Khyber Medical College Alumni Association of North America (KMCAANA) had its start in 1975 when a number of Khyber alumni got together for the sole purpose of raising funds for scholarships to needy students and helping the children of long-time college employees. It was called the Khyber Alumni Scholarship Fund and was managed by Dr. Amjad Hussain, Dr. Siraj Ahmed, Dr. Shuaib Ahmad, and Dr. Abdur Rahman Sahibzada. Dr. Zafar Khan was added to the committee to represent the dental graduates ofKhyberMedicalCollege.
A committee comprised of Dr. Alaf Khan, Dr. Taj Bahadur Uppal, Dr. Bakht Biland, and Dr. Ahmad Khan was instituted in the college to select candidates and distribute funds. Later the scope of scholarships was also extended toAyubMedicalCollegein Abbottabad.
Another project adopted by the group was to collect textbooks for the college library. Dr. Ihsan-ul-Haq volunteered for the task. The group also facilitated visits by the alumni to give lectures and demonstrations atKhyberMedicalCollege. An informal four-page newsletter was started to keep the alumni abreast of happenings on the campus and about the progress of the scholarship fund. In 1979, a decision was made to formalize the group into an alumni association. A simple constitution and bylaws were adopted at the annual meeting of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America (APPNA) inDetroiton September 14, 1979. Dr. Amjad Hussain was elected as founder president, Dr. Farid Ullah was president-elect, and Dr. Mir Jafar Shah as secretary/treasurer. Drs. A. R. Sahibzada, Shuaib Ahmad, and Amanullah Khan Khalil were elected members of the executive committee. Soon after its formal organization, KMCAANA voted to affiliate with APPNA. It was one of the first two alumni associations-the other being King Edward Medical College Alumni Association-to affiliate with and give support to the newly established APPNA.
Over the past 25 years, KMCAA has helped the mother institution inPeshawarin many different ways (please see “Projects”). A key ongoing project is the Visiting Professorship: In 1996 Dr. Amjad Hussain endowed a visiting professorship betweenKhyberMedicalCollegeand Medical College of Ohio (MCO) inToledo. Members of the association matched the initial amount of $50,000. The program brings junior faculty members from basic science departments fromKhyberMedicalCollegeto MCO for a period of three months. The program also envisions sending MCO faculty toPeshawarfor short sabbaticals. To date, eight faculty members fromKhyberMedicalCollegehave taken advantage of this opportunity.
With over 120 members, Khyber Medical College Alumni Association is small compared to other affiliated alumni associations of APPNA. But as an active and vibrant association it has played a pivotal role in the development and maturation of APPNA. Three past presidents of KMCAANA, Dr. Amjad Hussain, Dr. Nasim Ashraf and Dr. Omar Atiq, have also led APPNA as presidents. Dr. Ihsan-ul-Haq, one of the senior most members of KMCAANA, was the founding Secretary of APPNA.
KMCAA is proud that one of its past presidents, Dr. Nasim Ashraf, has served as the Minister of State in the Pakistangovernment and as chairman of the Human Development Commission of Pakistan.
In 1992, KMCAANA honored its founder and first president Dr. Amjad Hussain with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
(Reference: Appna Qissa: a History of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of North America, 1978-2003; Published 2004)
