in)
President: Jagan Ailinani, MD, FACR
17W300 22nd Street
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Phone: 630-530-2277
Fax: 630-530-2475
AAPI Journal Editor
M. P. Ravindra Nathan MD, FACC
Hernando Heart Clinic
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ravinath@tampabay.rr.com
The AAPI Journal is published quarterly by the American
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All articles published including editorials, letters and
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A
ME
RICAN
ASSOCIATIONOF
PHYSICIANSOFINDIANORIGIN
ABOUT THE COVER
The Indian Ocean Weeps
Courtesy:
Durgesh Mankikar, M.D.
See articles on page 13
­
Presidents Message
A New Approach to AAPI Activities in India
By: Jagan Ailinani, M.D.
............................
4,5
­
New Patron Members List
..............................................................................
5
­
From the Desk of the Editor
My Indian Diary
By: M. P. Ravindra Nathan, M.D.
............
6,7
­
President-Elect's Message
It is Your Call Doctor!
By: Vijay Koli, M.D.
........................................
8
­
Letter to the Editor
CME: A Reason to Belong to AAPI
By: Prasad Srinivasan, M.D.
........................
9
­
Treasurers Report
What is the Current Financial Status of AAPI?
By: Sanku S. Rao, M.D.
..............................
10
FEATURES
­
Tsunami!! - A View from Ground Zero
By: Brahma Sharma, M.D.
..................
11,14
­
Disaster Preparedness in India Four Years Later
Six days at Tsunami Disaster Site
By: S. Balasubramaniam, M.D.
..
12,13,14
­
Fulfillment of a Dream
By: Kannarkat P. Verghese, M.D.
............
15
­
Three Days in a Village Hospital
By: Sunita Sharan, M.D.
....................
16,19
­
I Reflect on the Past, I Peer into the future
By: Sundaram Ramanan, M.D.
..............
17
IMG Issues
­
IMGs in 21st Century American Medicine
By: S. Jay Jayasankar, M.D.
........................
20
­
National Issues for the International Medical Graduates
By: Rajam Ramamurthy, M.D.
............
21,24
­
IMGs or Just US Physicians?
By: Shailendra Vaidya, M.D.
......................
22
­
Clinical Externship for IMGs?
By: Kautilya A. Mehta, M.D.
......................
23
­
Of IMGs and Ambassadors
By: P.K. Vedanthan, M.D.
............................
24
­
Peer Review: Boon or Bane?
By: S. Jay Jayasankar, M.D.
..................
25,27
­
When Bad Things Happen to Good Physicians
By: Rakesh Chandra, M.D.
....................
26,28
MSR/YPS Corner
­
Smoking Tobacco
By: Pravien K. Khanna, M.P.H.
..........
27, 28
­
Finally on the Right Track
By: Amber Naresh
..................................
29,31
Special Article
­
Fact Sheet for Asian-Indian Community
......................................................................
18,19
­
AAPI Conducts Health Camps in India
By: Jagan Ailinani, M.D.
..............................
30
A Glimpse Of My Life
­
Can We Keep Ethnic Food Ethnic?
By: Jay K. Raman, M.D.
..............................
31
DEPARTMENTS
­
Chapter News
AAPI & AKMG holds the First Ever Indo American CME Convention
in Trivandrum, Kerala
.By: Narendra Kumar, M.D
........................
32
­
AAPI - Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, CME -
Medicon Update - 2005
By: Sampat S. Shivangi, M.D.
..................
33
­
Charitable Activities of FAPI
By: Kanta Shah, M.D.
..................................
33
­
Members in the News
............................................................................
34 4
AAPI Journal April 05 Vol 19, No 1
T
he devastation caused by the
tsunami has served to high-
light once again the issue of
disaster preparedness. India suffers
almost on a yearly basis from one
natural disaster or another, ranging
from cyclones and floods to earth-
quakes and avalanches.
Then there are other disasters,
such as major train wrecks and dis-
ease epidemics, which also require
quick and coordinated response.
Immediately after the tsunami I,
along with colleagues on the execu-
tive committee, met Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
and pledged US $55,000 in
immediate relief on behalf of
AAPI Charitable Foundation.
AAPI assembled a team of
doctors and a team of Tamil-
speaking psychiatrists to help
in the devastated areas.
