Dr. Sohail Mustafa Qarni did not arrive at medicine by chance. He arrived with intention.
After earning his medical degree from Dow Medical College in Karachi in 1978, he carried his calling across continents, eventually making Maryland his home. There, he trained in family medicine through a MedStar–Georgetown–affiliated residency program and went on to practice as a family physician, including affiliation with MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center. His work placed him close to everyday people—families, elders, children—where listening mattered as much as diagnosis.
Yet his sense of responsibility did not stop at the exam room door.
As communities grew and public health challenges deepened, Dr. Qarni stepped forward to serve at a broader level. He became Chief of the Communicable Disease Division at the Baltimore County Health Department, where vigilance, prevention, and calm leadership were essential. He later served as a medical consultant to the Anne Arundel County Health Department, offering clinical judgment where policy and public safety met.
In July 2020, during one of the most testing moments in modern public health, Dr. Qarni was appointed Medical Director of the Prevention and Health Promotion Administration (PHPA) at the Maryland Department of Health. In that statewide role, he helped guide disease-prevention efforts, contributed to professional guidance—including tuberculosis control recommendations—and supported school-based and community health systems during the COVID-19 era. His leadership was steady, informed, and rooted in science, yet never detached from humanity.
Alongside government service, Dr. Qarni remained deeply committed to his professional and faith communities. Through the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA), he served as President of the Washington DC–Maryland–Northern Virginia Chapter, helped organize major conventions, and contributed to APPNA’s Advocacy and Legislative Affairs Committee, mentoring physicians and strengthening civic engagement among Muslim healthcare professionals.
His faith was expressed not in words alone, but in action. He supported the Islamic Society of Northern Baltimore (ISNB) in a leadership capacity related to endowment management, helping ensure institutional sustainability for future generations. At the Islamic Society of Baltimore (ISB), he lent his time and expertise to the ISB Free Health Clinic, serving underserved and uninsured patients where care was offered as a trust, not a transaction. His engagement with ICNA and ISNA followed the same pattern—participation, guidance, and service at the programmatic and professional level, without pursuit of prominence.
Despite these roles, those closest to him describe the same constant: humility. At home, Dr. Qarni is known as a family-oriented man, deeply affectionate with children, attentive to their growth, and grounded in the belief that service begins within the household. His confidence is quiet, his compassion practical, and his presence reassuring.
Wherever need appears—clinic, county office, state agency, or community health room—Dr. Sohail Qarni has answered with the same principle: to serve is to honor life itself.
“And whoever saves one life—it is as if he had saved all of mankind.” — Surah Al-Ma’idah (5:32)