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With champagne flowing, approximately 100 people toasted Dr. Jagan Ailinani, who was elected last month as President of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin.
A banquet took place Saturday night at the Ramada Inn to honor Ailinani. In attendance were other Carbondale physicians as well as members of the local Indian community.
Ailinani, who is chief of radiology at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, has been a member of the AAPI for the past 20 years and started out as a local chapter president for Illinois.
The idea for the organization came from a group of medical professionals in Michigan in 1982. The group founded the AAPI in 1984, because its members wanted to help level the playing field for international medical graduates.
Headquartered in Chicago, the AAPI currently has 32, 000 physicians and 12, 000 medical students as members and is the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation.
Ailinani has been practicing medicine in Carbondale for the past 23 years. He completed his residency at St. Louis University Hospital and moved to Carbondale in 1980.
According to some of his colleagues and peers at the banquet, Ailinani not only assists people as a physician but also volunteers his time to others in need.
"I've been here for three years, and he's the one who encouraged me to go and volunteer," said Dr. Harvinder Singh, clinical assistant professor of the SIU School of Medicine. "So now, I go and volunteer."
Ailinani has served as a local chapter president of the AAPI and then worked his way up to president by serving in different positions such as treasurer, secretary, vice president and president-elect.
"The organization represents the interest of the 38, 000 physicians of Indian origin," Ailinani said, "to make sure that our interests are protected and that we have a level playing field in the practice of medicine in this country."
Harvinder acknowledged Ailinani's time and work not only in the AAPI but also in the Carbondale community.
"This is a gentleman who's contributed, who's been here in this town and in this region for the last two decades," Harvinder said.
In her speech, Dr. Padma Chandrashekar, president-elect of the local AAPI chapter, talked about Ailinani's commitment to his community and his tireless charitable work.
"[He is] soft-spoken, mild mannered, doesn't loose his calm, well liked in the community and a great radiologist," said Chandrashekar, who is a pathologist at Carbondale Memorial Hospital. "He just tirelessly does everything he can."
Chandrashekar also talked about Ailinani's leadership abilities that would help him be successful as AAPI president.
"He's a great leader," Chandrashekar said. "Leadership looks like it comes easy to him, but he works very hard at it."
Attendees at the banquet said they are very proud of Ailinani's accomplishments and of the fact that a medical professional from a small town such as Carbondale was elected president of such a large national organization.
"After [the American Medical Association], it's the second biggest association of physicians in the U.S.," Harvinder said. "We take great pride in the fact that Dr. Ailinani has been elected as president of that organization."
Chandrashekar is also proud of the fact that Ailinani is representing the Carbondale community.
"We're really proud," Chandrashekar said. "Usually, they are from bigger cities, but his is a small city, and it took him several years to get to this position."
Ailinani said the goals of AAPI are to help develop education programs, form and manage free clinics and to address the AIDS epidemic not only in America, but also in India.
"Our obligation is not only to serve our members but also to serve the country we live in," Ailinani said. "We want to contribute what we can and also to help the country of our origin, so we have three things we do."
Ailinani said he feels fortunate to be elected to such a position and looks forward to the work ahead of him as president.
"I feel humbled and fortunate to represent such a large organization," Ailinani said. "It is an opportunity for me to do something good for the membership but also serve the American community."
Chandrashekar and others in attendance are positive that Ailinani has what it takes to fulfill the duties of president and are confident in his abilities.
"He's a mild mannered person, very calm," Chandrashekar said. "But when he puts his mind to something he'll always get it done."
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