This year started with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm from the members. I had requested many Dowites, who in the past had reservation with the affairs of DOGANA, to volunteer for DOGANA. I am pleased to say that I have convinced many of them and we have involved a record number of members in routine working of DOGANA. Our goal is to bring new people and fresh ideas forward.
I am happy to report to you that in this short time we have already set in motion many important functions of DOGANA. The executive council has appointed all committees with maximum participation. A budget was presented and approved. The introductory edition of Downlink should be in your hands by now. With the able and energetic leadership of Naseem Shaikhani and his team, they have put out this magazine in record time. They have already begun work on the spring issue.
Jamil Azam Farooqui and his committee has already started the process of deliberation on possible topics for the summer social forum, possible participants and required funding. We can promise you a thought-provoking and exciting social forum this summer in San Francisco.
The preparation for spring retreat in Chicago is in full swing. There are many Dowites working together with Sohail Khan to make this the best-attended spring retreat yet. In the spirit of collaboration with other chapters of APPNA, we have invited PPS (Chicago APPNA Chapter) to join us for the retreat. We have put out a preliminary program and registration process on the web-page. I encourage you to participate in this meeting with family and friends.
Our medical education program this year has expanded. We will work hard to offer the high quality topics and CME credit at this meeting.
Our focus this year is to get involved with the educational activities at DUHS. The visiting faculty program information and enrolment is available on DowAlumni.com for any member willing to deliver lectures at DUHS while visiting Karachi. This will benefit our members with the possible tax benefit and also contribute to much desired educational activity for DUHS students and physicians. Nasar Qureshi and Raheel Rasheed have started the process for the research forum activity and information can be found on the web page.
Nasir Shahab, Rizwan Karatela and their team spend tremendous amount of time to maintain and improve the web-site. I encourage you to frequently visit this site for updated information. Mansoor Mehdi and his committee members are working diligently to not only increase the membership but also update old records. Our goal is to have membership renewed and updated all on our web page from now onwards.
With the new constitution and bylaws passed last summer, we have appointed an Ethics and Grievance committee with colleagues who are well respected by all.
We had asked for the interpretation of bylaws article 15.4.1 by the CABL committees of last year and this year. According to their interpretation the board of trustees appointed earlier should not be functional. We agree with their assessment and will follow their recommendations. The executive council remains committed and will take appropriate steps to work within our constitution to solve issues as we face them.
Please be mindful that all our officers are voluntary physicians devoting their time and energy above and beyond their busy professional and personal lives to run this organization. Please be considerate that they are not lawyers, accountants or managers. Honest mistakes in oversight or conduct of alumnus affairs should be pointed out in good faith and solutions offered. This will keep volunteerism alive and healthy in this organization. I remain indebted to countless number of Dowites who work behind the scene to strengthen our organization.
Long live Dow spirit
Muslim M Jami, MD, FAAP
President-DOGANA |
