Dr Naeem Rahim, MBBS ’98, was returning to campus to pass to tips to current students at the Medical College in Karachi.
He is among the many alumni who are coming back to share their experiences with recent graduates and students.
His advice was brief and powerful: “I want you to keep the entrepreneurial spirit in your life and be ready to take on the world of challenges.” Just as AKU as an institution is swift to take challenges, so too must its graduates.
After graduating from AKU and
completing his residency at the Westchester Medical Center in New York in internal medicine and nephrology, Dr Naeem and his brother Dr Fahim Rahim – also an AKU alumnus, MBBS ’97 – decided to move to a small town in the southeastern corner of Idaho, to provide the quality healthcare much needed in rural America.
Together, they offered state-of-the-art care for kidney disease patients in Pocatello, Blackfoot and Idaho Falls through the Idaho Kidney Institute. In March this year, the Institute joined hands with the Bingham Memorial Hospital to open a new dialysis center.
They also established multiple dialysis units throughout the country in collaboration with other physicians.
The Idaho Kidney Institute proved to be a successful adventure – their services were recognized with Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2011, making them the first Idahoans to receive this honour.
Awarded for the first time in 1986, the Medal is presented by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations to Americans who have distinguished themselves through significant contributions to their communities and their nation, while continuing to communicate the richness of their own heritage.
Past recipients include six Presidents of the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as well as esteemed Americans such as Frank Sinatra, Lee Iacocca, Quincy Jones, Muhammad Ali, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Louis Zamperini and Rosa Parks, just to name a few.
They also received a Congressional Recognition award from the US Senate in 2007.
JRM Foundation for Humanity started by Rahim brothers works across the globe to provides better healthcare and education to women and children.
“We are thankful to AKU alumni who are always there to share their experiences with us. Listening to Dr Naeem Rahim was a thought provoking experience, which has provided me further direction as I approach graduation,” said third-year medical student Umme Hani Abdullah, who also moderated the session.
