More than 1,800 professionals from the medical field and their families met at the Gujarati Physicians Convention 2025, hosted by the B.J. Medical College Alumni Association (BMCAA) and held at the Signia by Hilton Atlanta hotel, from July 2 to July 6, in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event brought together alumni from BMCAA, BJMC, NHL, Jamnagar, Surat, PSMC, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Bombay, Nagpur, and other parts of India and the Gujarati diaspora. The convention was featured a number of CME-accredited sessions, cultural festivities, entertainment, and networking among fellow physicians and their families.
Leaders and pioneers among the Gujarati medical professionals were recognized at the gala. Lead organizers of the event, Dr. Ajeet Kothari, Dr. Gunjan Shukla, Dr. Shirish Patel and Dr. Sumul Raval, called out the names of the pioneers, including Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media/ITV Gold, Dr. Arun Palkhiwala, Dr. Desai, women presidents of AAPI, the parent organization, among others.
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The special guest speaker was India’s Consul General in Atlanta Ramesh Baba Lakshmanan. He spoke about India’s potential as an investment destination, and especially the increasing role of AI in medicine. He praised the achievements of Indian American physicians. “We are very proud of their contributions in US and India,” CG Lakshmanan said.
Dr. Kothari said the reason for this Convention was to work for the betterment of Gujarati physicians and the community. He said the organization planned to work with the Indian Government to improve health care in India. The goal was also to bring about changes where needed in health care and in Medicaid and Medicare.
This was the 4th Gujarati Physicians’ Convention after the ones in Ohio, Florida, Atlantic City, and now Atlanta.
Dr. Parikh, in his speech, praised the leadership of Dr. Kothari in making the Convention a success, and urged a standing ovation in his honor. He said Dr. Kothari worked hard to bring younger medical professionals, the 2nd and 3rd generation of Indian Americans together. “We must work with the goal to empower our organization, and to connect US and India, and encourage the 2nd generation to give to Mother India,” he added, saying he and his media outlet stood ready to help in any way possible.
It was a crowded convention where attendees could be observed enjoying meeting old friends and colleagues, discussing project initiatives, and inviting support for the work in India.
Dr. Smita Joshi from Gujarat, spoke of her efforts along with her sister Dr. Shukla Raval, to spread awareness about the prevalence of Type 1 diabetes among at least 20,000 children in Gujarat alone. She described how their efforts had resulted in policy changes. Dr. Sumul Raval noted that the Government of India had decided to apportion funds for tackling Type 1 diabetes as a result of their efforts.
Several cultural performances took place over the course of the Convention, with energetic dance troupes, and singers, brought some people to the floor.
Other speakers pointed out that Gujaratis make up 20 percent to 30 percent of the more than 100,000 Indian American physicians around the country and their power needed to be harnessed for the greater good.