Rizwan Khalid, MD
President APPNA 2021
Assalam alaikum and Good morning
I hope everybody is having a restful and blessed Ramzan. I will start by requesting your charitable donations including Zakat to many of APPNA’s welfare projects.
In the month of April, APPNA had a very successful Spring meeting in Orlando. This was our first major in-person council meeting since the pandemic hit us last year. We were encouraged by the excellent response by our membership. Over 130 guests attended the Saturday night banquet. Local, State and Federal guidelines were followed during the meeting. I thank Drs. Aniq Shaikh, Dr Sajid Chaudhary and Dr. Tahir Hussain for making it possible at such a short notice. I also thank the Ambassador of Pakistan to the US Dr. Asad Majeed Khan for addressing the audience during the Saturday banquet.
During this historic Council meeting, I am pleased to announce that Bolan Medical College alumni, Saskatchewan, Maryland and Kentucky/Indiana chapters were approved to be APPNA component societies. I welcome and congratulate Drs. Khalid Alam, Najma Jamil, Haroon Burhan and Waseem Sajjad for joining APPNA’s council. Rest of the business of APPNA was also done in a very timely and cordial manner by the EC and Council members.
Dear friends, as you know that there are numerous issues with our constitution and bylaws. The Constitution and bylaws committee is working extremely hard, even during ramzan, to create a draft of its recommendations on a brand new bylaws. This document will be shared with the Council members very shortly. I appreciate the wonderful work done by Drs. Zia Moiz, Abdul Jabbar and their committee.
The Advocacy committee is facilitating and expediting visa interviews of all our matched residents and I am happy to report that to-date we have not heard of any visa refusals in Islamabad and Karachi. I thank the leadership of the Advocacy committee including Dr. Piracha, Fateh Shahzad and Shahzad Iqbal for their efforts. Kudos to the remarkable work by the SWDRC and COVID 19 taskforce in both Pakistan and North America. I would like to commend the Committee for Young Physicians, Young Professionals Network, APPNA MERIT, Alumni Scholarship, Membership committees and other committees for their work during the month of April.
The EC is watching the COVID 19 situation in Pakistan very closely and concerned with the third wave of COVID cases. We are in regular contact with the Health authorities in Pakistan and the Pakistan Embassy in the US and assessing the needs on the ground. I pray for the safety of everyone including families and friends of APPNA members in Pakistan, ameen.
Friends, The Summer Convention is being held from June 30th – July 4 at the Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando. We are anticipating an excellent response from our membership. We will continue to strive to achieve a high level of safety for all our attendees. A comprehensive set of guidelines have been put in place to ensure that we equal or exceed the local, state and federal COVID 19 requirements. An outstanding program is being worked on by the host committee with CME, workshops, project introductions, Social forums, Business meetings, Reunions, Alumni meetings, APPNA Bazaar, Banquets, culinary delights and Entertainment. I will encourage all potential attendees to register at your first convenience and book your hotel rooms before they are sold out.
At the end I would like to thank my Executive Committee, who have provided me significant assistance and have worked diligently.
Have a very happy Eid ul Fitr and see you in Orlando on June 30th for the Summer Convention!
Khuda hafiz
Rizwan Khalid
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