One cannot take India out of me – Dr Sampat Shivangi During Interactive Session
Mangaluru: The KMC Hospital organized a CME on Foetal Medicine and an interactive session with the distinguished Alumnus Dr Sampat Shivangi at Hotel Ocean Pearl here on March 17.
Foetal medicine specialist Dr Shruthi delivered the talk on Foetal Medicine.
Dean of KMC Hospital Dr M V Prabhu introduced Dr Sampat to the gathering and said, “Dr Sampat’s achievements remind us of the pilgrims. When I speak of Pilgrims, they were the ones who went from Europe to America soon after it was freshly discovered by Columbus and made a home and a nation there. America is a nation of emigrants and it always welcomes talented people. It was probably destined that KMC alumnus will leave the shores of India and go there and make it real big and Dr Shivangi has achieved. He has made India proud, KMC proud by his achievements over the last few decades. I met Dr Shivangi 15 years back during the golden jubilee celebrations, it was a very short interaction but I have seen the humility that he has. Yesterday he went to see 94-year-old Dr Krishna Rao who was our dean and Krishna Rao was so moved after seeing Dr Shivangi, tears rolled down his eyes”.
There was an interactive session with the students by Dr Sampat S Shivangi.
Answering the question, as students, we see US and Britan as very promising future we wish to go there but since you have been there what is the condition of Indian origin physicians since you went there so many years back and now? Dr Sampat Shivangi said, “I am in the US from the past 42 years and I have spent the majority years of my life in the US than in India. But I can not get India out of my mind and heart. “You can take me out of India but you cannot take India out of me”, I tell this even to barristers and Ambassadors there. I think many of us feel that since our roots are deep in India. Because I moved to another country, maybe I am a citizen of the US by passport but otherwise, I am still an Indian. When I first moved to the US, we were immigrants we had to answer the initial examinations, we were given the leftovers like psychiatry, radiology and maybe paediatrics were given to immigrant populations and not given the best. In India, there are lack of paediatricians, but in the US the largest number of physicians are paediatricians. The training for Doctors is only 3 years with a good salary, getting major specialities it takes 4 to 7 years if you want a fellowship. In 3 years you get your training done and you become a citizen who can earn anywhere from 100 thousand dollars to millions of dollars. But the shocking news is paediatricians make the least amount of money and they are least paid in the US. The most sought-after presidency programme today in the US, specially ladies 95 % of the residency slots are taken by women physicians because it is a 9 to 5 job, Monday to Friday, no emergency, no surgery, of course, you do a cosmetic surgery not in the hospital in the office itself and also highly paid. They make 85 thousand to 10 million Dollars, they are now into fashion business actually Indian women they have all kinds of whitening cream, hair plantation etc. They are more than physicians, they are entrepreneurs. They are in the business of making cosmetics and making millions of dollars”.
Sampat further said, “We were not given to practise medicine, we did not have a licence in the US. If you are a US graduate the requirements were different. If you were a physician from Canada there was some relaxation, not as much as from India. I feel that there is discrimination against the immigrant physicians. We formed an American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin to fight for our rights. We have today 120,000 members in our organization and we are the largest network association. I was the founding member of the association and fought against AMA, and the US government to bring the uniform law. I was asking for the equal opportunity for a person who has equal qualifications. Through this organization, we are getting green cards to our doctors. When I went to the US, I got my green card in 6 months but it will take 60 years now. In the US 8000 doctors are waiting for the green card. Hopefully, we will succeed in our fight.”
When asked about the Attitude of the Indian media to doctors in recent past has been considered one kind, is it time for the doctors to take more of interest in Indian politics?, Dr Sampat said, “I agree with the media. In Delhi, a child was kept in the respirator and the parents spent lakhs of Rupees for the treatment. In the UK only 4% of the medical charges are borne by the patient because they pay tax, but in India, the patient pays 80%. I know that PM Modi is coming with the Ayushman policy, but I do not know when it will come. Any illness in a poor family will destroy the entire family. I have also faced such situation and why should I support Indian surgeons where they treat the patient to pay first. Do you think of the same situation happening to your family?”, Sampat questioned.
