A blanket of humidity, as per the
tradition of a summer’s afternoon in Karachi, enveloped the city as I headed
toward Sheraton. I had been informed earlier that day that the interview that I
was looking forward to take since quite some time was scheduled for that very
same day. It was an interview with a very prominent name. The idea that this
person had many years ago, as a medical student, walked through the hallways of
the same medical college, where I study today, made it even the more special
for me. Upon reaching the grand lobby of the hotel, so many questions, so many
thoughts raced through my mind, but within a few minutes, I found myself keenly
listening to Dr. Javed Suleman,a senior faculty member in the Department of
Cardiology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and the President-elect
of APPNA for the year 2012, as he vibrantly spoke of his experiences as a
medical student at Sindh Medical College, from where he graduated in 1986.
While talking of
the years gone by, he recalls that it was a great learning experience being a
medical student at SMC and he considers his days spent there as the most
memorable days of his life. He shared with me an event that he still remembers
very fondly. It was when Faiz Ahmed Faiz had returned to Pakistan from Beirut
and was invited to SMC. While reminiscing about it, he told me that it was the
first time that a poet of such great caliber had visited SMC. During those
days, his health was deteriorating, and Dr. Javed Suleman helped him climb the
stairs that led to the stage so that he could give his speech. Faiz, the poet,
the revolutionary, in his soft, deep voice that had a touch of anguish and
helplessness to it, spoke of struggle, sorrows, tyranny and lack of freedom of
expression; but finally, he culminated
his speech on an optimistic note, leaving the mesmerized young audience with a
message of hope - hope of a new dawn. As he recalled this whole event, Dr.
Javed Suleman smiled and said, “And we had a great photo session with him.”
The main driving
force behind medicine being a career choice for him was his urge to help
people. He lives with the same motto today. He visits Pakistan a couple of
times every year, bringing the necessary cardiac supplies including the Drug
Eluting Stents with him from USA for the non–affording patients and performs a
great number of angioplasties on such patients each year for free. For his
services to the underprivileged patients of this country, he has been awarded
the highest and the most prestigious civilian award “Tamgha-e-Imtiaz” by the Government of Pakistan.
He being one of
the topnotch Interventional Cardiologists globally thinks that it’s very
necessary to train the emerging Cardiologists of Pakistan and keep them abreast
with the latest innovations in the field of Cardiology. Thus, in 2004, within
the structure of APPNA: Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North
America, which is the umbrella organization for all the Pakistani doctors
residing in North America, Dr. Javed Suleman founded APCNA: Association of
Pakistani Descent Cardiologists of North America. APCNA provides a platform to
the Pakistani Cardiologists living in North America and is aimed at improving
the field of Cardiology in Pakistan. Each year, he gives academic
presentations, leads interventional workshops and shows live interventional
coronary cases at the reputed Cardiovascular Institutes in the major cities of
Pakistan.
He is the
founding member of SMCAANA and has remained its 10th President in
2004. He has played a pivotal role in establishing the crises center for the
9/11 victims and their families and also in the recent fund-raising for the
internal refugees of Pakistan.
Dr. Javed Suleman
has been a leader and has believed in fighting for the right cause, since the
days he was at SMC. In his opinion, SMC, since the time of its inception, has
seen struggle. Dow Medical College was the only college the city had and there
was a rising need for another medical college, hence Sindh Medical College was
established in 1973. Later, when the first batch of SMC graduated, they had to
face yet another ordeal as far as the house jobs were concerned, since the
administration of JPMC, being under the Federal Government, declined to accept all
the graduates of the first batch of SMC for house jobs and only 30 percent of
the graduates were accommodated. It was once again a long and tiring struggle
during the years 1982-1983 by the SMC Student Union, of which Dr. Javed Suleman
was the General Secretary, that finally proved as an important milestone in the
history of Sindh Medical College and the administration of JPMC agreed to
accept all the graduates of SMC for house jobs every year from there on.
Another major accomplishment by the same Student Union was the construction of
a mini auditorium at SMC. The purpose was to provide better clinical learning
to the students, as it made it easier for professors to demonstrate the
examination and the findings of clinical cases to a batch of hundred students
from the stage instead of demonstrating it in the crowded wards.
He
believes that in those days, the students of SMC were more closely connected,
despite the differences in opinions and they always stood united in times of
struggle and difficulties that SMC faced.
As he looks back
at the initial years in the United States, he says that they were filled with
struggle as he was new in a foreign land. It seemed like a difficult road was
ahead of him, as he had to study for months and months without employment so as
to be able to pass the exams. However, now, being where he is today, serving
humanity in the best possible way, he feels that the struggle was worthwhile.
Dr. Javed Suleman
aspires to see Sindh Medical College as a university in the years to come and
he hopes to see a compassionate and just leader in every student at SMC who
should serve humanity irrespective of caste and creed.
His father was a
businessman who passed away when Dr. Javed Suleman was in first year of medical
school. His mother lives with him in New York. His wife and elder sister have
also graduated from Sindh Medical College and all his children are interested
in opting for medicine as a career.
He likes to
spend his leisure time with family and friends. He prefers listening to mellow
music. Being an avid reader of Urdu Literature, he comments that the book that
he has read many a times from cover to cover and which has been of profound
significance in his life has been Faiz Ahmed Faiz’sNuskha Hay Wafa. He is also fond of many other poets of Urdu Language,
but believes that the poetry of Faiz supersedes the rest and leaves a great
impact on him each time he reads it.
As the interview
session ended, the mighty day light hours giving way to the pleasant evening
breeze as the sun set, and the silhouette of Sheraton behind, I was on my way back
home with a smile on my face. It’s rare, and a great honor indeed, to get the
opportunity to interview a person as learned, humble and welcoming as Dr.
Javed Suleman.
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