Messages from our leadership

Message from the President

Dear Members and Well-wishers,

On behalf of the Society of Family Medicine Bangladesh, I'm genuinely proud to put this newsletter in front of you. It's a new chapter in something we've been working toward for years — getting Family Medicine recognized as its own distinct, essential specialty.

Family Medicine is really about comprehensive, continuous, compassionate care. And as more of our patients deal with multiple conditions at once, as the population ages, as health needs get more complicated — the trained family physician matters more than ever. This newsletter is meant to show that role in action, to keep a record of our academic progress, and to keep us connected as a Society.

Over the past few years, SFMB has kept pushing on advocacy, capacity building, and academic recognition at the national level. Think of this publication as a running record of that work — and a way to keep building momentum through research, mentorship, and collaboration abroad.

I want to thank the Editorial Board for the work they've put into making this happen, and I'd encourage every member to get involved and help keep it going.

With warm regards,

President

Society of Family Medicine Bangladesh

Message from the General Secretary

Dear Members, Colleagues, and Friends,

Assalamu Alaikum.

It's a real pleasure to welcome you to the first issue of the SFMB Newsletter, the official publication of the Society of Family Medicine-Bangladesh. This marks an important step in our shared effort to strengthen Family Medicine and primary healthcare in this country.

SFMB exists because Family Physicians and General Practitioners across Bangladesh wanted a common professional home. We founded this Society with a clear purpose: to promote excellence in Family Medicine through education, research, advocacy, collaboration, and community engagement — and to do it while holding onto high standards of professionalism, ethics, and patient-centred care.

This newsletter is more than a publication. It's a way for us to communicate, learn, and work together. Through it, we want to share scientific updates, clinical experience, research findings, education opportunities, Society news, and member achievements. It's also a space to talk through emerging healthcare challenges and the solutions we're finding for them.

As General Secretary, I believe SFMB's success comes down to one thing: how involved its members choose to be. Every one of you has something worth contributing — knowledge, experience, ideas. So get involved. Join our academic programmes, write for the newsletter, take part in research, mentor a younger colleague, show up for advocacy and outreach work.

I also want to thank our founding members, advisors, and the Executive Committee — their effort in getting this Society off the ground has laid a foundation we can genuinely build on.

We're inviting Family Physicians, General Practitioners, medical educators, researchers, trainees, medical students, and healthcare institutions to join this movement. Together, we can strengthen Family Medicine, improve primary healthcare, and make a real difference for the people of Bangladesh.

On behalf of the Executive Committee, thank you to everyone who's placed their confidence in SFMB. I'm looking forward to working alongside you as we shape what Family Medicine becomes in this country.

Let this newsletter be the start of an ongoing conversation — one that connects us and keeps pushing us toward doing better.

With warm regards and best wishes,

Dr. Saleh Ahmad

General Secretary

Society of Family Medicine-Bangladesh (SFMB)

From the Editor's Desk

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the first issue of the SFMB Newsletter — the official voice of the Society of Family Medicine Bangladesh. I say "welcome" but honestly, this feels less like an opening and more like something we've been building toward for a long time.

Inside, you'll find updates on what the Society has been doing, some thoughts on where Family Medicine is heading here, and pieces from colleagues who are living this work in very different settings. There are reports from our recent academic and advocacy efforts, a few clinical updates you can actually use in the clinic tomorrow, and reflections from people practicing across the country.

What we're trying to do is simple: give members a place to share what they know, mark what they've achieved, and stay connected with the wider academic community, both here and abroad.

This newsletter isn't mine, or the editorial board's — it belongs to all of us. So if you've got a case worth discussing, a research update, or even just an opinion you want to put out there, send it in. Let's make this something that genuinely reflects where Family Medicine in Bangladesh is headed.

With warm regards,

Dr. Lt. Col. (Retd.) Kabir Ahmed Khan

Editor-in-Chief, SFMB Newsletter