India Post News Service
CHICAGO: Dr. Kavita Gupta made history as the first-ever physician who was born and raised in the United States, a second-generation Indian American physician to hold a national leadership position in the 44-year-old history of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI).
Dr. Gupta was elected Secretary of National AAPI in 2013. Now, a decade later, she has been elected as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of AAPI.
Currently, Dr. Gupta is serving a 3-year term on the powerful Board of Trustees of AAPI. She will assume charge as the Chair of AAPI’s BOT during the first-ever World Congress of AAPI in New York on July 20th, 2024.
“I want to congratulate Dr. Kavita Gupta for representing second-generation Indian American physicians in this very important role as the BOT Chair of AAPI,” said Dr. Anjana Samadder, current President of AAPI. “With her election to the leadership role in AAPI, the second and successive generations of physicians of Indian Origin at AAPI are poised to continue the tremendous success of our prior leadership and contribute our dynamic talents towards AAPI’s mission.”
Recognizing the need to bring in more second-generation Indian American physicians to AAPI, Dr. Gupta says, “We have to grow with the next generation by its side. I see myself as a true liaison with our younger 2nd generation leaders.” Stating that she brings “a new perspective and also a second-generation rationale to the issues we face as Indian American physicians,” Dr. Gupta would like to see “my efforts go to slowly building a strong association focusing on younger leader development and strengthening our professional relations.”
With nearly three decades of excellence and dedicated service to the causes of physicians of Indian origin in the United States, Dr. Kavita Gupta is embarking on her new role, bringing in a wealth of experiences and vision fortified with infectious zeal, and unwavering courage.
Dr. Kavita Gupta is board-certified in pain management, physical medicine, and rehabilitation. A prominent practicing pain management physician from the southern New Jersey Tri-state region, Dr. Gupta had started as an engineer but pursued a medical degree “with a mindset to help others.”
Describing her long years of medical practice, Dr. Gupta says, “I’ve been in practice as an interventional pain management for over 20 years, ranging from academic practice and private practice.” Before becoming a physician, Dr. Gupta had a Master’s degree in biomedical engineering from the prestigious Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and had participated in consulting and advisory roles with pharma, device companies and was mentoring biomedical engineering graduate students.
While working towards expanding AAPI’s mission statement to include diversity with the senior visionary members and prospective physicians from abroad and the US, Dr. Gupta wants to “enhance our networking within political arenas, amongst specialty organizations, while embracing technology and media to echo our voices to local and international medical communities.”
The BOT and in her capacity as the Chair, Dr. Gupta says, “We have the responsibility to oversee the financial sustainability of the organization and its future financial growth. As a group, we can monitor the financial health of the organization and accordingly provide our recommendations. BOT has a variety of esteemed leaders that will assist to provide their perspectives to the Board relevant to financial health of our organization.”
Dr. Gupta says, “It’s important to recognize and adapt to the differences of each administration style while preserving the mission of AAPI. We have to continue to inspire younger leaders within AAPI to continue to remain committed and have a purposeful meaning as to why to stay connected and be supportive.”
Dr. Gupta has been an active community leader within the local Indian community, local physician community as well as serving on a variety of board positions in her township, county, and other national non-profit organizations, helping with creating and advising on programs for the community, fundraising, speaking engagements on preventative healthcare.
Dr. Lokesh Edara the outgoing Chair of AAPI has worked with Gupta in the past prior to joining BOT on collaborating on project ideas to support the medical students and pre-med students.
Many senior leaders within the organization have congratulated and encouraged her growth within AAPI. As they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, through triumphs and turmoil we will continue to learn how to better AAPI with collaboration with everyone, especially our young leaders.
“Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working in various healthcare settings, honing my expertise in teaching, medical management and clinical leadership. My journey has been marked by a relentless pursuit of excellence, with a focus on improving patient outcomes and fostering collaborative healthcare practices,” Dr. Gupta says.
AAPI is the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States and represents the interests of more than 120,000 physicians and nearly 60,000 medical students/residents of Indian heritage. AAPI, a forum to facilitate and enable Indian American Physicians to excel in patient care, teaching and research and to pursue their aspirations in professional and community affairs, is an umbrella organization with nearly 160 specialty societies and alumni organizations. For more details, please visit: www.aapiusa.org
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