Dr. Simon Abraham, who was our President last year, was one of them. He was born in the South Indian State of Travancore and grew up in the Nilgiris (State of Madras). He did his MBBS in Christian Medical College and his Mch (Cardiothoracic Surgery) in University of Madras. He then moved to Arkansas in 1970s.
Dr. Surinder Gupta was a Neurosurgeon from Punjab. He did his Neuro residency in UAMS in 1970s and established a thriving practice in Hot Springs.
Dr. Aktar Yusfgi, also a graduate of Christian Medical College, was a Urologist and did his residency in UAMS in 1970s. He could not find a job in Arkansas, so he left.
There has not been any significant increase in Indian Physicians in Arkansas since then, until 1998. However, in the past 10 years, it has continued to increase and now there are about 159 Indian Physicians practicing in Arkansas. Indian physicians constitute approximately 2% of total number of Physicians in Arkansas (8118). There are about 85 Indian physicians, who have Arkansas medical license , but no longer reside in the state. In comparison, the nation as a whole has about 45,000 Indian physicians and an additional 15,000 medical students, and trainees of Indian origin.
Indian physicians are a perfect asset for the needs of this country, because we are English speaking, law abiding, loyal, and hard working.
Indian Physicians are there in almost all specialties, but most of them are in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Anesthesia and Radiology. American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, Arkansas Chapter was founded on April 19, 2008, by Dr. Simon Abraham, Dr. Narender Gorukanti, Dr. Vijay Koli, and Dr. Jayesh Shah with total of 26 members. It was then incorporated with the state of Arkansas in May 2008. AAPI (Arkansas) has now grown remarkably and has about 100 active members now. We aspire to continue to grow and serve the needs of the members and community in the years to come.
