Rohtak doc features in US documentary

Sunit Dhawan

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Tribune News Service

Rohtak, June 27

Rohtak-origin nephrologist Dr Pooja Bhatia Malhotra, based in the USA, features in a Hollywood documentary film on Covid warriors of Indian origin.

She had contracted Covid while treating patients. Now, she has resumed clinical work after defeating the dreaded disease.

Dr Pooja is among five Indian doctors working in the USA whose frontline fights against Covid have been included in a feature-length documentary movie ‘A Pandemic: Away from the Motherland’ made by Sweta Rai, an Indian filmmaker in Hollywood.

The movie showcases the remarkable contribution of Meerut-origin Dr Ankit Bharat, who is well-known for robotic lung surgeries and recently performed a pioneering double-lung transplant surgery on a Covid patient in the USA.

The other Covid warriors of Indian origin based in the USA who feature in the film include Dr Uma Madhusudana (internal medicine), Dr Shreedhar Kulkarni (internal medicine) and Dr Shantanu Singh (critical care and pulmonary diseases).

As the film was made during the lockdown period, the filmmaker guided the doctors about a mobile app for shooting professional videos through Skype, Zoom and WhatsApp video calls.

“Reducing the pain and suffering of patients is a satisfying experience in itself. I am happy that the efforts of the medical fraternity have been acknowledged and appreciated universally in the Covid era,” says Dr Pooja, daughter of Rohtak-based senior advocate Amarnath Bhatia.

She is married to Sameer Malhotra, a software engineer based in the USA. Dr Pooja’s brother Vishal Bhatia points out that after having tested positive for Covid, his sister stayed at home in strict isolation for more than two weeks and got treated.

“After defeating the disease, she resumed her clinical work and also gave her blood plasma for the treatment of Covid patients,” says the proud brother.

Photo caption: Dr Pooja Bhatia Malhotra. File photo