Lately, Pakistani American healthcare community has made headlines for its selfless services in times of Coronavirus. Dr. Rashid is one of those who now aims to step-up his passion to serve at mayor level.
“I identify myself as a person blessed; accepted, embraced, and recognized by McAllen which welcomed me with open arms. It gave me a home, a beautiful family and a career”, Dr. Rashid says, adding he wanted to give back to his community. “I have decided to offer my services as the Mayor of McAllen to help our city to control this pandemic and restore our economy and reopen our schools.”
For his education and training in health care administration, Dr. Rashid attended Johns Hopkins University, with a Residency and Fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center. As a jack of all cards, he also got training in economics and marketing which he used well in establishing and serving the charitable, non profit organizations.
To Rashid, Covid pandemic is much more than a virus; he sees it as a threat to his community's “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”. He says that it is his mission to restore the normalcy and way of life.
With the continued success of his South Texas Clinic, Dr. Rashid strives to stay true to his original mission; to deliver unsurpassed health care, to relieve McAllen community in times of Coronavirus. He has well crafted a three pronged strategy – Prevention, Containment, and Recovery –to help cope with the virus. He is working to establish ‘Healthcare Committee’ and ‘Disaster Relief System’ for pre emptive response in future.
Dr. Rashid is actively involved in philanthropic work in States and overseas. He has distributed thousands of masks to households in his community. He helped establish and expand the obstetrics and gynecology unit in Karachi’s Civil Hospital. In United States, he is founding member of several component associations and premier societies including the esteemed Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA).
He helped APPNA raise over a million dollars to aid Pakistani government in tackling Coronavirus. He has served as its Treasurer and Secretary and helped establish APPNA Institute of Public Health in Pakistan and the APPNA House in Chicago. He is executive board member on the Hidalgo Starr County Medical Society and also a member of McAllen Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, he is President of Islamic Society of South Texas and a founding member of South Texas Health & Diagnostic Systems.
In 2015, he led a team for post-tornado relief efforts in Rochelle, Illinois. Donating his medical expertise, he is providing free treatment to patients in Cancer Care Hospital and Research Center – a charitable trust he helped establish.
From his professional practice of interventional pain management to his leadership in disaster relief efforts and helping communities, Dr. Shahid Rashid is committed to improving and saving the lives of others. Now, he envisions McAllen to be a pioneer, that can present itself as an exemplary model for neighboring counties in responding to Coronavirus. He seeks support and cooperation from his community to help him get elected as a Mayor so that he could actualize his full capabilities in a political capacity.
"I met some really wonderful people who share the same passion for Mcallen that I do. I am overjoyed with the hospitality that was shown. People opened their homes to me and were very excited that I am running for Mayor to represent them." Dr. Rashid wrote on his Facebook page, asking people to vote on May 1.