Sten Lennquist Lecture

Dr. Rifat Latifi currently is a Chairman of Surgery Consultants International LLC, Tucson, Arizona, and an adjunct professor of surgery at the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Latifi is a former Chairman and tenured Professor of Surgery at New York Medical College, School of Medicine and Director of the Department of Surgery at Westchester Medical Center Health Network in Valhalla, New York. He is Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), Fellow of International College of Surgeons (ICS), and of  a Fellow Kosova College of Surgeons (KCS).  He is licensed both in New York and Arizona.  In 2018, Dr. Latifi   became the Founding President of the Kosova College of Surgeons, and Editor-in-Chief of the Kosova Journal of Surgery.

BetweenNovember 2021 and October 2022, he served as Minister of Health of the Republic of Kosova where he created a model of healthcare transformation.  As minister of Health of the Republic of Kosova, he identified seven  major pillars including of transformation: 1) Digitalization of healthcare services, including health insurance; 2) Brain gain and reducing brain drain; 3) Advanced clinical programs; 4) Advancing  and reforming residency and training programs with international accreditation; 5) Advanced Research  Programs; 6) Increasing quality of healthcare services: and 7) Decentralization of the hospital system and reorganization of University Clinical center (UCCK), with empowering regional hospital and local health system. In addition, based on these pillars,  Dr. Latifi has initiated creation of 12 clinical centers  of excellence and advanced clinical programs  and 22 clinical fellowships that will introduce major transformation of Healthcare of Kosova.  

Dr. Latifi is the embodiment of the academic surgeon, surgical mentor, an avid researcher, and surgical educator with international and global interest, who was promoted to full professor of surgery only five years after he finished his Surgery Residency at Yale University in 1999.  He has a broad and comprehensive clinical and research interests, including reoperative surgery, complex trauma and general surgery, surgical critical care, surgical decision making and geriatric surgery, telemedicine, and nutrition support of surgery and critically ill patients and 

He is the author or co-author of more than 450 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.  In addition, he has authored/ edited 20 books, and currently working on three more books,  and serves on the editorial boards of many international surgical peer-review journals.  He is a member of several states, national, and international surgical organizations, including the American Surgical Association, the most prestigious surgical society in the world. He is a member of the Argentinian Academy of Surgeons also. 

Dr. Latifi is recognized as one of the authorities in telemedicine and telehealth. Moreover, he is passionately dedicated to global surgery and international telemedicine as tools of rebuilding healthcare systems in the developing world and post-conflict countries. He has created three national telemedicine programs in Europe (Kosova  2002, and Albania 2007) and Cabo Verde   Africa, 2012 for which he has received the 2015 American College of Surgeons (ACS)/Pfizer International Surgical Volunteerism award.  Furthermore, Dr. Latifi established the first teletrauma and telepresence program in Arizona, the Southern Arizona Telemedicine and Telepresence (SATT) in 2004,  and the second teletrauma program which served residents along the U.S.-Mexico border. Dr. Latifi has also received “The 21st Century Achievement Award for Health” from the Computerworld Honors Program and the “International Award for Health Promotion” from the Utilization Review Accreditation Commission (URAC). In 2017, he was awarded the Westchester County Doctors of Distinction “No Land Too Far Award” by the Westchester Business Journal in Westchester, New York, and Top Doctors in 2020, and 2021. In addition, he was awarded the Certificate of Appreciation by NATO HQ, Brussels for Dedication and Excellent Work for the Multinational Telemedicine System. He has participated as a volunteer surgeon in the Philippines since 2006 and serves on ACS Committee on Global Engagement. Currently serve as Vice-president at the International College of Surgeons, US Chapter, and delegate from NY State.  In addition, in  2020, he received the inaugural Dean’s Faculty Research Award from New York Medical College, of Touro University, Valhalla, New York, for his work at Department of Surgery Clinical Research Unit (DSCRU) where mentored hundreds of general surgery residents, surgical critical fellows, and medical students of NYMC.
The Westchester County Board of Legislators declared November 13, 2021, as Dr. Rifat Latifi Day in honor of Rifat Latifi, M.D., FACS, FICS, FKCS, in celebration of Albanian Heritage Month and in honor of his commitment to the health and well-being of the people of Westchester County and the world. Dr. Latifi is being honored for his commitment to the health and well-being of the people of Westchester County and throughout the world, as he oversees national telemedicine programs in his native Kosovo, Albania, as well as, Cape Verde, Africa. In addition to his surgical skills, he was recognized for his efforts in helping to establish trauma and telehealth systems in rural areas and underdeveloped countries.  In 2022 he received a special award from the University of Graz, Austria for contribution to telemedicine, acute care surgery and teaching surgery in Austria.