Jay was humbled and honored to serve as the Immediate Past President of the American Medical Student Association last year. He was the first Osteopathic President in the association’s 57 year history. In that position he has been an incredible advocate for the osteopathic profession and medical students and he continues to realize his lifelong dream of mobilizing a cadre of health professionals who are committed to improving health care and the world around us and advocate for prevention. He currently is a 4th year duties at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) and is a Paul Ambrose Scholar.
Like AMSA, Jay takes his roots from Chicago, IL, where his heart still lies. But he has traveled extensively both domestically and abroad to promote health and well being while empowering local communities to take charge of their lives, including a trip to El Salvador with Patch Adams to build a health clinic for the underserved. Jay was an undergraduate student at The University of Chicago and majored in Economics. Jay currently serves on the Board of Physicians for a National Health Program, Justice Speaks, AMSA, and the Governing Council of the American Public Health Association while working with students to help them become active in the issues that affect their profession, health equity, conflict of interest, public health, students, and patients. Last November, Jay was honored with a prestigious award from the APHA, the Jay Drotman Memrorial Award recognizing his work in challenging the public health issues of our time. In a nomination letter, Dr. Paul Farmer said in a nomination letter that Bhatt is “ceaseless in his commitment to public health advocacy and human rights, through activism and research”
Jay has long promoted the integration of public health, public policy, and activism in medical training. His own career includes receiving a Masters in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago, stints with well-known health care consulting firms including the Lewin Group and Mercer Consulting Group, and time on Capitol Hill in the Congressional Black Caucus Health Brain Trust with Congresswoman Donna Christensen, MD (D-VI). He also has the distinction of being a National Health Service Corps Scholar, and has committed to working in medically underserved areas after completing his medical training. He has led numerous community organizing projects around access to care, HIV/AIDS, and elections. He volunteers his efforts in a number of different capacities for the Obama campaign as co-founder of South Asians for Obama and National Outreach Co-Director for Doctors for Obama, the Roosevelt Institute, the nation’s first student policy think tank along with working for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement on their health professions education collaborative on patient safety and healthcare quality.
Jay wishes to bring sustained growth, passion, and most importantly, FUN to each and every future healthcare professional he comes in contact with! His love of dancing, especially Bhangra, is often on display at conferences and meetings for this very purpose. Jay will be pursuing a Primary Care Internal Medicine residency program at the Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School in which he can continue his mission of developing physician leaders in social justice and advocacy, practice prevention, take care of the underserved, and move public policy