How would you describe your journey from a tiny village in Dhading to being a doctor and a senior lecturer and professor at a renowned university in the U.K?

It is probably an organized walk! I think this is a combination of luck, continuous dedication, support from my family members and friends, and opportunities that I received. I never thought that I would be a professor in the most renowned university in the UK.

I think my parents’ decision to send me to school education when many of my friends in my village never went to school probably opened me the doors for further education. The initial journey began with my brothers’ support and guidance for university education in Kathmandu and it got a complete shape with a hard decision to move to UK. I am lucky enough to meet and work with good people who supported me to step up the academic ladder quickly.

Out of all the fields you could choose to explore yourself, why health?

Well, I wanted to be a traffic police officer. When I came to Kathmandu for the first time as a 14-year-old boy, I saw traffic police showing directions and instructing pedestrians and drivers in the Kingsway. I was mesmerised by their outfit, particularly the cap and gloves imagining myself in their dress code.

I was keen to study engineering in the 10th grade. But after I passed my SLC with first division, everyone including my family members encouraged me to study health science and I did proficiency certificate in general and traditional medicine. I later worked for ‘Save the Children UK’ in Sindhupalchowk district as a Health Worker, that was the turning point for me.

What are the factors that have shaped you as a person today?

Well, I think there are a number of factors. I think it is luck, team work, networking, mentoring from seniors, support from family and friends. More importantly, it is opportunity as well. If you want to become a successful researcher or an academic in the UK (I am not sure whether I am successful or not), you need to work in a team. You cannot progress alone.

When I came to the UK, academic environment was new for me. Having a good mentor and support was vital for my progress. I always respect and remember my supervisor at Brunel University London – late Prof Theo McDonald. He was a real hero and the true definition of ‘GURU’ in my life. When I moved to Aberdeen I met Prof Edwin venTeijlingen, great scholar and fan of Nepal and Nepali people, who is also one of the biggest mentors in my life. We are still working together although we are in different universities. I do not think I would be here without his support in my academic life. I think working in an academic field is the same as working in other field but I think there are certain things which should get priority. Being productive with your time is essential in working towards your goals, both professionally and personally.

University of Sheffield has recently launched a module in "International Development in Nepal". How did this programme get launched?

Globalisation is a key feature of UK Universities these days. Students face unprecedented choice and the expectations of a global learning experience irrespective of the countries they study in. Sheffield University was also keen to start International development related study in one of the developing countries and I proposed to choose Nepal as a study country. I believe there are a lot of things students from UK can learn from Nepal. University agreed my proposal and started the ‘International Development Field’ class module about Nepal in the Sheffield University.

In which year can the students take this course? What are the topics covered in it? And does the course include visits to Nepal?

Master Degree students of Sheffield University can take this module. At the moment, students who are doing Masters in Public Health, Masters in International Development and Masters in Environment Science can take this module. The module is worth 15 credits. Course consists of face to face teaching in Sheffield for 6-8 weeks and two-week long field visit in Nepal and group work. We cover wide range of Nepal related topics in this module such as socio-political context of Nepal, contemporary development issues, health care, education system, community development, gender issues, migration and community participation.

Within health topic, we cover maternal health, mental health, reproductive and sexual health, sanitation, use of traditional healers and few others. As a part of field visit in Nepal, a group of students work with Nepali research guide team and investigate or explore one of the issues that is important for Nepal. After the field visit, students produce a report and policy brief and hand it to the policy makers and local government. There are a lot of opportunities to learn from each other. Last year we took 22 students and three teachers to Nepal. We are hoping to bring around 30 students and three staffs this year as well.

There are a number of challenges for the Government of Nepal. Political instability has hit Nepal hardly in the last two decades. The country has been ruled by 20 governments since the introduction of democracy in 1990 with the country slipping down to 157th out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index. As I am working in the higher education and health sectors, I would like to focus on some of the challenges in these sectors.

While there has been substantial progress on health indicators, malnutrition remains very high. Nearly half of the children under 5 are stunted, and 36 percent under weight. At the same time, obesity and overweight is growing among urban children. We have communicable diseases in one hand and there are growing problems on non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Mental health, particularly suicide among reproductive age women is really growing concern these days. There is evidence of worsening economic inequalities in access and use of health services and it is essential to tackle this disparity and improve access to care in remote areas. For example, maternal mortality is higher among women from mountain districts, rural areas, and in certain caste/ethnic groups. Similarly, there is need to improve quality of care and develop an accountable system.

I visit Nepal almost every two months. I visited Nepal five times last year. Although I am based in UK University, my heart and mind is in Nepal. I love working with Nepali people, researchers and students. We have a number of research and capacity development projects in Nepal and I am leading some of them. I think my team has made significant progress in health research, institutional collaboration and capacity building activities in Nepal.

A number of public health researches like sex trafficking of women, sexual behaviour of trekking guides, improving maternal health, community based health promotion interventions, women migration in gulf countries are currently running in Nepal. Similarly, I am involved on capacity building projects such as Development of Partnership in Higher Education in Nepal (known as DelPHE project), orientation for Nepali MPs on evidence based policy, workshops in qualitative research, systematic review for Nepali academics.

I have played key role to develop the collaboration among UK universities and Nepali higher education institutions and NGOs. We have institutional collaboration with Pokhara University, Nobel College, Manmohan Institute of Health Science, Tribhuvan University, BP Koirala Institute of Health Science Dharan, Green Tara Nepal, PHASE Nepal and other institutions.