APPNA NEWSLETTER 6414 S Cass Avenue, Westmont, IL 60559 Telephone: 630-968-8585; Fax 630-968-8677 Website: www.appna.org E-mail: [email protected] Volume 15, Number 1 Spring 2005 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT CONTENTS President page Hussain Malik, M.D. Ragistan. We met Secretary 3 with members of Editorial 4 President elect parliament Mr. 5 Dear APPNA Members, AOA! Treasurer 5 Amar Singh, Mr. Reports Raj Babbar, Dr. I feel honored and privileged to communi- Finance Commmittee 5 cate with you about the present and future Najma Heptulla Dow Alumni 6 activities of APPNA. and also Mr. Office Management 6 David Mulford, Young Physician 7 • APPNA Charitable Foundation: The foun- Election 2005 8 US Ambassador dation was approved during the January Membership 8 to India. We also meeting in Houston. It will be an umbrella India Tour 9 met with Mr. L.K. organization for all APPNA Charitable proj- CME Conference 9 Advani, the Op- ects like APPNA Sehat, Free Clinics, and Articles position Leader, and the Ex-Deputy Prime Building Bridges 12 Educational Scholarships. We will not com- Minister of India during the B]P govern- Save A Colleague 12 pete with any other foundation but rather APPNA's Trip to Aligarh 13 ment. We had excellent news coverage, both collaborate with them and support projects Progress for Peace 14 on the TV and print media in Lahore, New mostly in the U.S. I still hope and pray that State of APPNA SEHAT 16 Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Bombay. APPNA SAYA 20 APPNA will have only one foundation in the name was promoted to its highest level as Truth is More Than Fiction 22 near future. Child Slavery the educational and humanitarian organiza- 24 • APPNA Trip to India: March 7-17th: Most Libelous Labels 25 tion of American Physicians of Pakistani physicians and their families felt that they Photo Gallery 26 Descent. had a wonderful time and that this was one APPNA Summer Mtg. 28 The success of this trip would not have been of the best trips that APPNA has ever taken. Advertisements possible without many months of hard work by Nadeem Kazi 2 We had an excellent C.M.E program in col- the dedicated members of the Organizing SIUT 10 laboration with Escorts Heart Institute, Horizon Travel 11 Committee i.e. Dr. Shaukat Khan, Chairman, Dr. Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, and Tata Shifa International 11, 19 Rizwan Naeem, Co-Chair, Dr. Nisar Chaudhry, Hospital and Wockhardt Hospital in Bombay. Smith Barney 11 Co-Chair, Dr. Asaf Qadeer, and Dr. M.H. Qazi. I We visited sites rich in Muslim history and IMANA 17 am personally indebted to Dr. Shaukat Khan New York Life 19 architecture, but unfortunately some of for his organizational skills, and Dr. Rizwan Barakah Hajj & Umrah 21 them are not well maintained. The main Asif Fazal 24 Naeem for an excellent CME program and also objective of Building Bridges, People to M.H.A. Qazi 36 Dr. Nisar Chaudhry for the monumental task of People and promoting goodwill between the Zahid Asgher 37 facilitating the Visa process. My special thanks Shahid Usmani 38 people of Pakistan and the people of India to Dr. Najma Heptulla, Mr Zakaria and Dr. Syed Samad 39 was achieved beyond our expectations. We Mahmood Alam 40 Naresh Trehan our local hosts for this memo- met with the common people at the air- Publisher APPNA rable trip. ports, hotels, restaurants, shops, but also Editorial Staff After we got home, controversy was generat- local physicians and executives from differ- M. A. Chauhan, M.D. ed regarding the plaque to Mr. L.K Advani. I Chair, Publication Committee ent hospitals. We met with and had interac- realized that it was a mistake. I accepted full Zia Moiz Ahmad, M.D. tions with several leaders of the ruling Co-Chair responsibility for it and offered my sincere Congress party including Dr. Anbumani Rizwan Naeem, M.D. apology to the membership. Ramdass, Minister of Health; Mr. Pranob Editor In order to sustain the goodwill, APPNA is Mukerjee, Minister of Defense; Mr. Praful Editorial assistant planning to adopt a village near Amritsar sub- Patel, Minister of Aviation, Mr. Sharad Pawar, Lynette Zeitler ject to approval by the APPNA Council. The vil- Minister of Agriculture; and Mr. Sunil Dutt, Contact Information lage has a population of 5,000 people, with the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. We met [email protected] [email protected] with Mrs. Vasundera Raje, Chief Minister of continued on page 3 A quarterly publication of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani-Descent of North America Nadeem A Kazi. MD for President Elect APPNA 2006 Dear APPNA Member ASSALAAM 0 ALAIKOM I have been an active life member of APPNA for the last several years. For the past eleven years, I have been serving APPNA in vari- ous positions. As a