Dr. Suresh Reddy MD, MHM (Health Management and Policy), current secretary of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) has been elected as the vice president. He defeated Dr. Kavita Gupta, former secretary. The vice president will automatically become the president elect and president without election.
Dr. Sudhakar Jonnalagadda won as secretary. He defeated Dr. Manju Sachdev and Dr Krishan Kumar.
Dr. Anupama Gotimukula will be the treasurer. Her opponents were Dr Rakesh Kumar Mehta and Dr. Satish Mahna.
For three positions for the board of trustees, Dr. Seema Arora, Dr Amit Chakrabarty and Dr Hemant Dhingra were elected. Dr. Sunil Mehra and Dr. Mohan Durve lost.
New VP Dr. Suresh Reddy, who has had many illustrious years of service to the medical community and to AAPI, is chief of radiology at Hines Medical Center, associate professor of radiology at Loyola Medical Center in Chicago, and affiliated faculty in the department of neurosurgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
As chief of interventional neuroradiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for almost a decade, Dr Reddy had been involved in the highly specialized techniques and art of treating aneurysms and strokes in the complex part of our body, the brain. He is also extensively trained to do procedures on the spine, some of which include doing complex procedures and Kyphoplasties in the very inaccessible regions of the spine. He has been educated and trained at SUNY Stony Brook, NY and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
He has been involved in publishing many journal articles. He has traveled extensively and has been involved in giving specialty lectures in the complex procedures he does. He has been involved in teaching and mentoring many Medical students and residents.
Apart from his very distinguished career as neuro-interventionist, he has been applauded tremendously for his active involvement in AAPI and its causes. In AAPI he works with the young physicians in guiding and mentoring them.
He has served as the national treasurer of AAPI last year. During his active involvement in AAPI, he has taken up many worthy causes and championed for them. He has been involved in increasing AAPI membership, organizing Independence Day celebrations in Chicago.
He lives in Chicago with his wife Leela and son Rohun. Dr. Reddy has made our Indian community proud with his innumerable contributions and he is ready to serve AAPI as its vice-president and future president.
AAPI has played a crucial part in all the changes that have been going on in the health care system in the United States, he noted. ‘In the last few years we have witnessed great debates regarding policy and delivery of health care. AAPI is proud of its contribution to the health care system of our nation. AAPI is playing a crucial in J-1 visa waiver policy.
‘My dedicated track record of more than a decade as a foot soldier in AAPI is my strength, thanks to the guidance by my respected senior mentors.
I am confident and I want to be your leader to raise our venerable AAPI and the younger generation to even greater heights into the future,’ he said.
"AAPI was successful in bringing several hundreds of members to its fold in the last 5 years, and this is remarkable when a lot of medical organizational membership are declining. I strongly believe that our top leadership is committed to the above initiatives, that would be a magnet for more membership," he said
"The main challenges faced are loss of clinical decision making, that drives the high standard of medical care. Interference by bureaucracy, control by hospitals and insurance companies have reached intolerable levels, and the lack of tort reform prevents any control of the runaway medical costs, making healthcare unaffordable. In addition, Indian doctors still face a glass ceiling in academic promotions and in institutional hierarchies. Although this seems to be easing, we will stay vigilant for our AAPI members."
"The challenge is to preserve the top class healthcare we have in the US. I think the current administration will be practical, keep the good aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA - also known as Obamacare), ( like preexisting condones, and child coverage on the mother’s insurance to the age of 26), but make the services truly affordable for all. Technologically, the future of healthcare is very bright, and the fields such as genomics allows early detection akin to prevention leading to better care.
"Medical costs are spiraling out of control at least partly due to defensive medicine practiced by wary physicians. It is a fact that no one, including a physician likes to be sued, and that too based on outcome alone. Without tort reform, any attempt to control costs will be futile. This requires political leadership at a national level."
Why most of the younger doctors are not joining AAPI?
"I do not believe that is the case. What needs to be highlighted is that a large number have already joined in as described above. Our mentor generation had its goals including fighting discrimination, selection and deselection, and acceptance in US. As a second generation, they have additional ambitions - in research, academics and in working in tandem with other medical groups. As we are starting to see this happen, I believe those who have adopted a wait and see approach would be convinced to do so."
