Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy to Keynote IMANE Gala; Vikas Merchia to Lead IMANE in 2018

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Photo courtesy: The Harvard Crimson: U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy ’98 discussed the problems created by the current opiate drug abuse epidemic in the United States during a lecture at the Institute of Politics Monday evening. Moderated by HKS Professor Amitabh Chandra, the conversational lecture included discussion of public health policy and the future of health lawmaking under president-elect Donald Trump’s future administration. Thomas W. Franck
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WOBURN, MA— Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy will be the chief guest and the keynote speaker at the upcoming annual gala of the Indian Medical of Indian Medical Association of New England (IMANE), which is one of the oldest organizations of physicians of Indian origin in the United States.

IMANE President Dr. Sameer, who is completing his one-year term this year, said that Dr. Vikas Merchia will lead IMANE in 2018. Dr. Merchia is founder of ESP Medical and an Associate Professor at MGH Institute of Health Professionals, Boston.

The theme of the gala, which will be held on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Hilton Woburn, MA, is emotional well-being, chronic stress and the intersection with physician burnout, Dr. Kapasi said.

Dr. Sameer Kapasi

“This is a topic that applies beyond the medical world to burnout and stress in general,” Dr. Kapasi told INDIA New England News. “The gala is our year-end event that showcases the past year and highlights all the events that we participated in.  It also helps us celebrate the upcoming leadership.  The 2018 year will be led by Vikas Merchia, M.D., an urogynecologist from Easton.”

Dr. Kapasi said that IMANE has a great keynote speaker this year: Dr. Murthy, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States.

“(He) is a great speaker that I first met about 20 years prior when he was an undergraduate.  Even then, you could see how brilliant he was,” said Dr. Kapasi. “As the years passed, Dr. Murthy has grown to lead a variety of organizations including our country’s public health service.  It was certainly difficult to get in touch with Dr. Murthy to arrange this event.  It took the combined work of our entire executive committee emailing and calling his assistants.  We are so fortunate to have so great and young a leader to speak to us.”

Dr. Vikas Merchia

The gala will be the held on Nov. 18 at Woburn Hilton located at 2 Forbes Road, Woburn, MA.  The event starts at 3:30 pm for IMANE membership meeting and is open to the public starting at 5:00 pm.  The registration fee is $45 for students, residents, and fellows, $85 for members, and $100 for non-members.

The attendees will be treated to a delightful dinner catered by Gourmet India.  Dr. Seema Arora, MD, one of former presidents of IMANE, will organize the entertainment which will include a show with member participation as well as dancing after the speeches are complete.

“All in all, this promises to be a landmark event,” said Dr. Kapasi. “IMANE is a strong organization that has prevailed through a variety of situations to build its past successes into the current organization.”

Dr. Merchia, who founded ESP Medical in 2011, will lead IMANE and serve its president in 2018. Prior to founding ESP Medical, Dr. Merchia was previously employed by Steward Medical Group, and prior to that by Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Practice Group, according to his official bio. He has been practicing Gynecology and Obstetrics since 1996, and in Brockton, Massachusetts since 2006.

Vivek H. Murthy (Photo courtesy: Harvard Crimson)

Dr. Merchia attended college at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he majored in BioMedical and Electrical engineering. He went on to get his medical degree from University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, also known as Rutgers Medical School.

Dr. Merchia did his residency and training at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA. Under the leadership of Dr Marvin H Terry Grody, he developed an interest and specialized in Urogynecology, and trained in minimally invasive surgery, in addition to his training in Gynecology and Obstetrics, according to his bio. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) in both general Obstetrics and Gynecology and subspecialty certified in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery.

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