Bala Subramaniam, president, American Association of Physicians of Indian origin, has urged all its members and their families to attend the AAPI Silver Jubilee Convention slated for May 9 to May 13 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown in Philadelphia.
Bala Subramaniam was speaking at an evening banquet reception for AAPI governing body members organized by the Florida Association of Indian Origin in Tampa Bay, Florida, a 500-physician organization.
More than 100 governing body members enjoyed the perfect weather and southern hospitality, Vibhuti Singh, FAPI president, said.
At the meeting, Bala Subramaniam provided the highlights of the AAPI convention and stressed the importance of participation.
About 400 people attended the banquet and cultural program, organized under the direction of Gogi Ramappa, Nandkishore Shah and Chitra Ravindra. The cultural segment included a flute recital by Shashank and singing by Meena Jain. This was followed by music and dance driven by a DJ.
The meeting took place in parallel with FAPI's Continuing Medical Education meeting. The well-attended CME event was organized and conducted by Rakesh Sharma and Singh.
The major highlights of the event were poster presentation of abstracts by the Tampa Bay members of the Medical Students, Residents, and Fellows group and their national counterparts. More than 16 abstracts were put up, the first time such a program has been conducted during any governing body meeting.
AAPI, which aims to serve as a forum to help Indian-American physicians to excel in patient care, teaching and research, and to pursue their aspirations in professional and community affairs has among its members 42,000 physicians and about 15,000 medical students and residents.
Headquartered in Chicago, AAPI serves as an umbrella organization for more than 130 member associations nationwide. It also has an office in Washington, DC, where AAPI plays a strong voice in healthcare legislation and policymaking. It has also a philanthropic arm the AAPI Charitable Foundation.
The planned jubilee convention program includes keynote speeches by leaders in government and industry, seminars on various topics, continuing education in medicine and other areas, exhibits of importance to medical professionals, entertainment, yoga and meditation, a general body meeting and meetings of boards and committees, a women's forum and meetings involving the MSRF and the Young Physicians Section.
The entertainment includes 'Bollywood Extravaganza,' a musical performance featuring Sonu Nigam and Kunal Ganjiwala.
The convention committee includes Subramaniam, Ram Upadhyay, chairman of the AAPI board of trustees, Seema Jain, president of the AAPI NY/NJ, and the convention's other cochairmen, Dayan Naik, Jagan Pahuja and Sunder Mansukhani.
For more details, contact Hemant Patel (973-885-0829), AAPI's president-elect and the convention chairman, and Jayesh Kanuga (732-261-7079), the convention treasurer and one of the convention's co-chairmen.
