Whatsapp groups evolved into a nationwide ecosystem of webinars and case discussions. During the pandemic when learning stood still, he brought clinics to the phones.
Powered by top-tier faculty from across the country, The White Army has since reached and educated thousands of medical students regardless of their college or background.
Despite his numerous accolades, Dr Rao remains grounded. “I’ve failed more times than I can count. But I see failure like an ECG, flat lines mean death; ups and downs mean you’re alive,” he says.
A lost national case presentation couldn’t deter him because a month later he topped his entire university in his postgraduate entrance exams, thus becoming the first surgery resident in years to do so.
His guiding principle, something so simple yet so impactful is ‘Conceive. Believe. Achieve.’
“Belief isn’t just wishing - it’s acting. With hard work and confidence, success is inevitable.”
“I learned suturing from nurses, deliveries from midwives, and humility from tribal patients. The sweeper keeping the hospital clean is just as important as the surgeon in the OT. Without them, chaos reigns. Medicine isn’t a hierarchy. It’s humanity.”
But above all, he holds one truth close, respect with humility; something most forget on the race to the top.
(This article was curated by the content and digital team at Humans of Medicare: Siddhant Kashyap, Varuni Vats, Sudesh Digulkar, Dhrishya Senthilkumar and Nishtha Arya.)
