13th Armenian Medical World Congress Program
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Saturday, November 6, 2021 7AM-12PM PACIFIC TIME 7:00 AM Welcoming Remarks – Vicken Sepilian, MD, FACOG, President, AMIC
Message from the President of Armenia, Mr. Armen Sarkissian – Delivered by Mr. Gevorg Melikyan, Assistant to the President of the Republic of ArmeniaArsen Torosyan, Member of Parliament, National Assembly of Armenia, Minister of health 2018-2021 Anahit Avanesyan, Minister of Health, Republic of Armenia Mikael Hayriyan, Minister of Healthcare, Artsakh Zareh Sinanyan, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Republic of Armenia
7:30 AM Opening Plenary Session Day 1 Moderated by: Ara Babloyan (Yerevan, Armenia), Lilian Grigorian (Madrid, Spain), Kim Hekimian (New York, USA) AMIC President’s Address - Vicken Sepilian, MD, FACOG COVID in Armenia from First Reported Case to Overcoming the Pandemic - Araz Chiloyan, MPH, Consultant, Ministry of Health of Armenia Diasporas’ Role in Armenia’s Healthcare Sector: Results from the NIH/MoH/AMIC Survey of Healthcare Professionals and Executives - Alexander Bazarchyan, MD, PhD, Director of RA MOH National Institute of Health named after academician S. Avdalbekyan
8:40 AM International Organizations Engaged in Healthcare in Armenia Moderated by: Vicken Sepilian (Santa Monica, USA), Hambardzum Simonyan (Yerevan, Armenia), Araz Chiloyan (Yerevan, Armenia) WHO in Armenia: Together for a Healthier Future - Oleg Nikolayevich Storozhenko, World Health Organization Health and Nutrition Challenges for Armenia’s Children. UNICEF Response – Christine Weigand, UNICEF Representative to Armenia The Power of the Diaspora Alliance - Anne-Marea Griffin, Senior Director, Diaspora and Multicultural Partnerships & Arantxa Moreno Baeta-Neves, Manager, Diaspora and Multicultural Partnerships UNICEF, USA
9:25 AM Collaboration Between Armenian & Diasporan Medical Associations & Specialty Groups Moderated by: Gevorg Yaghjyan (New Haven, USA), Viken Babikian (Boston, USA), Gayane Hovhannisyan (Toronto, Canada) Armenian Medical Association: Bridge Between Armenian and Diasporan Medical Societies - Armen Soghoyan, MD, PhD, President, Armenian Medical Association
Armenia Stroke Council: Highlighting the Importance of Independent Autonomous Advisory Bodies – Dr. Nune Yeghiazaryan, Head, General Neurology Department, Erebouni Medical Center, Chair, Armenia Stroke Council – Dr. Viken Babikian, Professor of Neurology, Boston University, Chair, Stroke Initiative Advisory Group for Armenia A New Initiative of Armenia and Diaspora Medical Experts - Aramayis S. Galumyan, MD, Expert Council of Artsakh’s Ministry of Health. Head of interventional Radiology Service at Wigmore Clinic, President of Progressive Medicine NGO War in Artsakh and COVID-19: Developments on Mental Health Field - Armen Soghoyan, MD, PhD - President, Armenian Psychiatric Association, Scientific Manager, Psychosocial Recovery Center Rehabilitation in Post-Conflict Armenia and Artsakh: A Collaborative Initiative for Development - Nicholas Tavoukjian, MS, ATC, Founder & CEO, Armenian American Sports Medicine Coalition & V. Armineh Babikian, MS, OTR/L, Founder & Executive Director of Therapists for Armenia Pediatric and Adult Armenian Epilepsy Group: Challenges and Opportunities – Dr. Viken Babikian, Professor of Neurology, Boston University, Chair, Stroke Initiative Advisory Group for Armenia & Aline Herlopian, MD Assistant Professor, Yale School of Medicine
10:40 AM Updates on the 6th International Medical Congress of Armenia (6IMCA) – Gevorg Yaghjyan, MD – Co-Chair 6IMCA
10:45 AM Presentations by AMIC Affiliated Organizations Part I Moderated by: Garni Barkhoudarian (Los Angeles, USA), Tagui Sarkisyan (Los Angeles, USA) Armenian American Medical Association (AAMA) Armenian International Medical Fund (AIM Fund) Armenian Healthcare Association of the Bay Area (AHABA) Armenian Canadian Medical Association of Ontario (ACMAO) Armenian Medical Association – Great Britain (AMA-GB) Armenian Russian Medical Association (ARMA) Panel Discussion to Follow
Sunday, November 7, 2021 7AM-12PM PACIFIC TIME (please note change in time in California on this day due to daylight savings)
7:00 AM Opening Remarks
7:10 AM Opening Session Day 2 Moderated by: Bagrat Alekyan (Moscow, Russia), Vicken Sepilian (Santa Monica, USA), John Bilezikian (New York, USA)
Minister of Health’s Address – Engaging the Diaspora: Working Together to Ensure a Healthier Future - Anahit Avanesyan, Minister of Health, Republic of Armenia Minister of Health’s Address – The Status of Healthcare System in the Republic of Artsakh: Healthcare Agenda and Opportunities for Diaspora Involvement and Engagement - Mikael Hayriyan, Minister of Health, Artsakh Crisis Response with the Diaspora: Successes, Challenges, Future Directions - Zareh Sinanyan, High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Republic of Armenia
8:00 AM Healthcare Education and Lifelong Learning in Armenia and Artsakh Moderated by: Jerry Manoukian (San Francisco, USA), Viken Babikian (Boston, USA), Georges Mosditchian (Paris, France), Asadur Tchekmedyian (Montevideo, