Dr. B. M. Hegde (Belle Monappa Hegde), Padma Vibhushan

Dr. B. M. Hegde (Belle Monappa Hegde), Padma Vibhushan
Cardiologist, Teacher, Author & Advocate of Holistic Medicine

A medical student once asked him after a long lecture, “Sir, is modern medicine enough, or do we need something more?”

Dr. B. M. Hegde smiled and replied, “Medicine is not only about drugs and machines. It is about understanding the whole person—body, mind and the environment. A good doctor treats the patient, not just the disease.”

That conviction has shaped his lifelong message as a physician, teacher and writer.

Belle Monappa Hegde was born on 18 August 1938 in Pangala near Udupi, Karnataka. He completed his MBBS from Stanley Medical College, Madras, in 1960, winning a gold medal from Madras University, and earned his MD from King George’s Medical College, University of Lucknow. He obtained MRCP (UK) and went on to become a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dublin, as well as a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the National Academy of Medical Sciences. He trained further in cardiology in the United Kingdom and at Harvard under Nobel Laureate Prof. Bernard Lown.

He spent the major part of his career at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, rising from professor to Principal and Dean. From 1999 to 2003 he served as Vice-Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Manipal University). He has been a Visiting Professor of Cardiology at the University of London since 1982, an examiner for the Royal Colleges, and Emeritus International Advisor to the Royal College of Physicians of London and Edinburgh. He has also been associated with the TAG-VHS Diabetes Research Centre in Chennai and has chaired the Mangalore branch of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

Dr. Hegde is a prolific author of more than 30 books in English and Kannada on medicine, ethics and health, including the widely read What Doctors Don’t Get to Study in Medical School. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Science of Healing Outcomes and has written thousands of articles for both professional and general readers. He has consistently advocated a more humane, less interventionist approach to medicine, emphasising lifestyle, prevention and the limitations of purely technological solutions.

The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 2010 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2021 for his contributions to medicine. He had earlier received the Dr. B. C. Roy National Award for Eminent Medical Teacher (1999), the Jagdish Chander Bose Award in Life Sciences (1999), the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (1997) and many other academic and professional honours.

Even in later years he continues to teach, write and speak.

“The greatest medicine,” he often says, “is compassion combined with clear thinking. Technology is a tool; wisdom is the guide.”

From the classrooms of Mangalore and Manipal to lecture halls around the world, Dr. B. M. Hegde has spent a lifetime reminding the medical profession that healing begins with understanding the human being in full.