Sanjiv Chopra


Sanjiv Chopra, M.B.B.S, M.A.C.P, is an Indian-born American physician, Professor of Medicine and former Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, Senior Consultant in Hepatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and author.

Early life

Born in Poona, India, two years after India's independence from British rule, Chopra was inspired from a young age to follow in the footsteps of his father, Krishan Chopra a renowned Indian cardiologist. Krishan Chopra was a Fellow of the Royal Hospital of Physicians and served as head of the Department of Medicine and Cardiology at Mool Chand Khairati Ram Hospital, New Delhi, for over 25 years. He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Indian Army. Sanjiv Chopra's paternal grandfather was a sergeant in the British Army. Chopra's older brother, Deepak Chopra, is also a physician, as well as a holistic health expert and spiritual guru and perhaps the most famous of America's complementary medicine practitioners.

Family life

Chopra married Amita Rani Chopra at the age of 20. They were classmates at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Amita is a pediatrician who currently serves as an adjunct staff at Boston Children's Hospital and guest faculty at RxRelax Therapeutic Yoga training for Healthcare professionals. They moved to the United States in 1972. They have three children.

Education

Sanjiv Chopra graduated from St. Columba's School, Delhi in 1964. He did his premedical qualification from Hans Raj College, Delhi University. He graduated from Medical School from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. In 1972 he came to the United States for post-graduate training. After a year of Internship in Internal Medicine in New Jersey, he moved to Boston in 1973. Following his residency, he completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, from 1975 - 1977. He has been on the faculty of Harvard Medical School since 1979.

Medical and academic career

Chopra was elected as a Master of the American College of Physicians in 2009, an award given to individuals for being "citizen physicians, educational innovators, scientific thinkers and humanists who inspire those around him or her and sets the standards for quality in medicine."
He is Professor of Medicine and, previously, Faculty Dean for Continuing Education at Harvard Medical School. He also acts as a Senior Consultant in Hepatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and is the James Tullis Firm Chief, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
He has received a number of other awards, including the American Gastroenterological Association's Distinguished Educator Award. In 2012, he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for "exemplifying outstanding qualities in both one's personal and professional lives while continuing to preserve the richness of one's particular heritage."
Chopra's book, , co-authored with Alan Lotvin, was published in January 2011.
Chopra, while serving as the Faculty Dean for Continuing Education, led the most robust academic Continuing Medical Education enterprise in the world, reaching out to 80,000 clinicians in more than 160 countries each year. This included seven annual Current Clinical Issues in Primary Care conferences held in collaboration with UCLA, Johns Hopkins, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Miami, Northwestern University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. In addition to directing these conferences, he delivered several lectures, moderated a number of sessions and has served as a keynote speaker on several occasions. Chopra is also editor-in-chief of the Hepatology section of UpToDate.

Public speaking

Chopra has lectured on "Leadership for the 21st Century: The Tenets of Leadership" more than 70 times in the United States and more than 15 times in countries abroad.
In this presentation, he discusses a wide range of examples of leaders who have changed the world. Chopra discusses historic figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Florence Nightingale and Winston Churchill, as well as contemporary leaders, and examine what makes them effective.

Awards

Books

  1. Sidhu S, Flamm S, Chopra S. Am J Gastroenterol. 1994 Sep; 89:1578-9.
  2. Proctor DD, Chopra S, Rubenstein SC, Jokela JA, Uhl L. Am J Gastroenterol. 1993 Jul; 88:1112-5.
  3. Nompleggi DJ, Farraye FA, Singer A, Edelman RR, Chopra S. Am J Gastroenterol. 1991 Nov; 86:1658-64.
  4. Rustgi AK, Chopra S. J Gen Intern Med. 1989 Mar-Apr; 4:151-9.
  5. Blumberg RS, Chopra S, Ibrahim R, Crawford J, Farraye FA, Zeldis JB, Berman MD. Gastroenterology. 1988 Nov; 95:1399-402.
  6. Weinman MD, Chopra S. Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 1987 Dec; 16:627-50.
  7. Griffin PH, Schnure FW, Chopra S, Brooks DC, Gilliam JI. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1986 Jun; 8:389-94.
  8. Roberts I, Chopra S, Warshaw AL. Am J Gastroenterol. 1982 Jan; 77:43-4.