Local Physicians to be Honored at LitNet Gala| 01:12PM / Friday, September 30, 2016 | |
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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — The Literacy Network of South Berkshire (LitNet), headquartered in Lee, will host its 25th anniversary gala on Saturday, Oct. 1, at Berkshire Country Day School in Stockbridge.
The organization, which serves a significant number of immigrant students, is celebrating the diversity of our Berkshire immigrant community and the many ways in which our cities and towns are enriched by residents from around the globe.
At this year’s event, LitNet will honor two distinguished members of the hospitalist program at Berkshire Medical Center, Dr. Tony Makdisi and Dr. Sukhpal Mann. Each physician will receive LitNet’s Founders of America Award, which recognizes individuals whose strength of character and commitment to service have improved lives in the Berkshires and beyond.
Both doctors immigrated to the United States as adults - Dr. Makdisi from Syria and Dr. Mann from India. They work behind the scenes, day and night, to care for patients hospitalized at BMC. Their commitments to education, public service, and the people of the Berkshires make Dr. Makdisi and Dr. Mann inspiring role models for the LitNet community and distinguish them as true "founders of America."
Makdisi graduated from medical school at the University of Damascus in 1992. Following several years of military service and an orthopedic residency program in which he studied under numerous skilled American physicians, he was inspired to come to the United States. He immigrated to America in 2000, at which time he received training at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, and later completed his residency at Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 2005.
In 2006, Dr. Makdisi was hired as one of the earliest members of the hospitalist program at BMC, and in 2013, he helped to establish BMC’s first Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation Service. Dr. Makdisi now serves as associate program director of the hospitalist program and as chief of the division of palliative care. Tony and his wife, Fadia, live in Pittsfield and have three children, Helen, Joyce, and Grace.
Mann graduated from India’s Armed Forces Medical College in 1987. For the next five years, he served as a captain in the medical corps of the Indian Army and subsequently volunteered as a physician in his hometown of Jalandhar with the Manav Sehyog Society, a social service organization that provides free medical care and education for children and families in need. Dr. Mann later taught physiology at Government Medical College in Chandigarh, before returning to clinical service as a family physician at a rural medical center for the Punjab Civil Medical Services.
Mann and his family immigrated to the United States in 1998, to be closer to his brother-in-law, a business-owner in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. After completing his residency at Berkshire Medical Center in 2004, Dr. Mann served as chief resident in internal medicine. He has also worked as the associate program director of the residency program and has been honored with the Gerald L. Haidak, MD Memorial Resident of the Year award (2003-2004) and the Jordan B. Fieldman, MD award for Medical Humanism (2002-2003). In July 2005, Dr. Mann became the first doctor hired under the hospitalist program at BMC. Currently, he is working with patients in the critical care step-down unit.
Mann resides in Dalton with his wife, Rosy, a practitioner of ayurvedic medicine at Kripalu. They have two children—Harnoor, who is currently in medical school at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and Pukhraj, who is pursuing an engineering degree at Purdue University.
Since opening its doors in 1991, LitNet has worked with more than 1,000 volunteer tutors to provide nearly 1,200 adult students in Berkshire County with free, individualized tutoring. LitNet seeks to give adult learners the tools they need to succeed in their jobs, support their families, and engage with their local communities. The organization currently serves more than 115 student/tutor pairs, who meet weekly to study English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), prepare for the high school equivalency test or the U.S. citizenship exam, or learn basic reading skills. More than 90 percent of LitNet’s students are immigrants learning English.
At the gala, beginning at 5:30 p.m., guests can enjoy a cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by a buffet dinner and dessert by Peter Platt of the Old Inn on the Green. For more information and to purchase tickets, call LitNet at 413-243-0471 or visit www.litnetsb.org.
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