Dr Shah has also initiated multiple health projects, with the help of Indian American physicians, to improve medical education and health care in India. His efforts have brought him several awards.
Dr Navin C Shah made the “brave and scary journey” from Pune in Maharashtra to the United States 50-odd years ago. Today, as a leading urologist practicing in the Washington DC area, he has led the fight for justice for medical graduates from 80 other countries, who were once treated as second class physicians by the American Medical Association (AMA).
He has penned the story of an immigrant’s beautiful and inspiring journey from India in a new book, “Karma and the Destiny of an Indian American Surgeon,” published by American Bazaar Books.
Dr Shah has also initiated multiple health projects, with the help of Indian American physicians, to improve medical education and health care in India. His efforts have brought him several awards.
Dr Shah is determined to persuade the Indian government to fund for infrastructure to obtain the willing US doctors of Indian origin to augment medical education, health care and medical research.
Talking to American Bazaar, Dr Shah spoke about his continuing efforts to improve health care in India especially for the poor patients. The project, he said, will promote many business and philanthropic joint ventures and on a continual basis.
Speaking about his inspiration to tell the story of an Indian American surgeon, Dr Shah said it was “due to the success especially in obtaining equality for the US physicians who had graduated outside of the US and were labeled as Foreign Medical graduates (FMG).
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“Next on horizon is to pursue the Government of India to fund for infrastructure to obtain the willing US doctors of Indian origin to augment medical education, health care and medical research. There are 80,000 US doctors (like me) and 20,000 second generation (like my son) US doctors.”
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“We all hail from all parts of India. I believe at least 10% are very willing to serve India. I have tried for this project for years and met with all Prime Ministers, Health Ministers and Health secretaries. I would like to take needed American expertise to improve health care in India especially for the poor patients who usually receive medical help from government hospitals.”
— Dr Navin C Shah
These FMGs had passed the US exam, undertaken the US residency, passed the licensing and the board exam and were legal residents of the US. These FMGs (now known as IMG-International Medical Graduates) were overtly and covertly discriminated and were treated as second rate physicians by the American Medical Association (AMA)”. He mentioned that the “victory of gaining equality for all 240,000 IMGs (of 80 different countries) was due to our actions in the US Congress. I led the fight for equality and am grateful to the American system to address the discrimination and rectify it”.
Asked on what prospective immigrants from India can learn from his experiences, Dr Shah said, “America is a nation of laws and there are official ways to address the issues and get justice. So prospective immigrants should fearlessly take help of laws and constitution to gain justice.”
He mentioned his efforts to form AAPI and his leadership for the Indian doctors’ fight for equality. Dr Shah said, “I was president of Washington DC area’s Indian medical Association and worked to get all exiting city, state and specialty Indian medical groups to gather under one central body. With help of some other leaders, I founded the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) mainly to help India in improving medical education, health care and medical research and also to keep up our culture and great inheritance.”
Once he became the AAPI president, “I found out about blatant discrimination against FMGs. Among all FMGs the Indians were a major group. I approached other national groups and united them under one umbrella group. I met with AMA officials with the complaints, but they ignored and denied any help. Finally, we got a lobbyist and fought for equality in the US congress, After about seven years of struggle the US Congress passed the equality bill and President H W Bush signed it in March 1992.”
Dr Shah does not want to stop. “Next on horizon is to pursue the Government of India to fund for infrastructure to obtain the willing US doctors of Indian origin to augment medical education, health care and medical research. There are 80,000 US doctors (like me) and 20,000 second generation (like my son) US doctors. We all hail from all parts of India. I believe at least 10% are very willing to serve India. I have tried for this project for years and met with all Prime Ministers, Health Ministers and Health secretaries. I would like to take needed American expertise to improve health care in India especially for the poor patients who usually receive medical help from government hospitals.”
He mentioned that the project would promote many business and philanthropic joint ventures and on a continual basis. “The US India Business Council has worked with me for this project,” he said. He will be visiting New Delhi to try it once again.
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