Ajay Lodha elected new President of AAPI

Lodha took the oath of office as the President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) during the 34th annual convention here last week and vowed to take the more than three-decades-old organisation to new heights.

Acknowledging the daunting challenge of leading AAPI, Lodha said in a statement: "I would like to see us (AAPI) lobby Congress for an increase in the number of available Residency positions so as to help alleviate the shortage of doctors.

"We need to host more educational and social activities to get young physicians more involved, and be able to stay connected with AAPI."

Appreciative of the growing clout of Indian physicians in the US, Lodha said, "The growing clout of the physicians of Indian origin in the United States is seen everywhere as several physicians of Indian origin hold critical positions in the healthcare, academic, research and administration across the nation."

Lodha received the gavel from Dr Seema Jain, the out-going president of AAPI. Along with Lodha, Dr Gautam Samadder as President-Elect, Dr Naresh Parikh as Vice President, Dr Suresh Reddy as Secretary, and Dr Manju Sachdev as the Treasurer of AAPI, also assumed charge.

An Internist by profession, Lodha has had experience in leading almost all areas of medicine. AAPI serves as a platform for helping young physicians coming from India to seek residencies and help them in settlement and get jobs.