Profile – Sanjay Oak

Dr. Sanjay Oak

Introducing

A Man of Many Words, Many Worlds

Dr. Sanjay N. Oak is a rare confluence of science and sensibility, a professional whose life’s work spans medicine, leadership, literature, and social service. While trained as a surgeon and having held some of the highest administrative responsibilities in Indian healthcare, Dr. Oak is best understood as a humanist who chose medicine as a medium and writing as a voice.

His life driven by empathy, ethical leadership, and the belief that words, wisdom, and action must serve the greater good.

CREDENTIALS

Fellow Royal College Of Surgeons Of Edinburgh.
Fellow International College Of Surgeons.
Fellow Of Association of Surgeons Of India.
Fellow Of Minimal Access Surgeons Of India.
Fellow Of National Academy Of Medical Sciences.
Fellow Of College Of Physicians & Surgeons

EXPERIENCE

PROFESSOR PAED. SURG. — 1999 ONWARDS
DEAN, TNMC, BYL NAIR — 2005–2008
DIRECTOR, KEMH — 2008–2012
VICE CHANCELLOR, DYPU — 2012–2016
CEO PAKH & AKHSI — 2016–2020
DIRECTOR, PROF. SERV. KMFTH — JAN 2021 ONWARDS
DIRECTOR, PROF. SERV. USHAKKAL–ABHINAV HOSP. — JAN 2021 – Dec 2024

The Thinker Behind The Roles

Dr. Oak’s professional life has included roles as an administrator, surgeon, and public health leader, including serving as Chairman of the Maharashtra State COVID Task Force, where clarity of thought, ethical decision-making, and empathy guided policy during one of the most challenging periods in recent history.

Yet, he has consistently resisted being defined by titles alone.

For him, leadership is not authority — it is responsibility.
Medicine is not a profession — it is service.
Writing is not a pursuit — it is reflection made public.

Service As a Way of Life

While trained as a surgeon and having held some of the highest administrative responsibilities in Indian healthcare, Dr. Oak is best understood as a humanist who chose medicine as a medium and writing as a voice.

Across decades, he has remained deeply committed to one central belief:
that healing extends far beyond the body — into thought, society, and conscience.

Beyond institutions and publications, Dr. Oak’s life has been shaped by consistent social engagement.

His contributions to:

Public welfare
Health education
Community service
Crisis leadership

The Author: Words As a Form of Service

At the heart of Dr. Oak’s identity lies his work as a writer and literary contributor.

He is the author of 53 books in Marathi and English, spanning:

Essays and reflections on life and society
Observations drawn from decades in public service
Narratives shaped by medicine, ethics, and human behavior
Literary works rooted in Marathi cultural thought

His writing is marked by clarity, compassion, quiet authority, and philosophical depth.

Marathi literature occupies a special place in Dr. Oak’s intellectual journey. His literary contributions have earned recognition not merely for their volume, but for their cultural sensitivity and human insight.

In addition, Dr. Oak has contributed over 250 scientific papers, but it is his literary voice — accessible, reflective, humane — that has made him widely respected beyond professional circles

The Mentor & Intellectual

His contributions to:

Public welfare
Health education
Community service
Crisis leadership

have been acknowledged through several prestigious honors, including:

Dr. B. C. Roy Award for medical excellence in development of a superspeciality
Hari Om Prerit – S. S. Rangachari Award (Research)
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Award (Social Contribution)
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak Puraskar (Social Work)
Saint Dnyaneshwar Award (Literary Contribution)
Sakal Sanman & ABP Majha Sanman (COVID-19 Leadership)

Leadership Skills

Dr. Sanjay Oak has successfully separated conjoined twins and has performed several complex surgeries. Establishing Liver transplant unit in KEM, setting up a Medical Simulation Laboratory, a virtual classroom, research laboratory and Schools for Autistic Children in TNMC & in DYP University and acquiring ISO and NAAC accreditations in BYLN, PAKH & DYPU are his notable achievements. Dr Oak established RT PCR lab and a new OPD building in PAKH.

Corona Task Force Chief:

In the month of April 2020, he was appointed as a Chief of Task Force for Maharashtra to combat Corona. Dr Oak was then instrumental in getting repurposed medicines, in the forefront, planning management protocols, conceptualizing the field hospitals, designing the screening method with pulse oximetry as tool. He was then included in the National Protocol Design Team and interacted with central representatives of various organizations.

Social Responsibility

From 2017; Government of Maharashtra has authorized him to form a team and operate at civil and sub district hospitals at Alibaug, Shahapur, Panvel, Ulhasnagar and he also contributed pediatric surgical services for poor and needy children in Konkan belt by conducting monthly operative camps at Deravan Tal. Chiplun since 2012 and in Kudal at Sindhudurg. Every year Dr Oak and his team perform more than 1200 surgeries free in these centers and children from the downtrodden lot of the society benefit of their surgical expertise. Dr Sanjay Oak was also appointed as Chairperson of Chief Minister’s Medical Relief Fund from 2017–2019 & 2022 onwards by Hon. Chief Minister of Maharashtra and he painstakingly helped thousands of needy patients by expediting the government process of disbursement of funds.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT

As a PMC for hospital projects, Dr. Oak Conceptualizes, co-ordinates & executes hospital projects and has done it for a charity unit; a private company owned project, and a proposed medical college teaching hospital. All these are tertiary care hospitals located in Tier I / II & III cities.

Kaushalya Hospital, Thane (150 beds)