Not all turning points in life come with celebration — some arrive quietly, wrapped in silence and sorrow. For Dr Kamal Singh, it was a night on hospital duty that would forever change the course of his life. A young girl battling pulmonary edema needed urgent CPR.
“I gave it everything I had,” he says, “but no one came to help. The system failed her. We lost her.” That moment of helplessness carved a permanent mark — and led to the beginning of something greater.
“I chose biology over math because I wanted to do something impactful for mankind,” Dr Singh recalls. With an All India Rank (AIR) 171 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET UG), he pursued his MBBS from SMS Medical College, Jaipur. His college years were a mix of rigorous study and midnight cricket sessions.
“We used to stay up all night just to play,” he laughs and adds, “Those friendships are still alive today.”
He later cracked NEET Postgraduate (PG) with AIR 232 and Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INICET) with AIR 25, choosing internal medicine at PGI Chandigarh — guided by a growing interest in diagnostics. But midway, chickenpox left him bedridden.
“Being a patient changed my perspective. I saw what we often overlook as doctors,” he says. He began noticing gaps in hospital management and voiced them to his department head, who was surprisingly receptive.
Despite physical recovery, emotionally, something had shifted. “I didn’t feel fulfilled,” he admits. “That’s when I knew I needed a pause.” After the harrowing CPR incident, he returned home for what he called “an infinite break.” But instead of retreating, he restructured his future.
He enrolled in an online MBA to dive deep into healthcare management. Along the way, he discovered the immense potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare — a fusion that reignited his purpose. Recently, he cleared entrance exams again, this time choosing radiology. “It’s where I can combine my love for diagnostics with my vision for AI-powered healthcare solutions.”
From sleepless nights in Jaipur to heartbreaking duty shifts in Chandigarh, Dr Kamal Singh’s journey is a powerful example of resilience and redefinition. “You can’t control everything,” he says quietly. “But you can keep showing up as the best version of yourself.”
(This article was curated by the content and digital team at Humans of Medicare: Siddhant Kashyap, Varuni Vats and Aditi Gawit.)
