September 2017   e-Newsletter
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President's Message: 

Dear APPNA Family,
With every passing day, the world seems a more unsettling place and multiple perils seem to loom over us. While we try to look for positive events in our lives there seems to be an unnerving negativity around us. Last one month alone has brought nothing but harsh news for us here in USA and neighboring states. Like me you must be following the NEWS of disaster and devastation in the wake of three major storms originating in the Atlantic and affecting millions of people in their path. News of genocide and plight of Rohingya refugees is equally distressing. 

We as a physician community have tried to do our part in alleviating the pain and suffering in all shape and forms, wherever and whenever we can. I am humbled by the act of humanity by the physicians who are going on a Medical mission to Bangladesh to help the Rohingya refugees. APPNA is supporting this humanitarian venture through Medical Corps Committee. A group of 8 physicians will leave in a few days and stay in Bangladesh for a week on a medical relief task. Kudos to Dr. Mir Ali of Texas for leading this mission.

After hurricane Harvey the South Texas chapter and APPNA members had step up to assist in relief work in the affected areas in Houston and then the two more storms struck one after the other. $10,000 were spent by APPNA on provision of food and other items of daily need to affected people in Houston. 10,000 has been pledged for rehabilitation project in collaboration with Local organizations and The City of Houston. 

Currently, there is a substantial need for aid in Florida, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Islands as thousands of people have lost power, damage to houses and lost businesses.
APPNA has two committees which do wonderful work for welfare of people under various circumstances. These are the Social Welfare & Disaster Relief committee and Medical Corps Committee. These committees were active after Harvey but the need for help in disaster stricken areas was so huge that we needed to consolidate our efforts and work with local APPNA chapters and local humanitarian organizations at different and widespread locations. Therefore, I have created an adhoc committee which includes APPNA members from the affected areas as well as the members of Social Welfare disaster relief, Medical Corps and Civic Engagement Committees. This adhoc committee is being chaired by Dr. Babar Rao. The committee has decided to send a container of food and water to St. Maarten Island as well as a medical mission in partnership with Helping Hands organization. Local Florida chapter held a fundraiser to collect money for this cause. 
APPNA will also purchase Mobile health units which will be used to provide healthcare during any time of need and in any area where APPNA physicians can help. The unit will cost $62000 each but it will surely be money well spent. 

As I said in the beginning of the year, the theme of this year is "Civic engagement through Community service". This theme was created to send the message that APPNA is ready to broaden its horizon and get actively involved in community projects throughout USA and engage local communities through provision of healthcare services, a friendly dialogue and foster a sense of brotherhood among fellow citizens.
We have been given an opportunity to be more visible and be recognized as people of peace and compassion. Our humanitarian deeds will not only change the stereotypes but also help to build a legacy of brotherhood and benevolence. I request your support and make your monetary contribution using the link below. https://www.instantreg.com/appnatemplate2/public-donations-2017
May God keep us and our families safe from any misfortune. Ameen. 

Cordially,

Sajid Chaudhary, MD
President APPNA, 2017

Dr. Zaki Moin & Dr .Najma Aijaz (President STC) Delivering Aid to Church of Christ in Sugar Land, TX

  APPNA President Dr. Sajid Chaudhary in Florida delivering supplies for Puerto Rico.

Dear APPNA Family,
If you are keeping up with the news, you must know that after Hurricane Harvey, the Caribbean was hit by two category 4/5 hurricanes and one of them devastated Florida mainland including Florida Keys. The pictures and news media's account tell a horrendous and heartbreaking tale of devastation and human suffering in the aftermath of the storms.
APPNA was already working on relief and recovery in Harvey affected area in Houston, but after Irma, President Sajid Chaudhary created an adhoc committee to address the disaster relief work in all the affected regions and included APPNA members from those areas as well. Members of Social Welfare committee and Civic engagement committee were also included in it.

I am pleased to report that APPNA Medical Corps has been active on ground while you the members have been donating generously. APPNA has collected $
o far while president allocated
1- We have already spent about $10,000 on food and relief supplies in Houston area.
2- We pledged an other $10,000 for Houston city long term projects, it was committed to our local community which raised about 1.6 million, This money will be matched by the city of Houston.
3- We are working on a MOU between ICNA and APPNA to help set up a mobile clinic, where APPNA will provide about $62,000 to buy an ambulance for this purpose.
4- We are exploring a funding half price of a second ambulance for Houston/ Florida area
5- We are working on providing $10,000 to Helping Hands team to buy a food container for St. Maarten Island.
These are difficult times for our fellow citizens and neighbors and we will continue working towards disaster relief, recovery and rehabilitation.

