In the quiet town of Banka in Bihar, a boy named Vijay Prakash Singh grew up watching his father, an assistant sub-inspector, move from posting to posting, yet the family stayed rooted in Kahalgaon so the children could study without interruption. Born on 19 February 1954, he topped his intermediate exams, earned his MBBS from Patna Medical College as the best outgoing student, and later secured an MD from PGIMER Chandigarh, finishing as branch topper. A brief stint in the UK brought him the MRCP in record time.

Returning to Bihar, he joined Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in 1984 as its first doctor and helped establish its gastroenterology department. At Patna Medical College he built and headed the Department of Gastroenterology, training generations of physicians and bringing advanced endoscopic care to a region that had long lacked it. Patients travelled from across eastern India for his skill in treating complex digestive, liver and pancreatic disorders. “A doctor’s real success,” he often said, “is measured not by the number of procedures, but by the relief on a patient’s face.”

After retiring from government service he founded BIG Apollo Spectra Hospital in Patna, continuing to practise and teach. He served on the executive council of the Medical Council of India and the governing council of the National Board of Examinations, and published research on hepatitis and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In 2003 the Government of India conferred the Padma Shri on him—one of the few doctors from Bihar to receive the honour. Later recognised as an “Icon of Bihar,” Vijay Prakash Singh remains a quiet force in Indian gastroenterology: a physician who turned personal excellence into lasting institutions, ensuring that specialised care reached ordinary people far from metropolitan centres.