ALLAMA IQBAL MEDICAL COLLEGE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA

It is a great honor for me to serve as President of AIMCAANA this year and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the out-going President Rizwan Akhtar and Executive Council 2009 for the excellent job they have done over the last year. Their achievements are truly gigantic, as it was for the first time we were able to deliver on all the initiatives and outstanding promises from many previous years. The momentum that was created in 2008 continue to progress during 2009 with great zeal and enthusiasm. Following are just a few examples of what was done in 2009.

Long awaited scholarships were finally delivered to 107 bright and deserving students of AIMC in August 2009 after diligent review of all the applications by citizen committee.
200 devices and operating system capable of compiling and integrating audience response in a simple power point presentation was delivered to the college administration in September 2009. The system is already in use to promote more interactive learning during the lectures.
AIMCAANA distributed $6500 in the form of Qarze hasna to the Iqbalians who are currently in USA to pursue residencies and need financial assistance to apply and go through the interview process.
Process to support young iqbalians living in Philadelphia, PA was streamlined and with AIMCAANA' s help they moved from one bedroom apartment to a three bed room house. Its rent is being supported with $1000/month grant that is given to the Iqbalians residing there in the form of Qarze hasna.
Residency Assistance Committee helped many young iqbalians in their residency search with variety of tools like guidance, insider tips, web site etc.
Jinnah Allama Iqbal Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology (JAIDE) was inaugurated on November 14 2009 (World Diabetic Day) after a speedy renovation of existing building sponsored by all of you , the AIMCAANA membership. The institute was also recognized as the accredited endocrinology fellowship site soon after it inauguration, just to put things in perspective even Aga Khan University is still waiting their accreditation.

All of this was possible due to the diligent team work and leadership of Rizwan Akhtar, Baber Cheema and their respective Executive Councils, genuine cooperation of Principal AIMC Dr Javed Akram and all college administration, hard work and time commitment of citizen's committee in Pakistan and above all generous moral and financial support of all of you. I feel it is a huge responsibility upon me and the Executive Council 2010 to keep this momentum of progress going. I am very excited and hopeful that with continued support of all of you, coming days will not only see all these projects continuing to flourish but also many new gratifying projects being launched to improve the health care conditions in Pakistan. Some of the initiatives for 2010 include:

Sponsorships of graduate and post graduate research projects at AIMC and Pakistan by providing not only the funding but also intellectual support with mentor ships in USA to ensure their publication in peer reviewed journals.
Use of latest technologies in fund collection, record keeping and communication to improve the transparency and accountability of organization's day to day functioning.•Increased focus on assisting the young graduates already in United States searching for their residency by increasing funds for Qurz-e- Hasna, Iqbalian House and by providing more helpful resources to guide them through residency assistance committee and other tools like dedicated websites etc
Continued monitoring of JAIDE by frequent performance reviews and providing additional equipment as the need arises.
Continue to reach more of you to increase AIMCAANA paid memberships to further strengthen the organization.

None of this is possible without the support from all of you and I like to thank everybody for their sincere efforts. Please be generous in your feed back to myself and Executive Council as this will only make us strive for better. I can be reached at drtahirlatif@yahoo.com or 5053668202 at any time.

Sincerely
Tahir Latif MD MBA
AIMC 1996
President AIMCAANA 2010