Indian Medical Association of New England celebrates 39 years

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NEW YORK – The Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE) honored their president, Dr. Sameer Kapasi, at a celebratory event which took place on Nov. 18 at the Boston Hilton in Woburn, Massachusetts.

The event was attended by Dr. Gautam Samadder, the president of AAPI and his wife Dr. Anjana Samadder, who were also invited to a celebratory brunch which was organized by Dr. Seema Arora.

At the brunch, Dr. Samadder presented Dr. Kapasi with a plaque for Outstanding Leadership, praising his stellar performance and his absolute dedication and commitment, after which Dr. Kapasi thanked him and presented the first copy of the historic forty-page IMANE Brochure with a gold ceremonial IMANE lapel pin, designed especially for the gala.

More than 250 people enjoyed hors d’oeuvres from Gourmet India at the gala celebration.
In his address, Dr. Kapasi gave an overview of the year’s successful programs, including: the Spring CME program, IMANE’s generous contribution to the Hurricane Disaster Fund, community health services events such as the IAGB Hatch Shell event, the UIA Norwood High School event and the INE Health Expo.

He also said that the highlight of IMANE’s community service was an independent health and dental screening event which they conducted at Guru Nanak Gurudwara in Medford, Massachusetts where more than 150 Indian community members underwent preventive screening along with receiving medical and dental advice.

IMANE members and family also spent a day at “Cradles & Crayons”, a charitable organization where they donated much needed items and sorted out clothes for eighty families in need.

In efforts to promote new membership, Ravindra Mahadev of Ameriprise organized an innovative program with IMANE called “Nights out with IMANE.”

IMANE also offered financial help and physician support services to charitable clinics in Framingham and Waltham as an ongoing annual support.

During Summer, IMANE organized a fully funded unique outing called “IMANE at the Ball Game” at Fenway Park where participants were seated in a private booth and were provided dinner as they watched a baseball game.

At the gala, Dr. Kapasi invited the keynote speaker, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th Surgeon General, to join him for a “Fireside Chat” which was conducted by Dr. Bhavna Lall.
In his chat Dr. Murthy talked about a physician burnout and the future of public health.

For Dr. Murthy, the most pressing public health issues include children who were victims of violence, the mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission, and substance abuse and addiction.

“There is no single cause, the truth is that we did not learn how to care for ourselves in medical school,” Dr. Murthy said, about the causes of physician burnout as he encouraged medical students, residents, and physicians to take care of themselves and find de-stressors, emphasizing on daily aerobic exercise and building nurturing human relationships and told them “if you succeed, pull someone along.”

Dr. Vikas Merchia was then welcomed as the incoming president of IMANE and spoke of his vision to strengthen bonds within the community and diversify.

Awards were given to the following recipients:

• Anjan K. Chaudhury, M.D.: Distinguished Physician’s Award
• Seema Arora, M.D.: Community Service Award
• Ravindra Mahadev, CEP, CLTC: Presidential Ambassador Award
• Sucheta Doshi, M.D.., M.P.H.; Paul Mathew, M.D., DNBPAS, FAAN, FAHS; Arshiya Seth, M.D.; Ranjani Saigal and Neela Gandhi, D.D.S.: Presidents Award
• Krishna Adit Agarwal, M.B.B.S.: Prem & Raj Goyal Foundation Award

Entertainment was provided by DJ Tej as well as Dr. Amit Chakravarty and his partner Sadhna who sang Bollywood songs, while Dr. Arora gave a Bollywood dance performance.