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Doctors goal: Looking forward to colon cancer being wiped out in next 15 years
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Settling in his Manteca office has been fulfilling for a physician moving into the community.

Gastroenterologist  Dr.Ripudaman Beniwal looks forward to seeing the end to colon cancer in the next 15 years.   While working to prevent and to cure that disease, he has also spent some time substituting in the emergency room.

A couple of months ago his family home was broken into by thieves – the door was broken and a window smashed.  While he was trying to make sense of the break-in, his pager went off and he was called to fill in at the hospital emergency room.

The call was for a patient whose doctor was in the  Bay Area and who was throwing up blood – said to be very unstable.  Dr. Beniwal quickly showered, got dressed and rushed to the hospital finally stabilizing the man who he would see again in his office three weeks later.    

The M.D. came to Manteca from Tracy where he had a full-time office for the last three years.  Now he spends most of his week in Manteca urging his patients to be tested for colon cancer symptoms.  He practices using traditional and capsule Endoscopy.

His physician grandfather – also a licensed pilot – inspired him to become a doctor, although his first passion would have taken him into aviation, he said. He added  that he will become a pilot some time before he retires.

Dr. Beniwal said he was the youngest of all his cousins in his family to be singled out for a career in medicine by his grandfather while he was still in high school.

After finishing high school in India he would later receive a fellowship to Indiana University – one of the leading research universities in the U.S. – serving his internship and his residency in Pittsburg, PA.

For two to three years of his medical school he lived in his grandfather’s house.  “He was my mentor during medical school,” he said.

“He was a hard working old timer with strict rules about getting up on time,” he said.  His grandfather proved that a doctor can make a difference – opening a one room clinic in his house after retiring at 77.

Dr. Beniwal said he works 10 to 12 hours a day, going home to work on charts for another two hours.  Now his desire is to spend more time with his children while they are young  watching movies together and playing basketball in the back yard.  He said he also likes to take them out for a snack and a fun run.

His wife Jaskaran is also involved in medicine as an RN.  

They have three children all with definite goals.  

Angad, 11, is already into engineering – always trying to design something – with her college years still a ways off in her future.

Sahiba, 12, thinks she wants to be a vet.  She loves animals and birds – there are four birds in her family life.

Zora is 13.  She wants to be a dentist.  She likes the medical field but her dad says she doesn’t want to work nights and weekends being a physician.

The Manteca doctor said he has little time for a hobby now other than family.  He used to love to golf and spend time in a shooting gallery, shoot skeet and played a little tennis.  The family takes off to Tahoe a couple of times during the summer where they like to swim together when it’s really hot.

He said his career has given him the satisfaction of doing something he always wanted to do – being able to relieve someone’s pain and improve their quality of life – and save some lives in the process.