Three-feet-tall Ganesh Baraiya didn’t let his height stop him from achieving his dream of becoming a doctor. Due to his short height, now 23-year-old Dr Baraiya was disqualified from pursuing MBBS by the Medical Council of India, some years ago. An undeterred Baraiya then took the help of his school principal, approached the District Collector, the state Education Minister and then knocked on the doors of the Gujarat High Court, reported news agency ANI.

Baraiya lost the case at the Gujarat High Court. He then approached the Supreme Court, won the case in 2018 and was admitted into MBBS in 2019. Having completed his MBBS, Dr Baraiya worked as an intern at Sir-T hospital in Bhavnagar.

“After I passed Class 12 and cleared the NEET exam to enrol into MBBS and filled up the form, the Medical Council of India committee rejected me for my height. They said that I would not be able to handle emergency cases because of my short height. Then, I spoke to my principal of Nilkanth Vidyapeeth Dr Dalpath Bhai Katariya, and Revasish Servaiya all about this, and asked them what we can do about it,” Dr Baraiya told news agency ANI.

“They told me to meet the Bhavnagar Collector and the Gujarat Education Minister. Following the direction of the Bhavnagar Collector, we decided to take the case to the Gujarat High Court. Two other candidates were with us who were differently abled…We lost the case in the High Court but then we decided to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court,” he added.

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How Dr Baraiya’s MBBS journey started

In 2018, the Supreme Court ordered his admission to the MBBS course. But by then, the 2018 admission to MBBS course had been completed. So the Supreme Court said that he would get admission in the 2019 MBBS course.

“I took admission at the Government Medical College at Bhavnagar and my MBBS journey started,” shared Dr Baraiya.

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First impression on patients

Dr Baraiya’s first impression on his patients is influenced by his short height. He has shared that patients judge him for his height initially. But over time, they get comfortable and accept him as their doctor.

“Whenever patients see me they are a bit startled at first but then they accept me and I also accept their initial behaviour. They behave with me cordially and with positivity. They become happy as well,” said Dr Baraiya.