chair of the membership committee, we increased the membership to a record high of 2200. When I was the chairperson of the finance committee, for the first time in the last five years, life- time dues portfolio of APPNA outperformed the market contributing substantially in APPNA's financial health. At a local level, I started a very vibrant Arizona chapter of APPNA three years ago. As the elected treasurer of APPNA, I prepared a comprehen- sive budget for the first time in APPNA history that made the APPNA able to run the organi- zation in a professional manner. During my leadership of SMCAANA, our teamwork brought the membership from 60 to 224. During my Presidency we also started a successful BLS/ACLS training program in Pakistan with the help of many dedicated SMCians. I will continue working to make APPNA a strong platform to promote the interests of APPNA members in North America by providing legal assistance and resources to protect our civil liberties during these unique times. I will make every effort to continue existing pro- grams with common sense and fiscal responsibility. I will focus more on human rights issues in Pakistan and United States. I will help in educating our members regarding current special circumstances and guide and assist them to integrate socially, politically, and professionally into their communities without losing their own identity. I will facilitate our newer medical graduates to obtain 11 Visas and Residency Positions, create centralized bank of informa- tion for waiver positions and unmatched residency positions, work with APPNA Chapters to start free clinics in USA and enhance the relationship of Pakistani Americans by getting involved with their own local communities. I have already been elected twice by APPNA membership and served as a Treasurer and currently I am serving as the Secretary. This year, I am running for President Elect. I am requesting your support for my candidacy. Please vote base on candidates past efforts and record not on the basis of alumni or who they know. I will spend all my energy to bring every one on one platform to work as team. I believe in team work as this is the only way to deliver. We will move forward with your support and achieve what is rightfully ours. I request your vote. 2005 will not be a year of politics as usual for APPNA; rather it will be a year of hope and inspiration. Together we can make it happen. Please visit my website Nadeemkazi.com or you can contact me at nakaziapol.net. Thanks in advance for your support. - Paid Advertisement - 2 APPNA Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 1, Spring 2005 President's Message Problems for young Pakistani Physicians. We are planning for a continued from page / half day of CME Programs, followed by a Seminar on Civil Rights, Terrorism and Visa Issues April 29th and a Council initial budget of $22,000-27,000 and maintenance cost Meeting on April 30th and May 1st. $1,200/Mo (APPNA Sehat provides for 70,00o people at a main- • Summer Convention Hilton Americas Houston, TX: June tenance cost of $140,000 per year). Confederation of India 28th-July 4th 2005. Industry and Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi, have com- Dr. Asaf Qadeer, Chairman, Dr. Rizwan Naeem -co chair. Dr. mitted to provide the manpower and APPNA Sehat will provide Yaqub Sheikh, President Houston Chapter, Di-Amin Karim and the funding for the Village. They will also reciprocate and adopt other members of the host committee are working very hard to a village near Lahore. In my personal opinion, this is a very have a memorable Annual Convention with excellent CME pro- noble cause to promote goodwill between the people of two gram, superb Music and Mushaira Program and delicious countries and will elevate APPNA stature to the new heights. Pakistani Food combined with Houston Hospitality. • APPNA Council Spring Meeting Washington, DC: • Winter Meeting Lahore, Pakistan: December 21st-24th 2005 April 28th-May 1st 2005 This year the Winter Meeting will be held at King Edward In order to build on the success of the Day on the Hill last Medical College, Fatima Jinnah Medical College and possibly year, we will be holding our Spring Meeting in the Nations Allama lqbal Medical College, Lahore. We are planning to invite Capital. We will have a Day on the Hill, April 28. The issues to leaders of other ethnic medical community from US like India, be discussed with our Legislatives will be Civil Rights and Visa Bangla Desh and other SE Asian countries. SECRETARY'S REPORT Nadeem A Kazi, M.D. Executive Director and central APPNA (Executive Director) Secre- ast year several issues were identified in the way we han- tary or President-Elect should have dle the APPNA accounting and concerns on how to effective communication with Lstreamline office management.