The story of the department started in the year 1989, when Surgical Oncology department was started for the first time ever in the history of Government Medical College by Prof B.K.C Mohan Prasad. The Department started growing with more qualified surgical Oncologists joining the department. Slowly the department started gaining recognition among the people and other medical Fraternity and it started receiving more and more patients waiting to get treated by qualified surgical Oncologists. Post graduates from surgery, obstetrics, ENT, Dental are regularly being posted and trained in basics of oncosurgery since its inception till date. At present the department is functioning in full swing at ward 90, opposite to GRH Auditorium.

With the availability of specialists in the field and growing number of patients and surgeries there was a necessity to start a proper unit headed by a qualified person and a postgraduate training program. This could be achieved with lot of persuasion and efforts since the concept of Surgical Oncology as a specialty was new and unacceptable to the surgeons in general.

The untiring efforts from us born fruits, where a hope was born, in the year 2014, under the project of strengthening of Tertiary Care of Cancer under National Programs for Prevention and Control, Diabetes, CVD and Stroke (NPCDCS - TCCC project for Madurai Medical college was sanctioned.

Later due to logical reasons, it was decided to combine both State RCC, and TCCC project, in nearby place to the existing GRH and Madurai Medical college campus within Collectorate complex which belonged to Madurai medical college. Currently there is a proposal for a new comprehensive cancer care building in the existing pediatric block, like the one in Royapettah GH and in all other centers in Tamilnadu, with all three oncology department having a common OPD area and spaces to accommodate allied services of pain and palliative care and oncopathology physiotherapy and rehabilitation for cancer patients.

The greatest Mile stone was achieved, when the department was sanctioned four MCh postgraduates in the year 2019. The department started to expand slowly. The first batch of MCh postgraduates passed out in the year 2022 with flying colours. Academically the department is very jubilant, where our postgraduates have made enormous presentations in various national, international conferences, bagging best paper, poster awards, one such being the national ICDE award from the national body, which is the most coveted award across the nation, where in one of our Post graduates was given an opportunity to visit USA for a period of one month with honorarium. Faculties also do regular presentations in various conferences and have got some prominent awards. Medal exam is being conducted every year post surgical Post graduates in order to motivate them to take up, surgical Oncology as their career. Many post graduates who got trained in our department during their post graduation have secured MCh Oncology in various reputed cancer centers across the country, which is currently the most coveted super specialty course among the surgical super specialties.

Under the able guidance of the current Head of the Department, Prof M.Ramesh, being the organising secretary. The department organized national level Conference IASO in the year 2022, where in more than 1000 surgical oncology delegates from various parts of the country and abroad participated. The department also conducted the midterm national IASO conference in the year 2018. Apart from this, The surgical Oncology department actively contributed to education in the form of various CME, Workshops, patient education and awareness programs etc regularly. Recently a dedicated program for breast oncoplasty was organized, with a surgeon from U.K demonstrated various novel Oncoplasty techniques in the presence of delegates from TASO- The Tamilnadu association of Surgical Oncology.

Madurai Medical College and Government Rajaji Hospital surgical oncology department has been a forerunner in providing a state of the art Comprehensive cancer services to the patients across South Tamil Nadu and adjacent states for more than five decades. Currently the oncology services are being provided by the department of Surgical oncology along with supports from Medical and Radiation Oncology ,and referrals from other departments like General surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, ENT,Orthopedics , General Medicine, Gastroenterology, Dental surgery and also from the supports of specialty departments like Plastic surgery, Neurosurgery, vascular surgery, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery etc. The department of surgical oncology, is currently one of the largest in South Tamilnadu with Post graduate residency program, having intake of 4 post graduates per year apart from special postings from obstetrics, dental. Surgery post graduates in rotation and the referral centre for six districts namely Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Virudhunagar, Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram besides entire southern districts, as it is an age old college and only place having Radiation facilities.

Year after year , the number of OPD cases as well as the number of Cancer surgeries are increasing . The department has qualified staffs for performing all major , complex cases in par with a private hospital. All major surgeries in oncology, in particular novel surgeries like Oncoplastic Breast surgeries, Laparoscopic Oncosurgeries, VATS for thoracic cancers like Lung, oesophageal cancers, Limb Salvage surgeries with custom prosthesis, Sacrectomies, Pelvic resections, sphincter salvage surgeries for Rectal cancers, complex Head and Neck surgeries with Flap Reconstructions, Free Flaps are being performed regularly and successfully. The Department is conducting multidisciplinary Tumor board meetings every week for integrated management.

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