President’s Message – July 27, 2020

Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik!

Dear APPNA Members,

This week I am awash in memories of the most momentous journey I took 8 years ago when I had the privilege to perform Hajj. I realized then the miniscule existence we lead. I was but a speck of sand in the sea of humanity, and the life purpose was one of submission.

This year, Corona virus epidemic has brought us all back to bare necessities of life, peeling away all our veneers. We are relying again on gaining meaning in life from service and sacrifice. Certainly, APPNA physicians are living this life of service and sacrifice on the frontlines of the pandemic.

God know best but as we head into August and look at an upsurge of the Covid19 cases in the south and western parts of our country, I am getting increasingly doubtful whether we could have a Fall meeting safely without putting our membership at risk. Similarly, international travel for December looks doubtful.

That does not lessen the importance of our beloved APPNA and how we can connect and support one another. Even if many of us have been denied the ability to perform Hajj this year, we can still be part of the ummah by donating and helping people in this time of continuing crisis.

Let me give you some APPNA updates:

1. In lieu of an in-person Summer Convention, APPNA held a Zoom Council meeting on July 3rd and a Zoom General Body Meeting on July 4th. Both were extremely productive with our council members fully engaged. Our committee chairs were able to present their extensive work to the general membership. A particular highlight was the CABL committee presentation by Dr. Zia Moiz Ahmed which gave our membership an excellent opportunity to engage with the committee and provide input on any revisions to our constitution and bylaws. 
2. APPNA has raised $1,072,000 for COVID19 relief and has spent about $920,000 in total in US, Canada and Pakistan, on food rations, PPE and now more recently for oxygen cylinders and concentrators to be provided to indigent patients in Pakistan for home treatment since the hospitals have run out of available beds. Further breakdown,
   • a. In US/Canada $390K have been spent on PPE and food aid, mostly in partnership with our chapters, with our mechanism of matching grants. APPNA matches 50 cents for every dollar our chapters raise, multiplying the local impact.
   • b. In Pakistan, $530K have been spent on PPE, food rations and our new focus oxygen cylinders for indigent patients. We have already given $78,000 to Al Khidmat and Hands to distribute those all over Pakistan.We are worried about a post Eid-ul-Azha surge and anticipate there will be an increased need for food aid as well as daily wage support that we will inshallah be offering in Pakistan with the continued generosity of our donors.
3. APPNA MERIT is continuing its strong programs for improving health education in Pakistan.Nowadays, MERIT holds multiple seminars over the weekend. APPNA MERIT held its annual summer symposium on July 4th on 2020 focus “Family Medicine and Primary Care: Capacity Building in Pakistan.” Guests included Dr. Tariq Banuri, Chair Higher Education Commission, Dr. Faisal Sultan, member PM Task Force on Health, representative of federal health ministry, Vice-chancellors of various universities and family medicine academicians.MERIT has launched 3 new initiatives:
   a. Nursing Development in Pakistan: MERIT has formed a group of elite leadership in nursing from Pakistan, UK and North America: The have involved the nursing leaders of various universities including Agha Khan University which has played a major role in the development of quality nursing in Pakistan. We are also collaborating with Pakistan Nursing Council and Pakistan Nursing Federation. We have decided to focus on three main pathways.

   i. Nursing Leadership training and faculty development

   ii. Public Health and Community Nursing to play a major role in the MERIT Initiative of Family Practice support in Pakistan.

   iii. Specialty Nursing training and education. The first group in this is Critical Care Nurses followed by Stroke Nurses and ER Nurses.

   iv. On July 11, 2020 APPNA Merit presented the first session of weekly Merit Nursing Webinar series for COVID -19 to a live international audience.

   b. APPNA MERIT ER Committee: Professors Junaid Razzak from Johns Hopkins and Zaffer Qasim from U Penn are inviting all ER physicians of Pakistan-descent to join this group to fill in the gaps and advance this important and needed specialty in Pakistan.

   c. APPNA MERIT Nephrology Committee: Dr. Avais Masud is inviting Nephrologists to join this new subcommittee for capacity building and addressing gaps in the care of patients with renal disease and hypertension.

4. Our advocacy efforts have been tremendously successful for in-coming residents. We have helped more than 200 matched residents successfully get US visas through emergency visa appointments, by working closely with US Embassy in Pakistan, US State department and Pakistan’s government officials. Aside from a very few still in Administrative Process, almost all the residents have reached the US and started their residencies. We look forward to welcoming them as APPNA members in the near future. Our next challenge is advocating for our Pakistani medical students who are applying for next year’s residencies. They have to fulfill the new requirements of ECFMG Pathways given the current suspension of USMLE CS exam. We have been in frequent communications with ECFMG and Pakistan’s HEC and PMDC to find solutions that will enable Pakistan’s young physicians to be able to apply for the 2021 residency match.
5. APPNA NOW newsletter has kept us engaged and informed with the latest APPNA news and happenings every month and my special thanks to Dr. Mubasher Rana for spearheading that.
6. APPNA Social forum chair, Dr. Kamran Rao organized a very successful and informative webinar on Saturday July 25th with Mr. Erwin Massinga, from the US State department’s Pakistan desk. We are hoping that such forums will become a regular feature of our virtual life.
7. APPNA Elections campaigns kicked off on July 7th. I wish all the best to Dr. Haroon Durrani, Dr. Aftab Khan and Dr. Shahid Rashid, for their campaign for APPNA President Elect 2021, Dr. Humeraa Qamar and Dr. Tayyib Rana for their campaign for APPNA Treasurer 2021. Dr. Arshad Rehan was unopposed for APPNA Secretary 2021
8. APPNA Office Expenses: As this year, we have no major sources of revenue generation through meetings we have cut monthly operational expenses of APPNA from $40,000/month to $25,000/month. APPNA council had approved a special assessment fee of $200 in Spring Council meeting to help run the APPNA office. APPNA EC requests that all members please pay their special assessment.

My deepest thanks and gratitude to APPNA Executive Committee, APPNA Council, APPNA Committee Chairs and the APPNA membership for their trust in the leadership and their selfless contributions in time, effort and funds for our many initiatives. Our thanks also to our office staff lead by Nick Suh and our IT support by Laiq Siddiqui. Both have been available at all hours of the day to move the logistics of our projects forward.

Wishing you all a blessed and safe Eid ul Azha!