Anthropology
Open Access

Abstract

Ethnic South Asian Radiologists: Their Increasing Prevalence andGeographic Distribution

Baker MDSR, Tekchand Ramchand B and Shyam Patel MS

Since the passage of the Hart-Celler Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, the entry of South Asians seeking citizenship into the United States has continued unabated, first predominantly from India, but now also from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Their presence together has become increasingly impo1iant in medicine in general and in radiology in particular. The prevalence of South Asians among American radiologists is assessed by our analysis of the membership panel of image interpreters of One Call Medical, a broker of CT and MRI for workers compensation cases, which encompasses more than 19,000 radiologists. From that list, by analysis of Hindu surnames, Americans of Indian nativity and ancestry constitutes 4.8% of all members. A parallel analysis of Americans having Muslim surnames common in South Asia, including those with familial ties to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, yielded another 2.3%. Therefore, collectively South Asians make up 7.1% of all radiologists in this group, which includes nearly half of all American radiologists. Hence, the percentage of South Asians as radiologists in the United States now far exceeds their percentage in the general American population.