A commentary on the annual convention of AAPI held in Disney Dolphin Resort at Disney World in Orlando, Fl., USA during 11-14 June, 2009, published in the special supplement of South Asian Times.
The most impressive thing was the venue of the 27th annual convention of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin-the tall building of Disney Dolphin resort overlooked a manicured lawn that spread around a huge man made lake. A boat frequented the pier picking up hotel guests to Epcot center and the nearby board walk.
For a visitor the twin hotel complex is gateway to Central Florida’s theme parks and attractions. ‘Entertainment architecture’ has been the central theme of the Walt Disney’s Swan and Dolphin hotels. It seems that the designers of this place kept in mind that the theme of the structures outside the boundaries of the Disney property should embody the same fantasy and sense of story as the structure in the park.
An ever smiling outgoing president of AAPI, Sanku Rao, greeted us. While we were still holding our luggage in the lobby, he invited us to a reception in one of the hotel suits. The incoming president Dr. Vinod Shah made a presentation about a letter he was planning to submit to President Obama. His colleagues in AAPI’s executive board looked very impressed. The aesthetically produced document graphically illustrated the theme of ‘yes, we can’, the mantra of President Obama’s election campaign as well as excerpts from his books, ‘Audacity of Hope’, and ‘The Dreams of my father’.
The letter was a well produced book of printed pages with plenty of photographs graphically integrated on the pages of the book. Dr. Shah wrote about poor compensation doctor received for their services. The letter highlighted the great shortage of doctors in this country. Dr. Shah advised the government to allow residency to the applicant doctors of Indian origin. Addressing the delegates at the convention, he said that thousands of such applicants were eagerly awaiting permission to start residency program in USA. “Out of 37,000 Indian students who applied for residency only 21,000 were given permission.
It is commendable how forcefully Dr. Shah demanded to allow more applicants in the residency program. I am sure the President’s representatives took note of the concerns of AAPI.
After the reception we were invited to a dinner at the board walk. The boulevard was full of tourists. We boarded a boat that dropped us at the board walk. Walking aimlessly from one end to the other, we finally spotted a sign that said ‘Welcome to AAPI’. As soon as we entered the hall we were treated with sumptuous Indian dinner. The caterer Jyoti Soni had put a lot of creativity to work while designing and presenting Indian dishes during the four days of the convention.
We met the legendary figure in Classical Indian music, Pundit Jasraj in the lobby. It was a rare occasion to meet the great vocalist in person. Raising his hands he returned our greeting. Though Bollywood music dominated the entertainment scene at the convention AAPI leadership reflected thoughtfulness by inviting Pundit ji.
A grand exhibition was inaugurated the next day. Considering the medical professionals of the Indian American community as rich and resourceful, a number of jewelry designers and business owners expected brisk sale. So did garment traders from India. Many of them were disappointed at the low turnover. I was also attracted to a number of booths that belonged to non profit organizations. Professionals like investors, pharmaceutical companies representatives were also present hoping to promote their products.
Air India offered an attractive discount of $250 for registered members of AAPI for travel to India. Announcing this gesture at the concluding function, Air India’s Executive Director for Americas, Chitra Sarkar, said Air India enjoyed an emotional bond with the Indian American medical fraternity who migrated many decades ago from India to settle in USA. “They remained loyal to us as they moved up in their career and prospered in a distant land. It is now our turn to translate this feeling of emotional attachment with our long time customers into loyalty.”
The young physicians made their presence in more ways than one. They organized their own seminars and addressed a number of questions faced by upcoming doctors in the process of establishing their practice. I found that the participants were very keen to sort out problems arising out of electronic record keeping requirement of the US government. The physicians were informed about benefit and incentives that the government was offering to doctors who were switching to electronic record keeping.
It did not take long to realize that the younger generation of physicians, unlike their parents, had different aspirations as they grew up and educated in mainstream America.
The young physicians are an asset for the organization and can help boost its membership. It was evident that AAPI was at a cross road to strengthen its strategies with more emphasis on how to turn itself in to a meaningful organization relevant to the needs of the younger physicians.
Like most Indians, physicians love Bollywood music too. It was amazing to see middle aged doctors and their wives swinging to the tune of Bollywood’s popular singer Sunidhi Chauhan. As my friend, Sudhir Vyas told me: ‘The times have changed, Ashok! So has the popular Indian music. There may not be new lyrics but the new generation is hooked to remixed songs of olden days that Sunidhi was performing for the elder generation of doctors’.
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