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The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin will hold its 33rd Annual Convention in Orlando, Florida, June 17-21, and it will be headlined by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, 37, the first Indian-American to hold that office.
The theme of this year’s convention’s is “Generations Many, Mission One,” according to Convention Chair Dr. Amish Parikh, 46, a Central Florida cardiologist. “The focus of this convention is to set up a system for the next generation of physicians and work together across the more than 50 years that Indian physicians have come to this country,” Parikh told News India Times.
The “2015 AAPI Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly,” which will be held at Seaworld Orlando, has some unique features, according to current AAPI President Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar. This is the first time that a younger physician is chair of the convention, he pointed out.
There will be a spate of Continuing Medical Education seminars but the non-CME content in the convention has a “heavy emphasis” on non-CME education areas with medical specialists coming to discuss areas of interest. Representatives on the ground in India responsible for implementing AAPI’s “Trauma & Brain Injury Initiative” and “Hepatitis Initiative” will give updates. For AAPI’s one-year old Childhood Obesity outreach program in the U.S. that has successfully enrolled 61 partner schools, the convention will provide a venue to discuss who could be the face of this initiative, Jahagirdar said.
The organizers also hope to establish several “Clinical Networks” by the end of the convention linking experts in their fields with those just beginning to specialize.
For the first time a “Men’s Forum” will be held apart from the annual “Women’s Forum.” Subjects like prostate cancer, the incidence of which is similar to breast cancer among women, as well as hormonal decline among men, will be discussed. And a diabetes diagnosis center would be operating during the convention at the site. “The worst thing about Indian genetics is diabetes,” Jahagirdar said explaining the rationale behind featuring a diagnostic center at the convention.
Organizers said they could not confirm yet if Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan who is the AAPI Ambassador for its trauma and hepatitis projects in India, will attend the Florida event. Among the other speakers, apart from Surgeon General Murthy, are Florida Governor Rick Scott and India’s Minister of Health and Medical Education Srinivas Kamineni. Parikh said a number of Indian-American lawmakers at state and federal level as well as high-level administration officials have been invited. The highly anticipated entertainment program is still being finalized Jahagirdar said and updates would be posted on the organization’s website.
About 2,000 attendees are expected in what organizers are hoping is a very attractive family site selected for the convention.
“The objective is to provide a complete experience – from state-of-the-art lectures to legislative advocacy, and entertainment,” Parikh said.