We request APPNA members to continue donating generously to the Hurricane Disaster fund by visiting https://www.instantreg.com/appnatemplate2/public-donations-2017.

Your donation are tax deductible and will go a long way in putting APPNA's name as a representative of Pakistani Americans which is involved in community projects and engage with communities through provision of healthcare services, a friendly dialogue and foster a sense of brotherhood among fellow citizens. Let us all continue working together.

Babar Rao, MD
Chair, Medical Corps Committee, 2017
Chair, Hurricane Disaster Relief Adhoc. Committee, 2017

APPNA's mission includes serving humanity and to play an active role in civic engagement in the US. For this reason APPNA has started the National food pantry project this year. We have been able to get matching funds of $50,000 arranged through APPNA with sponsors and preferred tickets sales. 
We have approached APPNA chapters and component societies to get involved in this project. The goal of this project is to empower APPNA members in their communities and increase their community involvement. Local chapters and component societies chose their area food pantry so that they can build bridges in their communities and increase volunteering opportunities.
Various APPNA Chapters pledged $40,000 while $29,000 have been collected. The contributions sent by chapters/alumni association are as follows; 

AKUAANA $4105, LMC $1100, APPNA Minnesota $3450, APPNA Alabama $1000, APPNA DMV $2000, APPNETS $2500, APPNA FL $1350, APPNA Michigan $1100, APPNA South Texas $4100, APPNA North Carolina $1150, APPNA VA $5039.

APPNA matched the collected money and sent checks back to the presidents of APPNA VA, APPNETS, APPNA South Texas and APPNA Alabama chapter. APPNA Civic engagement committee made T-shirts that will be used by the chapter/component society presidents on days they plan to volunteer in the food pantries.

We are grateful for the involvement of APPNA family and hope more of our members will get involved in this project.
 
As we continue to receive contributions our target is to contribute to food pantries throughout the US, and to achieve our aim of contributing $150,000 by the end of this year. If any APPNA member would like to contribute individually and especially if they don't have a chapter in their area, please reach out to us (president@akuaana.org) so that we can facilitate the donation to the food pantry in your area.

Thank you for all your support, for together we are making a difference. 

Sincerely,

Habib Chotani (president@akuaana.org)
Rehan Khan (secretary@akuaana.org)
Babar Cheema, chair, APPNA civic engagement committee
 
Visa Updates: Congratulations to All APPNA Members.
There was a record number of thirty-four (34) J-1 denials this year for Pakistani doctors. With perseverance, hard work, and teamwork, almost all of the young physicians who were initially denied J-1 visas have been able to join their residency programs on time. There were fifty (50) plus visa cases placed in administrative processing. All had been cleared. We have continued to focus on J-1 research visas, B1/B2 visas (for Step 2 CS, interviews, observorships), and other immigration related cases.

It is a huge success for APPNA despite the grim visa situation earlier this year. Congratulations to the Advocacy Committee, Young Physicians Committee, and all APPNA members. It is an excellent example of teamwork.

We would like to thank all the APPNA members including but not limited to: Drs. Sajid Chaudhary, Rizwan Khalid, Abdul Rashid Piracha, Shahzad Iqbal, Afzal Chaudhary, Asif Rehman, Mohammad Fateh Shahzad, Umar Farooq, Sameer Shafi, Farrukh Adhami, Amin Nadeem, Sajid Mehmood, Aftab Ahmed, Sana Waheed, Sadiq Naveed, Muhammad Hassan Majeed, Urooba Faheem, Rao Kamran Ali, Lubna Naeem, Raza Khan, Babar Cheema, Atique Mirza, Murtaza Arain, Tahir Qayyum, Kazim Hussain, Sohail Khan, Haroon Durani, Mahmood Alam, Tariq Butt, Saad Usmani, Mohammad Taimoor Khan, Afzal Ahmad Malhi, Zusha Chaudhary, Omar Nasib, Ghulam Abbas, Wasique Mirza, Ethsham Haq, Raheel Khan, Rubina Inayat and other members. We'll also like to thank Attorneys Shahzad Ahmed, Naveen Bhora, Jan Pederson, Ryan Knight, Avi Friedman, and Stephen Perlitsh. We'll also like to thank our lobbyist Joel Rubin and APPNA Administrator Jennifer Wozniak.

