Sydney: Three Indian-origin doctors were recently felicitated by the South Australian Indian Medical Association (SAIMA) in recognition of their contributions to the field of medicine.

Associate professor Anupam Datta Gupta received SAIMA’s President’s award in recognition of his research in rehabilitation medicine. He is currently the head of the general rehabilitation unit at Central Adelaide Local Health Network. Datta Gupta is a recipient of the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) scholarship and also the Clinical Research Scholar certificate from the Harvard Medical School.

Jaya Pathi received her award for her work as the longest-serving female practitioner - a total of 53 years, including 47 years in Australia. Pathi obtained her MBBS from the Osmania University in Hyderabad in 1967 and started working at a public hospital while pursuing specialist training in paediatrics simultaneously. SAIMA also honoured resident medical officer Rahul Malhotra, who mentored first-year students and acted as an investigator in a few medical research projects. With a keen interest in anesthesia, he participates in the management of peri-operative patients.

The award function, held after a year’s gap due to Covid, was attended by over four hundred invitees. SAIMA, according to its website, is a member-based organisation of medical practitioners, dentists, allied health professionals, medical students, and international medical graduates based in Adelaide, South Australia.

As of 2021, Indians have overtaken Chinese and New Zealand-born immigrants, numbering over 780,000. Their numbers doubled during 1996-2006, quadrupled during 2006-2020, and were Australia’s fastest growing diaspora community in 2020, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 census.

Australia’s Department of Home Affairs has even established a Global Talent Officer for South Asia, eying India as a source of global talent.