APPNA NOW - May 2018 e-Newsletter: APPNA Spring Meeting & Council Meeting Updates

May 2018 e-Newsletter

Akhtar Hamidi, MD - Editor

APPNA SPRING MEETING 2018

LEGISLATION, EDUCATION, TRANSPARENCY & ENTERTAINMENT,

DELIVERED WITH GREAT SUCCESS

In this historic meeting with record attendance both by general members and council members, President Iqbal Zafar Hamid, was able to deliver following successfully:

* Approval of Amendments to the by-laws regarding BOT structure

* Resolution of an ongoing unresolved Conflict in a component society

* Passage of an anti-harassment and anti-discriminatory resolution

* A town hall meeting with Pakistani Ambassador to USA

* A social forum on gun violence, hate crimes and our communities

* Young Physician Guidance Seminar headed by ECFMG Vice President

* Hi-Tea with APPNA President and Executive Committee with informal Q&A

* Two days of Entertainment with excellent Pakistani food

* Reception hosted by Tesla Motors

APPNA COUNCIL APPROVES AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE

As our Association continues to progress, so does our need to amend the Bylaws to accommodate such growth. There has been a growing need to increase the members of the Board of Trustees (BOT), open its election process and delineate its powers and duties for better Governance of APPNA.

In February 2018, APPNA council requested the Constitution and Bylaws (CABL) Committee to make recommendations in this regard. Nearly 2/3rd of the Council Members ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P8ntQWnWyg) submitted this request The CABL Committee spent several weeks diligently to propose a draft of recommendations. The manuscript was reviewed line by line for many days by the CABL Committee comprising experienced members, four of whom had served as APPNA Presidents in the recent past. The draft was sent to the Council 40 days prior to the Spring Meeting allowing ample time for revisions. These recommendations were presented by Dr. Arif Agha ( Watch Video) at the APPNA Spring Meeting in Chicago on April 28, 2018 (Click here to watch the video) They were very well received by the council barring a small minority. The President graciously extended unlimited time for council discussion on this matter. 74% of the Council members attending the Spring Meeting voted ( Watch Video ) in favor of the proposed amendments when discussion was exhausted.

According to the article 26.4 of the CABL, the amendment(s) approved by the Council shall be circulated to the general membership thirty (30) days before the next annual meeting and presented to the general body for a vote.

Following are the Salient Features of the above amendments. ( Click here to see the full Document)

* Eight (8) Trustees will be elected from 4 regions (2 from each region) for 4-year terms.

* Trustees will be elected by the General Membership of respective regions

* Election will be held every 2 years, (by Resume's only; Strictly No Campaigning)

* At each election, one (1) trustee will be elected from each region

* President, President-Elect and Immediate Past-President will be Ex-Officio voting members

* BOT will appoint the following Standing Committees, each for 2-year terms.

o Ethics and Grievance Committee.

o Long-Range Planning Committee (LRPC)

o Asset Management Committee

o Compliance and Implementation Committee

* BOT will have an independent authority to act on the recommendations of the above committees

* Council can overturn BOT decisions with a 2/3 majority

We are very optimistic that these amendments will bring a positive change in the governance of APPNA by providing an enhanced breadth and wisdom to the BOT and will allow eligible members to serve on the Board with campaign free elections.

Constitution & Bylaws Committee 2018

Arif H. Agha, M.D. (Chair)

Mahmood Alam, M.D.

Mian A. Hasan, M.D.

Nasar Qureshi, M.D.

Mubasher Rana, M.D.

Ahsan Rashid, M.D.

Saima Zafar, M.D.

Conflict resolution in South Texas Chapter

President Iqbal Zafar Hamid, along with his Executive Committee, with a unanimous approval of the Council, was able to resolve peacefully an ongoing conflict between two parties in South Texas Chapter. The resolution was accepted by both parties. As a result, there will be an special election in South Texas Chapter within 90 days that will be conducted by APPNA Nomination & Election Committee. President-Elect, Dr. Naseem Shekhani, will be the interim administrator of the chapter.

Council Adopts Code of Conduct for APPNA Members

APPNA council on April 28, 2018 during its Spring Meeting at Chicago adopted a long-awaited Code of Conduct for APPNA members.

APPNA is committed to providing membership experience in which individuals are treated with courtesy, respect, and dignity. Professional and moral behavior is expected at all times. APPNA members are required to follow the Bylaws and all other policies that are adopted by the Association from time to time.

APPNA will not condone or permit any action by any member that is disruptive, contrary to APPNA's published policies or constitutes harassment. Harassment includes, but is not limited to: disparaging, threatening, intimidating or hostile acts or published words; epithets, slurs or negative stereotyping; or publication of any written materials that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or a group or making unwelcome sexual advances or comments. APPNA Bylaws prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, race, or ethnic origin.

A member may bring written complaint/s on any of the above matters against another member or a group with evidence within 60 days of the incident. Complaint must be filed directly with the Ethics and Grievance Committee with a copy to the President. The Ethics & Grievance Committee shall render a written decision within 30 days of the filing. The EGC decision may be appealed to BOT which will render binding decision within 30 days of the appeal.

APPNA may discipline a member, if found guilty, by warning, fine/s from $1000- $5000 and/or suspension of some or all privileges from 1 to 5 years and/or refer the matter to law enforcement, if necessary. No member will be retaliated against for good faith reporting of such misconduct.

