History of Thai Physicians in America

Thanit Hasadsri, M.D.
The first Westerner medical doctor who went to Thailand was a German
Christian missionary named Dr. Gutzlaff. He arrived in 1828 during the reign
of King Rama III . He worked for 3 years before moving to China.

Dr. David Abell, M.D. an American Christian missionary took Dr. Gutzlaff' s
work for 2 years , followed by the famous Dr. David Beach Bradley, M.D
who arrived in 1835 and lived in Thailand until his death 38 years later.

The first US medical graduate from Thailand was Mr. He Tien ( TienHe ),
a son of a Chinese doctor in Bangkok. TienHe received M.D. from N.Y.
Medical College in 1871 .One of his son, Mr. Poj Sarasin was a Secretary General of the South East Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) and then a Thai prime minister in 1957.

Dr. Li SrePaYak's brother claimed that Dr. Li SrePaYak was the first Thai
national who graduated from US medical school ( Albany Medical College, N.Y.1923)
He got a Royal title of Luang LiPiThumSrePaYak after a long carrier with Thai government medical service.

The most famous US medical graduate from Thailand was Prince Songkla
Mahidol who graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1928. He is the
present King's father and he is recognized as the Father of Modern Thai medicine.

Before 1960, there were very few Thai doctors in US but the number started to
rise due to Thai doctors who came for training. According to statistics from the
Journal of American Medical Association :

1963 there were 185 Thai doctors in training program
1964 there were 267 Thai doctors in training program
1965 there were 393 Thai doctors in training program
1966 there were 531 Thai doctors in training program
1967 there were 646 Thai doctors in training program
1968 there were 721Thai doctors in training program
1969 there were 831 Thai doctors in training program
1970 there were 837 Thai doctors in training program
1971 there were 891 Thai doctors in training program, the highest, then declined
1972 there were 789 Thai doctors in training program
1973 there were 729 Thai doctors in training program
1974 there were 620 Thai doctors in training program
1975 there were 451 Thai doctors in training program
1976 there were 329 Thai doctors in training program
1977 there were 176 Thai doctors in training program

Since 1977, the Journal has not published any data about number of
Thai doctors in USA, due to very small number compared to the other countries.

There are about 1000 Thai doctors now in USA, in Midwestern states of
about 400, Eastern states 300, Southern states 150,and Western states 150

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