AMA honors Rai with Nathan Davis award
Dr Shankar Man Rai, who was trained in the United States as a surgeon and then returned to Nepal to use his knowledge and skills to help the people in his homeland, has received the American Medical Association Foundation's 2004 Dr Nathan Davis Outstanding International Physician Award.
Dr Nathan Davis International Awards in Medicine and Public Health are given annually to honor physicians or health sector organizations that further health information and medical practice worldwide.
Rai, who is with the Kathmandu Model Hospital in Nepal, was presented the award at the opening session of the 2004 AMA annual meeting in Chicago in June. He will also receive a $20,000 grant, through the AMA Foundation, to further his work.
He has dedicated his entire career to charitable service, performing free surgeries for impoverished children with birth defects and injuries such as cleft lip and burn contractures, the Foundation noted.
Since 1992, he has worked with Interplast, a charitable organization that sends teams of surgeons around the world to perform operations and train physicians in the latest surgical techniques.
In 1999, he helped pioneer the California-based charitable organization, Interplast Surgical Outreach Program. The Surgical Outreach Centers, located worldwide, provide year-round access to free reconstructive plastic surgery for patients in need. Currently, the group has performed more than 6,000 surgeries for impoverished children.
Rai now serves as associate professor at the Kathmandu University School of Medicine, as plastic surgeon at the Kathmandu Model Hospital and Hospital and Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children in Janagal, Nepal, and as director of the Interplast Surgical Outreach Program, Nepal.
The award is named in honor of Dr Nathan Davis, who founded the AMA in 1847.
With the presentation of these awards, the AMA Foundation strives to encourage and stimulate international recognition of the highest standards of service that advance the well-being of those in need. Headquartered in Chicago, the AMA is the country's largest and most influential medical association.
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