MINUTES OF THE

AMERICA NEPAL MEDICAL FOUNDATION

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MEMBERS
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY, BOSTON

3:45PM ET, SUNDAY, JULY 5, 1997

Participants

Minutes

BUSINESS SESSION

The Business session was started at 3:45 PM at the International Lounge and was attended primarily by ANMF participants: Nepali & American physicians (primarily), Nurses, Public Health specialists and others (about 40 altogether) coming from California, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island.

The agenda for this session consisted of: ANMF updates, ANMF bylaws, Election of ANMF Boards of Directors and Executive committee, ANMF membership, Future programs of ANMF, ANMF communication and Miscellaneous.

1. At the beginning of the session, Dr. Karki presented a brief review of the current status of ANMF and its accomplishments including: its publicity among a larger Nepali community living in North America but also in other countries, registration of ANMF in New York State, creation of a database of North America based Nepali physicians / health professionals and others with an interest in ANMF, collection and dispatch of medical journals for the medical school library in Kathmandu. In addition some medical supplies (e.g. angiographic catheters) have been sent to Nepal (TUTH) as per their request. An ANMF website has been created. Above all, he emphasized that this particular gathering itself is a living proof that the ANMF will continue to get the needed love and support as it embarks to pursue its goals. Lastly, on behalf of the ANMF he expressed the gratitude to Dr. Blair for kindly continuing to host the ANMF secretariat at his office.
    
2. Vljaya Sigdel, who was instrumental in obtaining help from the lawyers free of cost, both for the ANMF registration and the formulation of ANMF bylaws, presented the main concepts and provision of draft bylaws which were distributed to all the participants. Due to time constraints not all the points in that bylaws could be discussed and endorsed then and there. However, it was agreed that mission statements should be mentioned and the principle of "Robert's Rules of Order" should be incorporated in the statute/ bylaws. Hence it was decided that, Mr. Sigdel will, after collecting the opinions and suggestions from all the ANMF members/supporters, develop (in consultation with the lawyers as and if necessary) a final version of the bylaws which will be submitted to the Board and which will come into effect once the Board ratifies it.
    
3. Dr. Rai, the chairman of the nominating committee, presented a list of the individuals for the position of board of directors and executive Committee (please refer to the attached list for details) which was unanimously endorsed by the participants present in the session. Since this was the first event in the history of ANMF, Dr. Rai mentioned that the list was based on the responses received from the ANMF supporters to the questionnaire distributed about 2 months ago, keeping in mind the overall interests of the ANMF.
    
4. Although no formal membership was issued so far, given that the bylaws are in evolution, that process should be started soon. A draft copy of the membership application was distributed to all the participants (and will be distributed from the ANMF secretariat at a later date to those who could not attend that particular meeting) to that effect. It was unanimously agreed that there should be a membership fee and the annual membership rate would be as following:
    
   1. $10.00 / yr for students.
   2. $25.00 / yr for physicians in training (Residents, Fellows).
   3. $50.00 / yr for others.

   The issue of life memberships and honorary membership was raised and will be dealt with in the bylaws in greater detail.
    

5. Following were the programs that the participants of the meeting thought the ANMF should undertake in the next few years:
    
   1. Continue to procure and send medical learning resource materials to the medical school library in Kathmandu (TUTH). This will include, but is not limited to, core standard textbooks (current edition), peer reviewed professional journals (old series are OK provided they are a complete set), audiovisuals and CD ROM series in all the major clinical and basic science disciplines. Donations from individual subscribers are encouraged, but a subscription can also be purchased if, and as, needed. The local ANMF support group in Nepal will, in consultation with the TUTH librarian and the program directors of various on going undergraduate and postgraduate medical training programs, prepare and submit the list of materials needed as we move along. The ANMF Executive Committee will soon designate a person to coordinate this program.
       
   2. Organize a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program, on a regular basis in Nepal. The speakers will mainly be from USA and possibly Canada, willing to go there and share their knowledge and skills for the benefit of local physicians colleagues there. The expenses incurred in the process will be borne by the individual speakers. The first CME program is scheduled for November, 1998. Drs. Roshan Shrestha (from Denver, CO) and Brendan Thomson (from Phoenix, AZ) are working together to make it happen. Dr. Prativa Pandey is working closely with the Dept. of Medical Education of the medical school and other local professional bodies in Nepal to identify the areas/ topics to be covered the program.
       
   3. Explore the opportunities for, and facilitate the training of, Nepali professionals in North America in areas that are considered a priority need for Nepal. The field of Biomedical Engineering is one such area currently identified. Dr. Gauri Shankar Adhikary is making preliminary enquiries with the concerned authorities of the University of Michigan. ANMF executive committee will soon designate a person to coordinate this program.
       
   4. Support for/collaborate with the following ongoing or upcoming medical projects that are directed towards the strengthening the medical capabilities of Nepal:
       
      1. Telemedicine through WWW: the medical electronic linkage program initiated by Joseph Rosen, MD and associates.
      2. Nepal Radiotherapy Cancer Center project initiated by Norman Coleman, MD and associates.
      3. Improving the emergency medical services in Nepal initiated by David Wachter, MD and associates.
      4. Drs. Larry Herman and Lewis Clayman from Health Volunteer overseas have expressed their interest to collaborate with Nepal in the field of Dental health. The specific details needs to be discussed further.
          
6. Dr. Charles Richert has already set up a web site for ANMF: http://car.upmc.edu/anmf/ In addition, he is also working on to establish an e-mail communication system among the ANMF members.
    
7. The following decisions were also made:

   Proceed with the necessary paper work to obtain tax exempt status for ANMF.
    

   1. Raise $ 700 to cover the fees for the above process.
   2. Decide upon the date/venue of next ANMF annual meeting.
   3. Form a fund raising committee.

Following concluding remarks by Dr. Blair, the session ended around 7:30 PM. Dr. Tulsi Maharian was the moderator of the second session.

(Compiled and prepared by Sanjaya Khanal, MD)