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ivyakant B. Gandhi, MBBS, FRCS, FACS, has been in practice as a cardiothoracic & vascular surgeon in Lansing for 29 years.

Divyakant was born in Mumbai, India and grew up in Kampala, Uganda where both his parents were physicians, his father a General Surgeon and his mother a Family Physician and an Obstetrician. While in High school, around 1966, he was fascinated by articles he read in Life magazine, the story of brilliant, progressive, and innovative Cardiac Surgeons Drs. DeBakey and Cooley in Houston at that time. He went and told his mother “Mom, I’m going to be the 3rd best Cardiac Surgeon in the world”. When asked by his mother “Why not the best? “, he replied: “Those spots are already taken up by me hero surgeons Dr. DeBakey and Dr Cooley” On another occasion he overheard his father saying to a friend that he had operated on every organ except the heart. His dream of becoming a Cardiac Surgeon was further reinforced by the first heart transplant performed by Dr Christian Barnard in South Africa in Dec. 1967. Dr. Gandhi pursued his dreams relentlessly despite multiple displacements after being expelled from his home country Uganda.

Dr. Gandhi obtained his medical degree from Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai. He completed excellent Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgical Training in India and England, and then relocated to the United States in 1986. At the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, Dr. Gandhi completed an internship and residency in General Surgery. Dr. Gandhi next completed a Cardiothoracic Surgery residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin. During his residency in New York, he did research on Mitral Valve Pathophysiology under his teacher and mentor, Dr. Robert W.M. Frater.

As a result of his education and training, Dr. Gandhi is board-certified in General Surgery by the American Board of Surgery and board-certified in Thoracic Surgery by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Gandhi is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Dr. Gandhi has taken a special interest in surgical treatment of Atrial Fibrillation and mitral valve repair surgery. His clinical interests include total arterial revascularization for coronary artery disease, multidisciplinary management of lung cancer, the utilization of robotic assistance in surgery for lung, esophageal and mediastinal conditions, and minimally invasive surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation and has had a number of publications in his subjects of interest.