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G. Naheed Usmani, MD
President APPNA 2020

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Dear APPNA Members,

Assalmu Alaikum.

I hope all of you are safe and ready to welcome Fall this year. In absence of the APPNA Fall meeting, we are holding a Zoom Council meeting on October 10th from 3 to 6PM Eastern time. The CABL committee also plans to hold another meeting with APPNA members that weekend to share their updates on proposed revisions to APPNA constitution and By Laws.

APPNA election season is in full swing, with 2 weeks to go until the last voting day on 10/8. I urge all members to vote and all candidates to focus on their vision and plans for the future, and please avoid negative campaigning.

The pivotal US Presidential election will be in only 5 weeks. Please participate actively, vote and encourage your families and community to vote as well.

APPNA philanthropic efforts are continuing now focusing on relieving misery in Karachi and Sindh from flooding. APPNA Social Welfare and Disaster Relief Committee and the Covid Task force have raised $85K for this effort and spent $45K already for food distribution in Karachi and Sindh. APPNA has collaborated with Saylani Trust, Shahid Afridi Foundation, HDF, Helping Hands and Khana Gher, to provide food to Malir, Liyari, Khuda ki Basti, Machar colony and Yusuf Goth in Karachi and Dadu, Mirpurkhas, Tharparker and Tando Alam in Sindh.

TV news also covered tents APPNA distributed in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as part of COVID relief.

APPNA MERIT continues to go form strength to strength. We have launched the APPNA Academy, an online comprehensive learning management system, a vision that I have carried since 2012. I am grateful to Dr. Shahid Rafiq, Chair and Dr. Danish Bhatti, Co-Chair MERIT for bringing it to realization. This platform will give the ability for APPNA faculty to develop and deliver hundreds of online short and long courses to improve medical education and practice in Pakistan.

The initial set of courses to be launched include:

· Mini fellowship in Stroke

· Point of Care Ultrasound course for primary care physicians

· Critical Care Nursing Course, and last but not least

· Year-long APPNA MERIT Family Practice Specialty Rotations course.

Click here to watch APPNA MERIT Webinars

 

For the Family Practice initiative, the MERIT committee is collaborating with international partners like Australian Association of Pakistani Professionals, Association of Pakistani Physicians of Northern Europe, Association of Physician and Surgeons of UK and in Pakistan with Prime Minister’s Health Taskforce, Federal Ministry of Health, CPSP, PMC, medical universities and National Family Medicine Committee.
APPNA Young Physicians Committee and MERIT hosted a discussion with ECFMG Assistant Vice President and a number of residency directors on “Challenges in Applying for US Residency Training During COVID19 Era” in a very successful webinar on September 20.

 

APPNA is still planning to hold a small Winter meeting in Lahore at KEMU. APPNA members planning to be in Pakistan Dec 22-27 should plan to attend.

 

Have a safe Fall and Winter. Hope to see some of you in Lahore.

Naheed Usmani, MD
President APPNA 2020[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]