Even before he started medical school, Dr. Swaiman Singh was committed to addressing the healthcare problems he saw in his local community, a village called Pakhoke in the state of Punjab, India.

“For the past nine years, I’ve had a habit of going around and helping people in and around my village,” said Dr. Singh. “That help has taken on a new meaning now that I am a physician. I go to my village hospital and do a lot of teaching and guidance on common disease prevalent in the area. Many people don’t even have basic healthcare and education. The stories I have came across are heartbreaking and have motivated me to take action step by step.”

Dr. Singh graduated from American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine in 2015, then completed an internal medicine residency at Drexel University College of Medicine and Hahnemann Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is now a cardiology fellow at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center/Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health in Newark, New Jersey. But though Dr. Singh now lives on the East Coast, Punjab is never far from his thoughts.

This March, he is organizing two medical camps, one in Pakhoke on March 14, and one in Ludhiana on March 23. Dr. Singh is teaming up with nonprofit organizations, as well as local doctors, pharmacists, and dentists to diagnose conditions, provide medication, and educate patients about preventive care. He and his team, doctors specializing in cardiology, pediatrics, internal medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedics, and obstetrics, will offer medical services including cancer screenings, blood tests, and medication information sessions. Dr. Singh expects that they will be able to treat 5,000 to 10,000 people through the camps.

“My plan is to start here and use this year as a blueprint for my visits every year from here on out,” he said. “I hope to show my friends and colleagues in the U.S. and elsewhere what can be done through teamwork. I know we can help tremendous number of people in great need.”

Dr. Singh said his time at AUA has had a lasting influence on his career path, from the dedicated professors to the diverse students.

“Everything I’m doing now is a gift from AUA – the education I received, the classmates, now colleagues, who I can now reach out to,” said Dr. Singh. “In Newark, I am able to serve a population in great need and I am hoping to do the same for people in India.”

Learn more about AUA alumni.