9 Doctors Who Became Leaders

On Doctors' Day this eek, let's turn the spotlight onto doctors who decided to become leaders.

These physicians took the unexpected path from medicine to public life, becoming chief ministers, presidents, prime ministers and other influential world leaders.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons

Bidhan Chandra Roy, India

A highly-respected physician and freedom fighter, Doctor's Day is observed in India on his birthday, July 1. He served as the chief minister of West Bengal from 1950 to 1962.

His contributions to medicine and public service earned him the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Prime Minister's Office/Wikimedia Commons

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, India

Before entering politics, Y S Rajasekhara Reddy trained as a doctor at the Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College in Gulbarga, Karnataka.

He later worked as a medical officer at a mission hospital in Jammalamadugu. Widely known as YSR, he went on to become the 14th chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from 2004 until his death in 2009.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons

Dr Jivraj Narayan Mehta, India

First a doctor, who earned his degree at the Grant Medical College in Bombay, earning prizes and top honours, Dr Jivraj Narayan Mehta became Gujarat's first chief minister in 1960.

A freedom fighter, he had earlier served as Mahatma Gandhi's physician, before later representing India as the high commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Chatham House/Wikimedia Commons

Mahathir bin Mohamad, Malaysia

Mahathir Mohamad graduated from medical school in 1953 and worked at Penang General Hospital before heading to various smaller Malaysian towns including on Langkawi as the island's first doctor.

A very diligent and generous physician, he trekked across fields and rural landscapes till late in the evening to treat his patients, some of them Indian rubber plantation workers, often taking reduced fees or payment in installments. He joined politics after World War II and went on to become the country's longest-serving prime minister.

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Bashar al-Assad, Syria

An ophthalmologist, Assad trained in London and was set to have a long career as an eye doctor. But in 1994 his elder brother Bassel was killed in a car accident and he was summoned back from London to be groomed to succeed his father Hafez al-Assad as the president of Syria in 2000.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile/Wikimedia Commons

Salvador Allende, Chile

A qualified physician, Salvador Allende got interested in student politics in medical school and later dove into full-time politics. Before that he worked as a pathologist in a morgue in Santiago. He became the president of Chile in 1970.

His election marked a historic moment, as he became the first Marxist leader to win the presidency through a democratic vote in Latin America.

Photograph: Kind courtesy European People's Party/Wikimedia Commons

Sali Ram Berisha, Albania

Born in the Barisha tribe, many of whom are mountain farmers, he move to Tirana to study medicine and became a cardiologist. He later became a leading figure in Albanian politics, serving as the president of Albania from 1992 to 1997 and as the prime minister from 2005 to 2013.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Unknown author/Wikimedia Commons

François Duvalier, Haiti

Known as Papa Doc, controversial François Duvalier really was a doctor. He studied medicine at the University of Haiti in 1934 and worked at various local hospitals in Port-au-Prince. He also went to America and enrolled as student of University of Michigan to earn a degree in public health.

He served as the country's president from 1957 until his death in 1971.

Photograph: Kind courtesy khamenei.ir/Wikimedia Commons

Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran

A heart surgeon by training, Masoud Pezeshkian was elected as the ninth President of Iran in 2024.

His career has spanned both medicine and national politics.