More than 1,700 people registered for the Gujarati Physicians Convention held August 19-23, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. Physicians of other ethnic backgrounds also attended and were welcomed, noted Chairman of the Convention Dr. Ajeet Kothari.
Some 60 vendors displayed their goods and did brisk business with a crowd of eager buyers. “Everything went flawlessly – the food, the vendors, and the Continuing Medical Education seminars, a majority of which were led by the younger generation of physicians, those below 50,” Dr. Kothari told News India Times. In his speech at the Convention, he highlight GPC’s goal of bringing better healthcare to India and US and to encourage American-born Indian physicians to get more engaged in Indian American conventions and activities.
The CEO panel discussed building medical businesses, and was led by Dr. Sowmya Viswanathan, Chief Physician Executive, BayCare Health System in Tampa, Florida; Dr. Lisa Kaushal Tank, specialist in geriatric medicine and Chief Medical Officer at Hackensack University Medical Center; and Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer of Amneal Pharmaceuticals in New York Chintu Patel.
Dr. Kothari indicated to News India Times that GPC had worked in an economical way to keep the registration fees low and expenses budgeted, so that more people could attend, and still result in savings in hundreds of thousands of dollars for the organization to carry out its goals.
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“Everybody liked it and all want to come back. We had to close the registration as we did not have the space,” Dr. Kothari said.
The main leaders involved with organizing included Dr. Kothari, Dr. Shirish Patel, Dr. Gunjan Shukla, Dr. Raj Bhayani, Dr. Sumul Raval, Dr. Manoj Shah, Dr. Mukesh Patel, and Dr. Dalsukh Madia.
Lifetime Achievements Awards were presented to Vimala and Kanu Patel, as well as Dr. Ila Shah and Vinod Shah.
The Cultural Program was headlined by Kailash Kher whose choice of songs and performance were enthusiastically received by attendees.
The GPC is gearing to expand to all physicians, organizers envision. Among those attending the Convention were the Rajasthan Alumni Physicians Association as well as the Charitable Foundation of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), who were recognized on stage.
The GPC wants to focus on how to bring futuristic medicine, the use of AI and digital technologies, to Indian American physicians, leaders said.
Convention Committee Member Dr. Shirish Patel, speaking to ITV Gold said the GPC’s goal is to bring young and old Indian American physicians – Gujarati and non-Gujarati- together.
“This was the largest of the 3 (Gujarati Physicians) Conventions held so far. No other Indian convention has been able to achieve this. Our goal is to expand more,” Dr. Shirish Patel said.
Dr. Gunjan Shukla of the cardiac electrophysiology program at Westchester Medical in New York, and co-chair of Gujarati Physicians Convention, called himself a “grassroots worker of GPC.” Speaking to ITV Gold, he recalled how it started as merely an alumni group but attendance dwindled so leaders decided to hold a joint convention of all Gujarati medical alumni.
“At this meeting in Orlando, we are pushing up to 1,800 attendees,” Dr. Shukla said. “We have excellent CME programs,” with leaders in their field, and 40 to 50 percent of the CMEs are offered by younger generation, he noted.
Dr. Kothari indicated that for future conventions, organizers want to reduce the registration fee even further to make it more accessible. “We will be bigger and better next time,” he added.