Constitution & Bylaws Committee 2018

Arif H. Agha, M.D. (Chair)

Mahmood Alam, M.D.

Mian A. Hasan, M.D.

Nasar Qureshi, M.D.

Mubasher Rana, M.D.

Ahsan Rashid, M.D.

Saima Zafar, M.D.

Hi-Tea with President & EC

First time, in the history of APPNA, President Iqbal Zafar Hamid, along with his Executive Committee, hosted "Hi-Tea", a casual, informal, open forum for members to interact with their President and other office bearers. Dr. Hamid lead meaningful dialogue about his projects, networking, opportunities to improve services to the membership. He also took questions and addressed concerns brought by members, particularly the declining numbers of membership. He and President-Elect, Dr. Naseem Shekhani promised to make every effort to address memberships concerns. He also discussed his plan to improve APPNA's image in general public. Dr. Hamid was excited to announce the pledges and commitment to provide APPNA Mobile Health Clinics to needy population in Pakistan which have now risen to 10.

This Hi-Tea with President session was highly received by members and is surely a step forward in breaking barriers between membership and their elected representatives. Dr. Hamid plans to arrange such meeting throughout the year and hopes other Presidents will continue this new tradition of openness and transparency.

En route to Success - Committee of Young Physicians - APPNA

Foundation of Committee of Young Physicians-APPNA was offciailly laid in 2005 to establish a forum for established Resident Physicians and Attending Physicians to provide guidance to the masses of foreign medical graduates coming from Pakistan. This year 2018 CYP, Chaired by Dr. Majid Aized (Vascular Surgery Fellow at William Beaumont Hospital Oakland University), is striving to facilitate match applicants and residents in their professional development during residency and endeavors pertaining to immigration.

CYP conducted a 2 hour session at the APPNA Spring Meeting, 2018 in Chicago. Panelists included Elizabeth Ingram, Assistant Vice President of Communications at ECFMG, William Siebert ,a well know immigration Attorney practicing in the state of Illinois , Dr. Shehzad Ali, Program Director at Weiss Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL, Dr. Shami Goyal Program Director at Mercy Health Rockford Illinois. Dr. Naghmana, Young Physicians Committee Chair in JSMUANA served as Moderator.

Topics were carefully selected for the audience and included ECFMG Resources for Match Applicants, Applying for Match: details of Application Process and Interview Skills.

This was followed by a 45 minute Q&A session.

CYP Members moderating this event: Dr Majid Aized, Dr Muhammad Taimoor Khan (Co-chair CYP, Clinical Assistant Professor Neurology, Charleston Area Medical Center), Dr Asra Nayab (executive member of CYP). Dr. Asra Nayab, Resident Diagnostic Radiology at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center also delivered the talk on Interview Skills. Dr. Zara Arain, Pediatric Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellow at Northwestern University volunteered to speak on Applying for Match: details of Application.

Audience included residents, fellows, match applicants and medical students from various programs and Universities in US.

Post-activity surveys have been sent out. This will be followed by assessment of how the attendees benefited from this activity and what would they like CYP-APPNA to offer in the next session in Dallas at the APPNA Summer convention.

All in all, it was a magnanimous effort by the team to conduct a meaningful conference for residents, fellows and match applicants.

'Leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way'. - John Maxwell

Majid Aized

Appna YPC Chair 2018

SOCIAL FORUM WITH CONGRESSMEN & FBI

APPNA Social Forum hosted by Aamir Chalisa discussed gun violence, hate crimes in our communities, cyber bullying. Congressman Danny Davis, Congressman Peter Roskam, FBI ASAC Pete Angelini and Sgt Jose Lopez, our honorable guests, openly and candidly discussed these topics. It was a great and thorough discussion. All of the panelists suggested that we as a community have to deal with these issues first hand and talk to our children about these concerns. Home take message was; Together we can make our communities safer. Law enforcement agencies are willing to help us and educate our communities.

APPNA Town Hall meeting on Progress in Pakistan with Ambassador Mr. Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry at APPNA annual Spring meeting April 27th 2018 in Chicago:

First time in the history of APPNA spring meeting on Friday afternoon APPNA activities took a new initiative to engage honorable Pakistani ambassador to US Mr. Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry with an interactive seminar. This was conducted by Dr. Rizwan Naeem and Dr. Jameel Azam Farooqi two diverse opinion holder from their college days. Format was discussed with Mr. Chaudhry and he open heartedly agreed that no question is off limit. It was one of the most attended seminars of Friday afternoon with enthusiastic diverse audience. We asked question relating to China investment to child abuse to missing people in Pakistan. There were many questions regarding status of health care in Pakistan and how APPNA can help. APPNA membership found Mr Chaudhry to be very open very well informed and we read. In addition to answering and interacting with APPNA members and moderators he urges APPNA to join hands to have combined youth conference with embassy to involve our next generation in betterment of Pakistan. He mentioned organizations like APPNA and APPAC should work together with embassy to each one of us can be an ambassador of Pakistani and highlight what sacrifices Pakistan has done to help eradicate terrorism and religious extremism. We as APPNA physician provide free healthcare and go to remote areas within US to provide services. In the end many APPNA member applauded the efforts APPNA and embassy are doing to improve Pakistani image within US and how to bring countries together and improve visa issues related to Pakistanis.

Rizwan Naeem

Chair APPNA Social Forum 2018