COVID-19 grips the nation:
APPNA Spring meeting cancelled-Please stay safe
As COVID-19 grips the nation at every level and is changing our day to day lives, APPNA Physicians are once again at the forefront of providing superior care to millions of our patients. We pray for safety and best of health to all physicians, other health care providers and your families in these challenging times.
Keeping the safety of our members foremost, APPNA Executive Committee has cancelled the APPNA Spring meeting in New Orleans. All registration, CME and banquet dues paid by the members have been reimbursed. As of 1pm EST on Sunday, March 22, 2020, a total of 322,572 cases had been reported globally with 13,745 deaths. In the United States, 30,239 cases had been reported with 388 deaths while in Pakistan 646 cases and 3 deaths had been reported. These numbers are changing by the hour.
Following is a brief history and lessons learned from the COVID-19 outbreak:
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APPNA MERIT Conference "Building Primary Care Capacity: Pakistan's Critical Need" held jointly with Pakistan Higher Education Commission (HEC)and Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU) at RMU, March 4-5, 2020 was highly successful and was followed by debriefing and next-steps meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and Federal Health Minister Zafar Mirza. Both enthusiastically endorsed the vision of pivoting strongly towards primary care and the PM asked his ministerial team to work with APPNA to chalk out a plan to bring this vision into reality.
Additional meetings were held during the week of March 8 with federal and provincial officials to sketch out the launch of Family Medicine training programs and implementation of primary care model projects to give impetus to this movement. APPNA can be justifiably proud of being a catalyst for this!
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APPNA Young Physicians Committee held another succesful Seminar at APPNA strategy meeting on January 31st, 2020. Program started with talks by ECFMG leadership Ms. Liz Ingraham and Ms. Tracy Wallowicz. They explained resources for residency applicants. They want to be in loop for J 1 visa refusal cases.
The Young Physicians Committee has established several major goals to help young physicians in multiple ways including: assistance during residency match and SOAP, assistance with visa-related issues, organizing different YPC seminars throughout the year, providing mentorship-in-person (US clinical experience & research), mentorship on-line (educational material at the YPC website), and assistance with temporary accommodations in various APPNA-related housing facilities.
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Last winter, Pakistan especially in the Northern areas was hit by severe cold weather. APPNA SWDRC in collaboration with Akhuwat Foundation initiated a Winter Aid program. Blankets and warm clothes worth over $5,000 were distributed in the Neelam Valley on February 17,2020. This provided much needed assistance in the inclement weather to the most deserving people living in the area.
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Rohingya children living in camps experience extremely challenging circumstances, preventing them from having what is commonly considered a "normal" childhood.
OBAT Helpers Learning Centers aim to provide an education as well as a semblance of childhood, serving not only to teach, but also to allow students an escape from the harsh reality of their lives.
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he APPNA Southern California Chapter had their Gala Dinner and Program on Saturday, February 8, 2020 at the Delta Hotel in Garden Grove, CA. Over 250 people joined the APPNA Chapter in highlighting the history of Pakistani American Physicians in Southern California.
The guests included Consul General of Pakistan Mr Abdul Jabbar Memon and his wife Shela Memon; President of APPNA National, Naheed Usmani; US Congressman Lou Correa, and Mayor of Cerritos Mr Ali Sajjad Taj. Besides, many elite community members were present at the event. The program started with CME, followed by short speeches. The Chapter Secretary Dr Yasmin Qasim welcomed the guests. She was followed by the Chapter President Dr Azher Majeed, Consul General Abdul Jabbar Memon, Mayor Ali Taj, Congressman Lou Correa and Dr Naheed Usmani, APPNA National President.
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APPNA 43rd Annual Convention 2020
Washington D.C.
July 1-5, 2020
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APPNA Northern
Pakistan
Trip
July 17-26, 2020
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APPNA Fall Meeting 2020
Boston, MA, USA
October 8-11, 2020
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APPNA Winter Meeting 2020
Pakistan
December 21-26, 2020
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