NRI doctor elected California Medical Association chief

A 56-year-old non-resident Indian doctor has been elected as the president of the California Medical Association, one of the most influential medical organisations in the United States.

Anmol Singh Mahal is the first person of Indian origin to head the 35,000-member association.

Mahal, who works at the Washington hospital in Fremont, specialises in internal medicine and gastroenterology. He has also served as the chief of staff of the Washington Hospital Healthcare System.

"In California, we train half as many physicians per capita as does the rest of the US. We train a third as many physicians as do Pennsylvania and New York," Mahal said after his election.

"The only states that train fewer physicians per capita are the states that do not have a medical school. California needs to make a substantive investment in the health care infrastructure and that is a message I will carry," he said.

Mahal came to the United States 33 years ago after receiving his medical degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. He completed his internship in internal medicine at the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. He also did a fellowship in gastroenterology at the Stanford University Medical Centre.

Mahal serves on the Board of Trustees of the Sikh Foundation in Palo Alto, California. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Indian Community Centre in Milpitas, California.