Shahzad Iqbal, MD
Chair, Committee on Young Physicians.

APPNA's Fall meeting promises to be a fun filled weekend in the historic city of Cincinnati from 26-29 October 2017. Some of the activities will includes:
  • State of the art CME on Friday and Saturday.
  • Educational forum: Upcoming Challenges to Young Medical Graduates from Pakistan: an overview and solutions on NCFMEA and VISA issues with experts in education system in USA and Pakistan (Dr. Eric War, Dr. Masood Khawar Jamal and Dr.  Maj Gen Saleem Ahmad Khan.
  • Sumptious Friday Dinner showcasing finest Moghul Cuisine
  • Exhilarating Friday Entertainment by Rachel and Zoë Viccaji, Cincinnati s Own Haider Hassan and his band "Kaarma Nation".
  • International Urdu Mushaira on Friday featuring Abbas Tabish, Ahmad Salman Farooqi, Syed Salman Gilani (Pakistan) and Tahir Faraz (India).
  • Retreat for Army Medical College Alumni association.
  • Council Meeting on Saturday.
  • Saturday Banquet & entertainment by wonderful Humaira Channa and Jawad Ahmad.
  • Alliance function featuring fashion show and cultural traditions of Pakistan.
  • Cincinnati City and attractions Tours (arranged on request).

Please note that The Westin hotel is almost sold out. Tickets are available for Friday and Saturday's banquet, though prices will increase on October 5th. Use this link to register and purchase tickets: http://appna.org/2017-appna-fall-meeting/


 

Chair, Mohammad Aslam, MD
Co Chair, Tahir Latif, MD


Are you ready!! Pack your bags and book your flight, Lahore is waiting for you. Please join APPNA to visit Lahore in December for our annual winter meeting at Allama Iqbal Medical College Lahore on 21-23, 2017. APPNA has also planned a special visit to National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS).
The program includes lots of memorable programs and nostalgic fun as follows. 
· Rawalpindi/Islamabad visit on an invitation of NUMS' Vice Chancellor.
· American College of Physicians Endorsed CME
· Hands on Workshops, Urology, Gyne/Obs, and Dermatology etc.
· One-day scientific lectures and workshops at Pakistan Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in collaboration with APCNA.
· An extensive tour of walled city of Lahore and a tour of Wahgha Border (if time permits)
· Dinner Hosted by Allama Iqbal Medical College (AIMC) Faculty at the grounds of AIMC, Lahore.
· Expo and Exhibit at Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore

Lahore has been revolutionized in past few years, let us go to take a tour of transformed Lahore and enjoy the meeting. Amazing culture, architecture of old Lahore, food, friends and passionate Lahori hospitality, which will make you fall in love with the city all over again.

Hotel Discount: 
Please book your rooms at "Pear Continental Hotel" Lahore, as the deadline for APPNA's discounted rate is October 20th, 2017.

Please contact Ms. Rabia via email or telephone:
Ms. Rabia Ishaq, Sales Executive| Pearl Continental Lahore, Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam Lahore - 54000 Pakistan.
Email at: rsvpchl@pchotels.com and copy to rabia.ishaq@pchotels.com
Cell: +92 301-8455036
Tel: +92 42 3636 0210-Ext 2696- UAN: +92 42 111 505 505
Web: www.pchotels.com | www.hashoogroup.com | Facebook: h>p://www.facebook.com/PC.Lahore
ROOM CUT OFF DATE - OCTOBER 20, 2017

Airline Discount: 
Qatar Airways is APPNA's official carrier for this meeting. Please use the discount code QRAPPNA to book our flight to visit Lahore and attend this memorable meeting.

The meeting will be presided by Dr. Sajid Chaudhary and Chaired by Dr. Atique Azam Mirza with their dynamic organizing team to celebrate 40th anniversary of APPNA at the grounds of AIMC. A large number of Physicians from U.K., Australia and Middle East are planning to attend this memorable event. See you all there in Lahore for a special food, culture of Punjab and numerous fun activities.

Events


APPNA FALL MEETING 2017
October 26-28, 2017
Cincinnati, Ohio

APPNA WINTER MEETING
DECEMBER 21-23, 2017
Lahore, Pakistan


If you want to highlight an APPNA Project you have been doing, please write to us at appna@appna.org

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