The Medical Council of The Association of Indians in America (AIA) hosted an award banquet at the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, South Florida on Saturday, September 7, 2002 in honor of outstanding medical professionals of Indian origin who have excelled in their field of practice. "The Medical Council was established on September 28, 1974 when 160 Indian physicians met with the then AIA President Professor Manoranjan Dutta in New York," said Dr. Piyush C. Agrawal, the current National President of AIA. The Council did pioneer work under the leadership of the then Medical Council Chair D.G. Langewar, M.D. during the seventies & eighties to promote the interests of physicians of Indian origin.

From left to right: Dr. Narinder Kukar, Dr. Shobha Gupta, Dr. Karan Munuswamy, Dr. Pravin Singhal, Dr. Navin Nanda, Dr. Piyush Agrawal, Dr. Jayant Radhakrishnan, Dr. Shanti Agarwal, and Dr. Rajender Reddy

The Council has instituted two Awards: AIA CHARAKA AWARD for medicine and AIA SUSHRUTA AWARD for surgery. The Charaka Award is named after Charak, a famous Indian physician of Vedic times. He composed Charak Samhita, a compendium of medicine in First century A.D. He described various diseases and attempted a systematic classification of various disorders. Charak Samhita describes in detail signs and symptoms of mental diseases and attempts to offer their etiologic explanation. Many experts consider this a milestone in the evolution of the discipline of psychiatry.

The Sushruta Award is named after Sushruta, a prominent teacher, philosopher & surgeon of astounding capabilities. He wrote his monumental treatise, Sushruta Samhita around 1,000 B.C. He organized the medical knowledge into disciplines such as Shalyachikitsa or Surgery, Vesujavigyana or Pharmacology, Nidanatatwa or Pathology, Sharirabritta or Physiology, Shariraasthana or Anatomy, Dhatrividya or Midwifery, and Chakshurogavigyan or Ophthalmology. Sushruta was the first to intuitively recognize the concept of antisepsis and fumigated his operating room with four sulfur fumes prior to all surgical procedures. The genius of Sushruta prompted the eminent surgeon Whipple to declare Sushruta as the greatest surgeon of pre medieval time.

This gala event was held to honor individuals of exceptional abilities. The Medical Council also published a Souvenir highlighting the event. The following physicians/surgeons were honored during a black-tie gala event organized under the leadership of Dr. Shanti S. Agarwal, current chairman of the Council:

Navin C. Nanda
Navin C. Nanda, M.D., is an internationally renowned cardiologist and echo cardiographer. He is a professor of medicine and Director of Heart Station/Echocardiography Laboratories at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Kirklin Clinic, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation at Birmingham, Alabama. He is the current president of the International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound, and the editor-in-chief of Echocardiography: A Journal of Cardiovascular Ultrasound and Allied Techniques. He has served as President of both the First and Second World Congresses of Echocardiography and Vascular Ultrasound held    (continued on page 2)

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