Dr Ketan Khurjekar

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr Ketan Khurjekar, aged 44, in a tragic accident in Maharashtra, India. Dr Khurjekar was a valued Alumni of the University’s MCh (Orth) course in Dundee where he graduated in 2006.

Dr Khurjekar, a prominent city-based surgeon and his taxi driver were killed and two other doctors injured when a bus hit them on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra, on Monday. The tragic accident occurred near Somatane village around 10.30 pm on Sunday when Dr Khurjekar, an expert spinal surgeon, and two other orthopaedic surgeons were travelling to Pune from Mumbai where they had been attending a medical conference. Dr Khurjekar was helping the cab driver change a punctured tyre when a private bus hit them.

Dr Khurjekar was Head of Department of Spine Surgery at Sancheti Hospital, Pune, India. He had revolutionised the concepts of rehabilitation of spine surgery and had been instrumental in driving away the fear surrounding spinal surgery. He had performed more than 3,500 complicated spinal surgeries and was a gold medallist in MS Ortho. Dr Khurjekar was an awardee of ‘Global Scholarship’ given by Scoliosis Research Society and had mastered microsurgical techniques and Spinal Deformity Correction methods.

Left: Dr Khurjekar receiving his degree certificate in 2006 from Professor David Rowley and Professor Rami Abboud; Right: Dr Khurjekar visiting the Dundee University stall in Pune, 2013.

Mr Arpit Jariwala, Consultant Upper Limb and Trauma Surgeon/Clinical Reader (Hon), stated:

“Dr Khurjekar will be sadly missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, colleagues and friends at this extremely sad time. Ketan spent his life in the pursuit of helping others by improving their quality of life through complicated surgeries, so it is all the more tragic that he was taken from us when he was helping another in their time of need.”