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Dr. Kavita Gupta made history as the first-ever physician who was born and raised in the United States, a second-generation Indian American physician to hold a national leadership position in the 44-year-old history of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). Dr. Gupta was elected Secretary of National AAPI in 2013. Now, a decade later, she has been elected as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of AAPI.
Currently, Dr. Gupta is serving a 3-year term on the powerful Board of Trustees of AAPI. She will assume charge as the Chair of AAPI’s BOT during the first-ever World Congress of AAPI in New York on July 20th, 2024.
“I want to congratulate Dr. Kavita Gupta for representing second-generation Indian American physicians in this very important role as the BOT Chair of AAPI,” said Dr. Anjana Samadder, current President of AAPI. “With her election to the leadership role in AAPI, the second and successive generations of physicians of Indian Origin at AAPI are poised to continue the tremendous success of our prior leadership and contribute our dynamic talents towards AAPI’s mission.”
Recognizing the need to bring in more second-generation Indian American physicians to AAPI, Dr. Gupta says, “We have to grow with the next generation by its side. I see myself as a true liaison with our younger 2nd generation leaders.” Stating that she brings “a new perspective and also a second-generation rationale to the issues we face as Indian American physicians,” Dr. Gupta added, “My efforts go in slowly building a strong association focusing on younger leader development and strengthening our professional relations.”
With nearly three decades of excellence and dedicated service to the causes of physicians of Indian origin in the United States, Dr. Kavita Gupta is a woman leader in a predominantly men’s club. Dr. Gupta is board-certified in pain management, physical medicine, and rehabilitation. A prominent practicing pain management physician from the southern New Jersey Tri-state region, Dr. Gupta had started as an engineer but pursued a medical degree “with a mindset to help others.”
As a student member of AAPI in 1994, Dr. Gupta founded MSRF Chapter at UMDNJ, now Rowan/ Virtua, which has had tremendous growth and a robust presence on campus. Dr. Gupta grew within AAPI nationally and locally while attending national and local Chapter meetings. Dr. Gupta has served on various national AAPI Committees- from women’s forum/academic affairs /CME speaker/ convention committees and under several past presidents/convention teams.
The BOT and in her capacity as the Chair, Dr. Gupta says, “We have the responsibility to oversee the financial sustainability of the organization and its future financial growth. As a group, we can monitor the financial health of the organization and accordingly provide our recommendations. BOT has a variety of esteemed leaders that will assist to provide their perspectives to the Board relevant to the financial health of our organization.”
Dr. Gupta has been an active community leader within the local Indian community, local physician community as well as serving on a variety of board positions in her township, county, and other national non-profit organizations. According to her, “As Indian physicians in the United States. it is our duty to nurture our present home as well as our ancestral home. AAPI needs young charismatic leaders who have the service and leadership qualities. AAPI leadership has always recognized that the future of AAPI is with the second generation.” Every year, a lot of youngsters are joining this profession and they need support from AAPI to face future challenges head-on.
AAPI is the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States and represents the interests of more than 120,000 physicians and nearly 60,000 medical students/residents of Indian heritage.