Moreover, we have offered
other forms of assistance such
as medical supplies.
AAPIs long term plans
for assisting with disasters in
India, however, goes well
beyond providing immediate
relief in the wake of each dis-
aster. As Dr. Balasubramaniam,
Chair of the Disaster and Trauma
Committee, points out in this issue
of the Journal, AAPI has been mov-
ing ahead full speed to establish a
Disaster Management System for
India after the Gujarat earthquake of
2001. Consequently, the tsunami
found the government much more
prepared than it was for previous dis-
asters.
The two Disaster Pre-
paredness Training
Institutes we are planning,
at Vellore, Tamil Nadu,
and Pune, Maharashtra,
are part of our larger com-
mitment to capacity build-
ing in India. It is this same
philosophy of helping build
sustainable institutional
capabilities that guides
many of AAPIs current projects in
India. Another such project which
we have proposed to the
Government of India is to set up a
Public Health Centre along the lines
of the Centers for Disease Control in
the US. We also are setting up emer-
gency medical systems in various
Indian cities.
AAPI is committed to deriving
the most benefit from the money our
Charitable Foundation spends in
India. We are most fortunate in hav-
ing first hand experience of adminis-
trative efficiency and institution
building mechanisms in the US. We
also have access to sources of fund-
ing and expertise to help transplant
some of this knowledge and experi-
ence in India. Thus, our projects in
India are turning increasingly
to building institutions and
increasing management capa-
bilities.
Capacity building proj-
ects call for a different level of
involvement than do the run-
ning of clinics or health
camps. First, we need a long
term commitment to any such
project that we initiate in
India. Second, we need to
ensure that these projects are
financially self sustaining.
And finally, we need to estab-
lish closer contact and coordi-
nation with government and
private institutions in India.
When I met with Dr.
Manmohan Singh, I presented a pro-
posal for AAPIs involvement with
Indias health care system, which
included a plan to set up an AAPI
Office in New Delhi and request for
a seat for AAPI on the advisory board
of the Medical Council of India
(MCI). I am glad to report that both
A New Approach to AAPI
Activities in India
(Continued on next page)
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
AAPI Leadership meeting with IMA
President Dr. Sudip Roy (middle).
Dr. Ailinani with Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh





Vijay Jampala
Chandra Koneru
Vijaya Kumari Koneru
Narayan Krishnamurthy
Shashi Kumar
Sukanya H. Meda
M. Pamganamamula
Shefali Shah
Ramesh Patel
Sanjay Shah
Puneet Narayan
Raja Malyala
Vilasini Ganesh
Madan Maladkar
Vandana Maladkar
Babu Kanatamneni
Chitra R. Gowda
Geeta Chavda
Arunabh Talwar
Sonia Talwar
Mali Reddy
Syama Reddy
M. Yusuf A. Siddiqui
Saeeda Siddiqui
Murthy S. Vuppala
Anita Agarwal
Apurva Pancholy
Sudha Madabhushi
AAPI Journal April 05 Vol 19, No 1
5
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE (
continued
)
will materialize. AAPI will soon have
a presence in New Delhi and on
MCI. We will coordinate our activi-
ties closely with the Indian Medical
Association (IMA). These measures
will greatly enhance our abilities to
initiate and undertake projects in
India.
Several AAPI delegates attended
this years Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in
Mumbai. I was on the panel at a
health forum session and discussed
improving medical education and
health care in teaching hospitals,
medical equipment transfers and
alumni resources, as well as measures
to improve rural health. Dr. Bala
talked about disaster preparedness
and mangement, as well as emer-
gency medical services.
We can look forward to a sub-
stantial increase, both qualitatively
and quantitatively, of AAPI involve-
ment in India. I look forward to the
coming years with eager anticipation.
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N E W P A T R O N ( L I F E ) M E M B E R S



6
AAPI Journal April 05 Vol 19, No 1
FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR
G
oing to India is always sweet,
a reflection of that abiding
love we all have for our
motherland. Forget about the inter-
minable lines for customs clearance,
the heat wave as you step outside the
airport, heaps of garbage on the
pavements, religious jathas and sec-
tarian clashes. For me, it is always
the land of verdant paddy fields,
spicy curries, colorful festivals,
sacred shrines and above all