CHS Turns Out for Dr. Sibu Saha Recognition Ceremony
By Ryan Clark
CHS Communications Director
It all started with a lunch on Oct. 18, 2018.
That’s when Scott Lephart, PhD and Dean of the College of Health Sciences, met with Sibu Saha, MD, FACS — a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon who was a Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering, as well as Director of Medical Student Cardiothoracic Research and Advising.
The idea? That Saha — a longtime advocate for the Physician Assistant studies Department here in the College — could help expand the program, and maybe even create a residency, something that was much needed across the Commonwealth.
By all accounts, the conversation was a launching point.
The result? With the help of David Fahringer, Dr. W. Scott Black and others, the department created the PA Residency Program, which two years later graduated its first students. Today, 42 students have completed, or are in the process of completing, the program, a “remarkable accomplishment” for the College, according to Lephart.
It was just one of many reasons that more than 60 faculty, staff and friends of the College came out to the Wethington Building Thursday night for a recognition ceremony for Saha.
In May, the College announced the naming of the Division of Physician Assistant Studies Post-Graduate Education in honor of Saha. Thursday night, the doctor’s family, as well as friends and colleagues, attended the event in his honor.
“I would like to thank you all for being here for this celebration,” Saha said. “In our culture, we often talk about competition — but I want to talk about collaboration. You can do more through collaboration.”
Speakers included Lephart, as well as Virginia Valentin, DrPH, PA-C and chair of the Department of Physician Assistant studies in CHS.
“Dr. Saha truly wants to make a difference in this state — his passion is truly contagious,” Valentin said. “Dr. Saha sees the vision for the future.”
The future, Valentin said, includes international fellowships and a doctoral degree.
“I personally want to thank Dr. Saha,” she said. “I look forward to working with him for years to come.”
Nearly 40 years ago, Saha came to Lexington to start a heart surgery program at Central Baptist Hospital, where he performed the first open heart surgery at that hospital on Nov.16, 1982.
Originally from Bengal, India, where rheumatic heart disease was rampant, Saha saw an opportunity to make a difference. He got his degree in Bangladesh at Rajshahi Medical College. He completed his residency at Ohio Valley Hospital in Steubenville, Ohio, and the University Hospital of Jacksonville in Florida. He then went to Charleston, S.C., where he completed his fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Saha is certified with the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
He joined the University of Kentucky as a voluntary faculty member in 1987.
Following a distinguished career in private practice, Saha joined the faculty at UK College of Medicine in 2002 as professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. He served as the chair of the Director’s Council of the Gil Heart Institute until 2019. He then served as the chief and program director for CT Surgery from 2013 to ’18.
Because of Saha’s background and interest in PA studies, Lephart referred to him as a “unicorn,” and thanked him for all he’d done.
“Thank you for your vision, energy, and gift of persuasion — there aren’t many unicorns out there that could’ve pulled this off,” Lephart said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled that you’re all here to share this with us.”
Lephart noted that the PA program is now established on an international level, with a national ranking and a celebration of its 50th anniversary coming up in October.
“The program today is known nationally and internationally, and we should be proud of it,” Saha echoed.
As he ended his remarks, Saha thanked the state that has embraced him.
“I always say, I was born and raised in India,” he said. “I was educated in America. I was loved in Kentucky.”