NEW JERSEY: Purvi Parikh of Watchung, N.J., a recent medical graduate, was inducted into the prestigious Gold Humanism Honor Society on May 2. The 26-year-old was honored at a ceremony in Manhattan by Charles Modica, chancellor of St. George’s University School of Medicine in the West Indies, Grenada and Bay Shore, N.Y.
Parikh, who recently graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine, will soon be starting her residency in internal medicine with the New York Medical College’s program at the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y. She was nominated for the honor by the student body and faculty of her alma mater.
In honoring Parikh, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, which established the Gold Humanism Honor Society in 2002, said: "Purvi Parikh was selected because not only did she excel in her clinical rotations receiving the highest marks, grades and evaluations from her attending physicians, but she also spent her free time on weekends working on Share and Care foundation’s Young Professional Committee.
On this committee she raised over $27,000 to build schools and provide health care to impoverished women and children in India." Part of the money benefited Nivara Hakk, a Mumbai-based organization set up by Indian actress-activist Shabana Azmi that empowers women by helping them establish and run their own beauty parlors.
The Dardi Sahayak Trust, a Gujarat, India-based nongovernmental organization that donates medical services and supplies to rural areas of India that cannot afford it, also received aid. In addition, two schools for young children’s education also were provided funds.
Apart from her charitable endeavors, Parikh has been a member of the Student Government Association. She is currently working with the American College of Physicians to advocate for patients’ rights before the United State Congress.
These activities have also been acknowledged by the Gold Foundation: "Truly well-rounded, Purvi has served as an inspiration to get her peers involved in similar activities and thus has propagated humanistic qualities throughout the medical community."
Parikh said she was thrilled by the honor and is looking forward to starting her internship and continuing her advocacy work for patients’ rights. "The main purpose is to learn how to lobby Congress on for health care issues," she says, adding she will attend the hearings on patients’ rights later this year.
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation is a national organization that aims to promote humanism during medical education. Since its inception, the Gold Humanism Honor Society has been established at 47 U.S. and three international medical schools.
More than 1,000 students have received the honor so far based on the key criteria of "exemplary patient care, integrity, devotion to the community and underprivileged, dependability, trustworthiness and communication skills." Parikh is the daughter of Drs Sudha and Sudhir Parikh of New Jersey.
Dr Sudhir Parikh is a renowned philanthropist and recipient of the 2005 Ellis Island Medal of Honor. He is also the publisher of "The Indian American," a general-interest magazine.
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