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Show 0 SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS 3 Focus Pandya may be the most different of Kanabs fans WEDNESDAY APRIL 4, 1990 Dr. in his capacity as chancellor of College and was working in a Editor the University of East Africa in bank when the two met on a Dr. Avnish Pandya is a major Kampala, who handed him his" blind date. They were married Kanab. diploma. in October, 1977. anomaly in small-tow- n voHes a member of several mi- The Pandyas have three boys, Thats my first and last re norities. Hes one of only two lution, Pandya says. I dont 11,9, and 7. doctors, hes a Democrat, and want to see one again." By JEANETTE RUSK hes an Indian (East, not Ameri- - Pandya has had to adapt to a can) who grew up in East Africa lot of cultural shocks during the and has only been in the U.S. for past 14 years, first in coming to 14 years. the U.S. and then in coming to Pandya liked the idea of prac- ticing in a small town for two reasons he wanted to be able to practice in a variety of areas and he wanted to be where he was needed. The cities have succeed despite being different in every sense, that is a challenge I like.9 If I can me It has been a long road that Utah shortly afterward. Butnow enough doctors," he notes. I has taken Pandya, 42, from his its almost as if hed been in back to Kenya on two different wentto medical school to be able upbringing in an Indian com- m unity in Kenya, to medical school in Uganda, a surgery residency in Nairobi, uprooting to the U.S., a psychiatric resi- dency in Salt Lake City, meet- ing and marrying a woman from Kanab, and 11 years ago the decision to become a family practitioner here. Despite all his education and medical training, Pandya had to start over when he decided to come to the U.S. for ate work in July, 1976, because he was allowed to bring only $400 with him. But he brought with him some experiences that made him value a free society above material possessions. He was in Uganda post-gr&d- g- during the revolution that brought Idi Amin to power, and saw his fellow student leaders as well as some of his professors get arrested and disappear for-ever. They were killed, he, said, As studentbody vice president, he should have been one ofthose arrested, except that he was Kenyan instead ofUgandan and the president of the university had argued the army shouldnt arrest foreign students. The revolution was during Pandyas last year in medical school in 1971, and when he graduatedin 1972, it was Amin, Kanab forever. I couldnt have found a better place," he remarks. Ive really enjoyed it. Ive enjoyed the prac- tice and the people. The vast majority are some of the nicest people Ive ever met." And he is not bothered by the few who have reacted negatively to his race. "Prejudice and big- otry exists everywhere," he as- serts. And it goes both ways. I dont let that stand in my way. One of the reasons I came here is its a free society and Im al- lowed to stand up for what I believe in. Sometimes it makes me angry. But I exercise my right to speak. It doesnt bother me to confront anyone with those views. But I respect a persons right to have those views." Pandya said he enjoys the challenge that being different creates for him. If I can succeed despite being different in every sense, that is a challenge I like, he remarks. His acceptance probably has been facilitated by being mar- ried to a local woman. He met Sherrie Robinson, daughter of Lloyd and Pauline Robinson of Kanab, onlyayearafterhecame to the U.S., in 1977 while serv- ing a residency in psychiatry at the University of Utah. Sherrie had gone to Utah Technical occasions, in 1979 and in 1988. They have methis parents, both teachers, and his older brother and two younger sisters. His mother and sister have visited in Kanab. Pandya is a major asset to the medical community in Kanab with his varied training. He did an internship in internal medi- cine and obstetricsgynecology at the university hospital in Nairobi, followed by almost two years of surgery residency, then finished with the three-yea- r psychiatry residency at the U. of U. Actually Pandya wanted to finish his surgery residency and become abrain surgeon when he first came to the U.S., but he said prejudice kept him from getting a surgery post He is not unhappy that it turned out that way because he loves psychiatry and it has provided a variety to my practice thats been useful. He said 80 percent of his pa- tients have emotional problems, and they would not be as likely to come to him ifhis shingle said psychiatrist" instead of family practitioner. Pandya emphasizes that it was his decision to come to Kanab when he finished his residency in Salt Lake, not Sherries. In fact, she didnt want to come back, he notes. He had been down to visit Sh erries family and liked the weather and the small town . The hospital had lost a physician and was looking for a replacement, so he came down to check it out. w WE HAVE BASKETS ALREADY MADE UP OR YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN. We carry baskets, fake grass, plastic eggs, toys, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks and more ... including packaged and bulk candy. Honey's IGA JSZSKMEm! Wl -- 260 rCOO Sc Kanab frl . to do something for people and help where Im needed the most. wanted to practice a full vari- ety of medicine and go to a place where those services are needed most His practice at the Pandya Clinic and the hospital includes obstetricsgynecology, surgery, and psychiatry. In addition, he has been the medical directoi of the Behavioral Medicine Unit at Dixie Medical Center in St. George for the past year and a half. He spends Wednesdays in St. George. The mild weather here was a decided attraction to Pandya, having grown up in a tropical climate near the Indian Ocean, similar to Hawaii. He might have stayed in Salt Lake, except for his dislike of the more extreme weather. He thought Salt Lake was beautiful, the mountain reminding him of S wit- zerland. He was impressed with how clean it was in comparison with Washington, D.C., and New York City. Pandya himself is amused by how far he has come in cultural adjustment during the past 14 years. He recalls what it was like when he arrived at Dulles International Airport in Wash- ington in July, 1976. Everything seemed so big, he says. And the accents were strange a more British-oriente- d society. A customs official noticed his stethoscope andremarked about his being a doctor. But driving was a jolt A friend came to pick me up," he relates. He was driving on the wrong side of the road, and that freaked it like people were talk- ing through their nose. He said he was immediately put at ease by the friendliness of Americans in contrast to the aloofness he had experienced in y. out" He stayed with his friend in Washington for a couple of months while he applied for residencies, also visitinga friend in New York City during that time. He was invited for an in-- I terview at three places, but had only enough airfare for one trip, So he decided to visit the Uni-th- e versity of Utah, with the alter- native of extending his trip to one of the other places, the University of Washington in Seattle, ifhe didnt like the U. of U. position, Utah was enthusiastic about him and he decided to accept the position there. He had some reservations aboutUtah because his friends back East told him it was Mormon country and he didnt know what Mormons were. I thought they were like the Orthodox Greeks and wore robes, he relates. Im not sure howl got that impression. I guess that was how they showed them in old Western films. I was y antly surprised when I found out they didnt wear robes and looked like anybody else. Pandya feels his adjustment to Utah was eased by being in the university setting, because it is more of a mixed community, He also feels he adapted faster because of being in psychiatry, I wondered why people were having so many problems, he comments' I hadnt seen them back home. But it was just that people back home didnt plain. It helped me to adapt to being in a new country. It was the best thing I did. In surgery, I wouldnt have had it. It helped me to understand American culture. Pandya was born in Tanganyika, now Tanzania, but his family was from Kenya and that is where he was raised. He is a Indian. His father from India to Kenya in migrated pleas-scener- corn-sound- full-blood- the ed and his mothers family migrated from India to Tanganyika in the late 1800s. 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