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G. Naheed Usmani, MD
President APPNA 2020

Dear APPNA Members,

Happy 2020. May this year bring many blessings to all of you. Taking the helm of APPNA as President 2020, fills me with awe and humility. I am walking in the footsteps of many great memorable APPNA leaders. I have been reading APPNA Qissa this past few weeks and it is clear to me what the key mission and goals of APPNA are. We have to refocus and redouble our efforts on our core initiatives in Pakistan, US, Canada, and elsewhere.

I am especially passionate about APPNA’s health and educational initiatives in Pakistan. As many of you know, I served as APPNA MERIT’s founding chair for its first 5 years establishing programs to improve medical education and training in Pakistan. I created and chaired APPNA Telemedicine to bring expert US consultation to physicians in Pakistan’s underserved areas. I founded and ran the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology department at Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital as a member of its original commissioning team. I will bring that experience, passion and associations to deliver on APPNA’s mission to give back!

1. Pakistan Initiatives: Improving Health, Medical Education and Training

I was invited to join various diaspora experts for wide-ranging discussions with healthcare leaders in Pakistan on their latest healthcare priorities and how the diaspora could help. I have since brainstormed with leaders of current APPNA initiatives to begin fleshing out our 2020 programs, both new and old. We can and inshallah will do a lot in 2020:

  1. Family Medicine Residency: Pakistan has introduced health insurance cards but lacks trained family practitioners to deliver primary care. APPNA has been invited to facilitate Family Medicine training in major teaching institutions across Pakistan. APPNA MERIT is launching its first annual conference on “Establishing Family Medicine Residency” in March 2020 at Rawalpindi Medical College in collaboration with Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission and Federal Ministry of Health which will be attended by participants from across Pakistan.
  2. Nursing Shortage: Pakistan needs to grow nursing capacity from 10K to 100K. APPNA MERIT will work on this, including arranging placement of Pakistani nurses for US/Canada graduate nursing programs so they be trained faculty in Pakistan.
  3. HIV, Hepatitis C, Polio: Build on educational and transfer-of- expertise efforts
  4. Cornea Transplant: Support and grow. We are exploring collaboration with Eversight Vision Eye bank so that many more people can be helped
  5. MERIT Visiting Faculty Programs: Strengthen in multiple specialties for Pakistan
  6. Stroke Units and Intensive Care Training: Support and grow
  7. Clean Water Projects: Support and grow
  8. School Sanitation Program for Girls: Launch, so girls don’t leave school at puberty
  9. Medical Missions, Mobile Health Units, etc: Support and improve

I invite all APPNA physicians to actively join these initiatives, suggest names from your chapters or alumni who could help, be a bridge between US/Canada and your college.

2. US/Canada Initiatives: Mentorship, Advocacy, Philanthropy, Free Clinics, Scholarships
As a mother of a US medical graduate who is in residency training now, I am acutely aware of APPNA’s need to induct and motivate our next generation. There is great opportunity to nurture our next generation and serve our communities in US and Canada. We also must strengthen collaboration between APPNA’s US/Canada local chapters and national committees to share best practices and leverage each other to multiply our impact at the local level. Our US and Canada initiatives will make progress on these goals while strengthening existing programs.

  1. North American Medical Alumni Section: Strengthen, grow, involve medical students as a subgroup
  2. Mentorship for US/Canada High Schoolers, Undergrads: Develop in chapters
  3. APPNA Scholarships in US/Canada Medical Schools: Initiate with chapters
  4. Advocacy and Civic Engagement: Strengthen at chapter level
  5. Free Clinics, Pantry, Mobile Health Units, National Healthcare Day: Support, grow

Please help APPNA recruit NAMA students and graduates. Participate and share ideas for our US/Canada initiatives.

3. APPNA Legislative and Administrative Initiatives:

  1. CABL: As 2020 Executive Committee we are committed to bringing APPNA to a harmonious place. That can only be achieved when we all work together and through our differences. We will develop a broad-based committee of senior APPNA members, and members from different CABL committees to work with a constitutional expert on not-for-profit governance to do a thorough review of APPNA Constitution and ByLaws (CABL) to propose CABL amendments that resolve ambiguities, clarify roles and processes, and remove any non-compliance with IL law. In APPNA meetings, we will organize town halls to review CABL findings and proposals with members for their input.
  2. Council: Develop best practices and improve standardization across all our component societies.
  3. Chapters: Improve coordination and support for initiatives like food pantry, national health care day, free clinics, youth mentorship programs and APPNA scholarships in US/Canadian medical school

APPNA Strategy Meeting 2020:  Philadelphia, January 31 – February 1.
Please attend to shape these ideas for 2020 implementation in round-table discussions.

Let us jointly make 2020 a year to re-focus on our mission and service initiatives that the vast majority of our membership cares about. Please help me in strengthening APPNA!

Happy New Year!
G. Naheed Usmani, MD
President APPNA 2020