When asked to shed light on the health policies in Canada in the health sector, Dr Sampat said, “8000 doctors are working in Canada. Ours is a noble profession, don’t do it free but at the same time don’t be greedy.”
When asked about patients consulting “doctor google” and demanding certain treatment, Dr Sampaat said, “Doctor should be patient enough to explain to the patient what is right and what is wrong. Google is the Google guru and it is now a trend to google. We need to listen to the patient and explain. In western countries, the patient has every right because they come with the paper to question us. They pay us, we are not doing anything free for them. They have the right to ask questions. It is our obligation to make sure, they understand what we are going through. Google is 98% right and we cannot say Google is wrong and we are right.”
When asked about a large number of physicians from countries like India and Pakistan go to Britan, US Canada and other countries whereas we need to retain them here. Dr Sampat said, “India needs today 400 thousand doctors to treat the patients. 120 thousand doctors are in US are Indian origin in US. I do not know how many are in other countries we never know. You find a solution and we all come back. We have started about 26 free clinics in India, in Bengaluru and Hospet we started 3 clinics. We are not just making money but we fund the clinics. We spent millions of Dollars for healthcare in India. Once a year we conduct a global health summit and we invite doctors from all over the world to come and discuss on how to improve basic health care in India. We just held a summit in Calcutta and we invited the vice president Venkaiah Naidu. When I went to the US, I went with a free ticket. Even IT professional in US, they send 80 billion dollars officially to the government of India that’s why India has a foreign exchange surplus. You are exporting us and we are sending the money back to India. It is a win-win situation for India.”
Dr Sampat further said, “In US, every 7th American patient is seen by an Indian physician. 15% of the medical resident students are of Indian origin and 15% physicians of Indian origin. Indians have the highest income amongst all Americans. Every Indian family makes at least $ 80000 to 120000 per annum. Indians are the topmost class in the US.”
About Dr Sampat S Shivangi
Dr Sampat S Shivangi has been a conservative lifelong member, of the Republican party, hailing from a strong Republican state of Mississippi. He is the founding member of the Republican Indian council and of Republican Indian National Council which aims to work to help and assist in promoting President Elect Trump’s agenda and support his advocacy in the coming months. RINC is based on the principles of RJC and wants to promote conservative ideas and principles.
Dr Shivangi is the National President of Indian American Forum for Political Education the oldest Indian American associations. For the last three decades, he has lobbied for bills in US Congress on behalf of India through his enormous contacts with US Senators and Congressmen.He is close to Bush family and was instrumental in lobbying for first Diwali celebration in the White House and President George W. Bush to make his trip to India. He had accompanied President Bill Clinton during his historic visit to India.Dr.Shivangi is a champion of for women’s health and mental health whose work has been recognized.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Dr Shivangi has worked enthusiastically in promoting India Civil Nuclear treaty and recently US India defence treaty that was passed by US Congress and signed by President Obama.
Dr Shivangi has held high offices in USA including as an advisor to US Health & Human Services appointed by President George W. Bush, a member of the Mississippi State Board of Health by Governor Haley Barbour, then a Chair of the State Board of Mental Health now by the Governor Phil Bryant a strong supporter of President-Elect Trump.
ACTIVITIES and ACHIEVEMENTS
Dr.Shivangi has involved many philanthropic activities serving with the Blind foundation of MS, Diabetic, Cancer and Heart Associations of America.
Dr Shivangi has a number of philanthropic work in India including Primary & middle schools, Cultural Center, IMA Centers that he opened and he brought first ever US Congressional grant to AAPI to study Diabetes Mellitus amongst Indian Americans.
HONOURS and AWARDS
Dr Sampat Shivangi was awarded a highest civilian honour, Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas Sanman award for the year 2016 on January 9, 2017 in Bengaluru, by the Hon President of India, Pranav Mukherjee. An Ellis Island Medal of Honour in New York in 2008.
RELATIONSHIP
He is happily married and has two daughters who have worked as interns in the President Bush White House and now they live in Houston, TX.
Pics by Astel Pereira, Team Mangalorean