On September 26, 2008 board members of American Association
of Physicians of Indian Origin's(AAPI)'s Medical Students, Residents, and
Fellows section (MSRF) met for their annual retreat in Orlando,Florida. The
purpose of the retreat was two-fold: to plan the upcoming 2009 convention and
to enhance leadership skills necessary to take this young physician group
into the future of medicine.
The national AAPI organization boasts over
42,000 members and 14,000of which are in the MSRF group. With such great
numbers AAPI MSRF has the potential to be quite a formidable force in not
only advocacy for physicians but more importantly the patients they treat.
Early Saturday September 27, the group met with Dr. Albert
Schumacher a Family Practice specialist who is best known for his role as
President of Canadian Medical Association. Dr. Schumacher brought his
company which travels around North America teaching effective leadership to
physicians and medical students. Through a variety of movie clips from The
Godfather, talks by media specialists and legislative aids the AAPI MSRF
board gained knowledge in how to effectively negotiate, lead, and market
themselves appropriately in today's political climate. Dr. Schumacher's team
covered every important topic of proper leadership including how to network
effectively in a cocktail party setting. The following day the focus was on
public speaking and letter writing, particularly to editors of major
newspapers and magazines for media exposure. At the end of the weekend
session, everyone was in agreement that Dr. Schumacher's sessions had proven
to be a valuable and priceless asset for the board members to gain.
Later that weekend, the AAPI-MSRF board met with the local convention committee in Orlando to begin work on the upcoming convention (June 10-14, 2009). The general consensus at the meeting 
was that the exciting venues at the Disney resort would set a new bar for the annual MSRF convention.
Indian physicians in America are faced with a unique set of challenges, some of which are common to all physicians. In particular, a lack of access to affordable health
care, increasing malpractice premiums, and mandates placed on doctors by insurance
companies are just a few of the hurdles physicians must jump through. Now
with tough economic times, more Americans will have difficulty
accessing affordable healthcare insurance. The subset of medical professionals in training are also plagued with the financial burden of organizing a constantly increasing medical school debt. With the upcoming presidential
election, healthcare policy is on the forefront of either campaign. The tools
that Dr. Schumacher equipped MSRF members with will help AAPI not only adapt
to the change, but be a part of it. If you are interested in learning more about the AAPI-MSRF legislative agenda or are interested in learning more about our organization, please refer to our homepage (www.aapimsr.org).
