Dr R Prasad Gupta, who took over recently as the 216th president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, has pledged to work to preserve the integrity of the patient­physician relationship and decision-making.

Healthcare is at the centre of the patient-physician relationship, he noted.

"Most of the healthcare is delivered in an 8 feet x 10 feet examining room which may be located either in physician's office, hospital, clinic, or anywhere else," Dr Gupta told India Abroad.

"When the patient and doctor enter the room they establish a sacred relationship. The patient tells the doctor his/her deepest and darkest secrets and problems they are facing which they will not tell even their clergy or the loved ones or in a confession booth.

"For quite sometime," he continued, "that equation of the patient-physician relationship has been ignored and has been under attack in the bigger healthcare debate centred around cost and affordability."

"The Medical Society of New Jersey and medical societies around the country have an obligation to protect that relationship and make sure the decisions made jointly by patients and physicians are paramount and protected from second-guessing, unnecessary denials, and delays," he said.

Founded in 1766, the MSNJ is the oldest professional society in the United States, representing over 8,000 members in advocating for the rights of patients and physicians in New Jersey.

Mathura, India-born Dr Gupta, who turned 60 on May 19, has been a member of the MSNJ's board of trustees since 1996. He served as president of the Mercer County Medical Society in 1992.

Dr Gupta said that during his presidency at the MSNJ, he would work to keep the profession attractive for the best and brightest, and make the public and politicians aware of the mismanagement by insurance companies obsessed with profit.

Since meaningful tort reform with cap on pain and suffering is not possible in New Jersey under the current political environment, he said, he plans to initiate debate on the alternate ways to find the solution for unaffordable malpractice cost.

He said he would work with state Senator Joe Vitale to make care available to all New Jersey citizens.

When Indians move to the US, he said, "depending on their education status, they encounter the same problems as others, including healthcare illiteracy, access to the care because of the cost, no insurance, poor insurance, or under-insurance."

Indians also have several special needs, he noted. They encounter language barriers, especially the elderly.

"Even if they find a physician of Indian origin they may not be able to communicate because of the various languages spoken by Indian immigrants. That can lead to under-treatment and frustration," he said.

A high incidence of coronary artery disease because of low levels of good cholesterol and the presence of small coronary arteries despite normal cholesterol levels, are among the special needs for Indian Americans that should be taken care of, he said, pointing out that diabetes mellitus incidence among the Indian-American population is also very high.

"They also suffer from various tropical diseases and infections, including malaria, which are poorly understood by American physicians. These problems are recurrent because the Indian population continues to visit India and may be more prone to getting ill during the travel," he said.

"Indian physicians are trying to remedy the situation by providing free care or subsidized care in their offices, and also by running free camps at various locations. Some of these camps are run by local hospitals, local societies, and mostly by various Indian societies," he said. He congratulated the American Association of Physicians of Indian origin for contributing by organizing clinics.

Dr Gupta pointed out that the country's healthcare system is significantly impacted by the presence of Indian physicians. He said there are 228,665 international medical graduates in the US, accounting for 25.3 per cent of the total physician population. Among these IMGs, 47,581 -- almost 20 per cent -- are of Indian origin.

Dr Gupta noted that most IMGs, including Indian ones, serve poorer areas, including inner cities. At the same time, Indian physicians have also risen into academic medicine, serving as professors and top-notch researchers, he said.

After his medical education in India, Dr Gupta worked 20 months at hospitals of the United Kingdom's National Health Service. He arrived in the US in 1975 to begin a residency in internal medicine at St Francis Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey. After that, he completed two years of fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark.

Dr Gupta has been working for charitable and philanthropic causes and served the Capital Health System Foundation, including as chairman. He serves on the board of the Asian Indian Professionals Foundation. He and his family have set up a family foundation that has funded a gastrointestinal endoscopy unit in his hometown's charitable hospital.