President's Message

Chirag Parghi, M.D.

On behalf of the Indian medical and dental students, residents, and fellows training the United States, I would like to personally extend my sincere excitement in leading the MSRF section for the next academic year. It is my distinct privilege to take the reins for this year as this is my fifth year as a national officer on the MSRF board. As Indians comprise 14% of incoming medical school classes, I personally feel a strong commitment to modifying our focus on the year to better serving our members, helping them towards their most immediate goal: career development.

Many of you probably know that success in the medical arena is changing these days and is less and less based on "what you know", but "who you know". Forming important contacts in your desired field can drastically improve your chances in specific fields and programs. Knowing the thousands of talented physicians that I have met already through the MSRF section, I am confident that we have the wisdom and contacts within our membership to help budding young physicians searching for their residency and fellowship of choice. The trick, however, is to find efficient manners of linking these individuals. Several years ago, the MSRF section created a database that allows online communication with protected anonymity, similar to Facebook or Friendster messaging. The trial phase of this database has been excellent and MSRF members are already collaborating on getting advice on the interview process and towards research initiatives. My goal is to grow this database and encourage use of it by those that would benefit the most. Additionally, on the topic of career development, I want to form strategic partnerships with companies focused on setting up educational fairs to enhance skill sets such as laparascopic suturing or other such clinical topics so that our members can obtain direct benefit.

Aggressive marketing is pivotal for the growth of a section like MSRF. As part of an initiative to introduce the concept of MSRF, our board is hosting charity networking socials in various cities across the US. The goal for these events is to raise contributions and awareness for several Indian-American charity groups while allowing AAPI-MSRF members to meet one another. So far, we have instituted several of these networking socials in Washington DC and San Antonio and have a roadmap of different cities from coast to coast. Please lookout for an event in your area and be sure to attend.

Lastly, MSRF is constantly looking for new blood both among the national board and among our local chapters. If you are interested in becoming more involved, read up on our website about forming a local chapter or hosting an MSRF event in your city. Our section relies on active volunteers and naturally has a quick turnover as the time that one spends in residency and fellowship is finite. I challenge you to take ownership of MSRF and become more involved in whatever fashion.

I would like to conclude by personally inviting all of you to attend our annual convention in Washington, DC from June 23rd to 27th, 2010. We had an amazing convention in Orlando and I hope to make the DC convention the largest and most successful ever. We are already planning engaging daytime speakers and will take full advantage of the many exciting venues in DC for our evening socials. Please clear your calendars in advance and prepare for an amazing weekend. On a personal note, I attended my first AAPI convention in 2005 only because the convention happened to be where I was residing for medical school (Houston). I now look back at that decision and think it was one of the best choices I could ever have made. Since then, my network of colleagues and friends has exponentially increased and I now religiously attend the convention to regularly see this expanded circle. There is a unique sense of identity that comes with meeting other MSRF members as we experience similar struggles and have similar concerns out of our careers and our lives. Finding individuals that have that same experience can be quite validating and purposeful as we are in a relatively carved niche. I encourage all of you to join MSRF, attend our annual convention, and meet the next generation of Indian physicians as you likely have more in common than you may realize.

Thank you for letting me lead your section.

Humbly,

Chirag Parghi, M.D.
President, American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Medical Students, Residents, Fellows Section