Islamic Medical Association of North America announces its new president

Asif Malik

The Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) recently returned from its 48th Annual Scientific Meeting in the Dominican Republic. During the meeting, Dr. Asif M. Malik from Troy, Michigan became its 47th President. Dr. Malik succeeds Dr. Ismail Mehr, from Hornell, New York, who has completed his two-year term as President. Dr. Mehr will continue to serve as Chair, of IMANA Medical Relief.

Asif M. Malik, MD is a lifetime member of IMANA, who practices pediatric anesthesiology with Henry Ford Health System. Born in Detroit, Michigan to Pakistani immigrants Dr. Ghaus and Mrs. S. Khatoom Malik, Dr. Asif Malik has been an active community leader at the Islamic Association of Greater Detroit (IAGD) Mosque in Rochester Hills. Through his upbringing in Metro Detroit, Dr. Malik understands the importance of community service and institution building. Dr. Malik stresses that we are products of our parents, and that as parents, we have a duty to counsel our children wisely and raise them with values of selflessness and to care for others. Dr. Malik volunteers annually in IMANA Medical Relief’s (IMR) SaveSmile mission in Khartoum, Sudan in the repair of cleft lips and cleft palates.

IMANA provides medical education, volunteer medical relief services, and mentoring to thousands of medical practitioners, dentists, allied health professionals, residents, and students. IMANA is a sister organization of ISNA and has a seat on its Shurah Council. IMANA has an active program at the Annual ISNA Convention on Labor Day Weekend.

Dr. Malik hopes to expand IMANA’s relationship with ISNA and begin projects to further give North American Muslims opportunities to serve their neighbors and communities. He emphasizes the importance of Muslims being an active and positive part of the fabric of American society, and to him that means we must be visual in our efforts to help the community at large. We must serve as leaders within the public sphere, as helpers of humanity rather than just helpers of our own groups per se. According to Dr. Malik, we must add positivity to the conversation about Muslims, and we do this by standing up and taking the initiative. He presently serves on the Board of Directors for the Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists and the American Red Cross, for which he has been helping to organize blood drives within the Muslim community since high school.

“We have to be active participants in society, and you don’t have to be in medicine to do that.”

As part of Dr. Malik’s volunteer efforts, he and other IMR physicians and allied health professionals frequently embark on medical missions to various foreign countries as a part of IMANA. Dr. Malik frequently says volunteering knows no profession. He envisions the American Muslim healthcare community will come together to expand on the prior achievements in developing charitable clinics and healthcare networks in the United States. One of his goals is to expand IMR’s services to South America and Southeast Asia.

For more information about IMANA, please visit www.imana.org. To contact Dr. Asif Malik, email president@imana.org.

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