The Kanpur University alumnus is third Indian origin doctor to die battling disease.
Doctors of Indian heritage making up one seventh of physicians in the US provide healthcare to over 40 million Americans. They have been at the forefront of the nation’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr. Sudheer S Chauhan, who had dedicated his life serving thousands of patients in the New York region, became the third physician of Indian origin to succumb to the deadly disease on May 19.
Dr. Chauhan, an Internal Medicine specialist in South Richmond Hill, New York, with nearly half a century of diverse experience, died after battling for two months with a disease that has claimed 93,806 lives in the US with over 1.58 million cases.
“Our Father, Dr. Sudheer Singh Chauhan, Internal Medicine Physician and Associate Program Director IM Residency Program at Jamaica Hospital, New York passed away on May 19 after battling with covid for two months. We will miss this unique, kind, gentle and caring spirit. May his soul rest in peace,” wrote his daughter, Sneh Chuhan on covid-19 Physicians Memorial.
RELATED: American Bazaar’s Covid-19 coverage
Dr. Chauhan received his graduate medical education from GSUM Medical College, University of Kanpur, India in 1972, according to a media release from the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI).
Board Certified in Internal Medicine, he received MRCP and FRCP from Royal College of Physicians and FACP from American College of Physicians.
Dr. Chauhan joined the Department of Medicine at Jamaica Hospital upon graduation in 1997 and was currently working as a faculty supervisor and attending physician. He was also the Associate Program Director in Internal Medicine Residency Program for the hospital.
Last month, an Indian American father daughter team of doctors, Satyendra Khanna, 78, a general surgeon, and Dr. Priya Khanna, 43, a nephrologist died in a New Jersey Hospital.
READ: Covid-19: Indian American Physicians bearing brunt of pandemic (April 23, 2020)
“We have a proud moment, it is (also) a scary moment; it is a mixed feeling, but this virus is a deadly virus” said AAPI President Dr. Suresh Reddy recently describing the situation under which the physicians of Indian Origin are serving people infected with the virus.
“They tend to work disproportionately in areas that are medically underserved like rural and inner city areas taking on a heavier workload with patients who are more ill,” he said. “We are definitely in the frontline fighting this deadly battle.”
Indian Americans constitute less than one percent of the country’s population, but they account for nine percent of the American doctors and physicians.
One out of every seven doctors serving in the US is of Indian heritage, providing medical care to over 40 million of US population. There are about 80,000 practicing Indian American physicians who are at the forefront of fighting covid-19 pandemic in the US.
In addition, there are around 40,000 medical students, residents, and fellows of Indian origin in the US who are supporting many of the hospitals affected by the pandemic.