THE STANLY NEWS &

PRESS
Mac retires after being
Stanlys 1st orthopedic
surgeon
BY Casey Ruble, for the SNAP Jan 28, 2015

Dr. Surendrapal Mac has practiced medicine in Stanly County for 35 years. He
recently announced his retirement.

Success can be hard to define, as it means something different to all.

At the end of December, one of the most prolific members of the Stanly County
community retired. A resident for roughly 35 years, Dr. Surendrapal Mac, 68, has
entered a new phase of his life come 2015.
The first orthopedic surgeon in the area, Mac moved with his wife, who is also a
physician, to Albemarle to find a slower pace of life.
We liked Albemarle, Mac said. The people were very nice, the hospital was
looking for an orthopedic surgeon. I was the first orthopedic surgeon to come to
Albemarle.

Growing up in India, the young doctor decided to pursue medicine while attending
high school. While driven at a young age, his inspiration for choosing orthopedics
would be rather unorthodox: He looked to literally rebuild the human body.
My father had a furniture manufacturing plant, and I saw all these people using
saws, chisels, hammers, drills and nails. I did some woodworking, and that made me
interested in orthopedics because that is what we do with bones, basically, Mac
said.
To further that goal, he would attend the Mahatma Ghandi Medical College, an
institute named after the prolific Indian humanitarian. After the academic
accomplishment, Mac opted to broaden his horizons.
It was always my desire to come to the United States for further studies. When I
came here, I applied for various internships at hospitals, Mac said.
While attending medical school launched his budding medical career, Mac also
found love in Harjit, his wife to be. With both aiming for a career in medicine, the
two became wed quickly afterward due to the fact that Surendrapals plans to come
to the U.S. were already set in motion.
We met in 72, and we got married four or five months afterward, and came here
three months after our marriage, Mac said. I had already planned to move to the
U.S., so after we got married, both of us came.
The two young doctors would work in Maryland and New York, including a residency
at John Hopkins Hospital. After several years of hustle and bustle, and Surendrapal
having a stint as an instructor for orthopedics, the couple decided that New York
was not the place to begin their family as they found themselves commuting up to
three hours a day on top of a difficult work schedule.
Mac would find his opportunity in North Carolina as Albemarles growing hospital did
not have an orthopedic surgeon in 1979. He would become the first.
People were so nice here, we had absolutely no problem adjusting, he said.
When we moved, we did not buy the house. We thought we may try it for a year or
two years, in case we wanted to move back. But within a year, we knew this would
be our home.
The move proved fruitful, but challenging as the surgeon found himself on call
seven days a week, but laughed thinking about the early days of country living as
one would be simply out of luck if they wanted to get a bite to eat after 9 p.m. as
the entire county was in bed.
Work at the hospital proved rewarding and challenging despite the workload. With
two children, now both successful and still in North Carolina, along with a grandchild
that is very much enjoyed by the two doctors, it is clear the pursuit of education has
resulted in many tidings for the Mac family.
Now looking forward to retiring, Mac finds few places left on the planet to visit that
he has not been before, having traveled to nearly every European country, Thailand,

the Philippines, Japan and even the Middle East. In addition to travel, he is able to
keep busy as a member of Rotary International, which is a group that utilizes
influential members of the community to combat epidemics (such as polio) around
the globe.
Using his views as a world traveler, Mac has also written for this newspaper.
In the shadow of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he felt compelled to explain his religion
known as Sikhism to assist those who may be unfamiliar and confuse those who
wear a turban headwrap, known as a dastaar, and follow Sikhism, opposed to the
radical Muslims that had become infamous throughout the media.
Sikhism is a religion that looks to infuse equality and balance through the world, in
addition to harmony among all peoples and their religions. He and his wife are
passionate about their temple of worship, called a gurudwara, in Charlotte.
America is a great country. There is nothing like the United States, Mac said.
The freedom to practice your religion, its a wonderful country to be in. People
dont realize how fortunate they are.
Mac began his road to success by seeking out continued education and seeking
personal challenges. It is this passion and drive that would enhance the family that
he began after moving to the U.S., and to the communities where he and Harjit
made their homes. Without the discipline to push himself through medical school,
seek out residency and other avenues of education in the U.S., his story would have
been perfectly fine being set in India.
However, it is education that empowered the Macs to enhance Stanly and improve
the health of the county.
We do not plan on moving, this is our home, Mac said, cementing his familys
continued involvement in Stanly County.
Casey Ruble is a freelance contributor for The Stanly News &Press.
B. J. Drye is editor of The Stanly News & Press. Contact him at (704) 9822121 ext. 25, bj@stanlnewspress.com or PO Box 488, Albemarle, NC
28002.