HISTORY OF BMANA CALIFORNIA Bangladesh Medical Association of North America (BMANA) is a non-profit ethnic physician organization established in 1984 for physicians and medical professionals of Bangladeshi origin in the United States and Canada. Initially BMANA was concentrated mostly in the

Northeastern part of US. As the migration of Bangladeshi origin physicians spread westward, the California branch of BMANA was established in the 2004 under the leadership of physician pioneer Dr. Mohammad Moazzem Hossain, as the first BMANA California President, and Dr. Chowdhury Hafiz Ahsan

as the first General Secretary of BMANA CA. Under their leadership BMANA CA participated in Central BMANA Convention in 2005. Dr. Hasan subsequently moved to Nevada and organized the BMANA Nevada chapter. Although he remains an integral part of the California Chapter.

Due to the limited number of Bangladeshi physicians in California, the chapter remained inactive for quite some time. With the growth and expansion of Bangladeshi origin physicians in California, the group gained momentum and was reactivated in 2009 under the leadership of Dr Nasima Begum.

The leadership was comprised of President: Dr. Nasima Begum, General Sec: Dr. Talat Khan, Treasurer: Dr. Rubina Najeeb, Scientific Sec: Dr. Alamgir Mahmud and Dr. Iqbal Munir, Cultural Sec: Dr. Salma Khan and Dr. Nargis Akhanjee,Young Physician Sec: Dr Diba Farah and the Drs. Hossains as Patrons.

With the effort and involvement of its proactive members, the chapter has enjoyed unprecedented progress and advancement over the years, and achieved local and national recognition, and is rapidly moving forward to represent a dynamic platform.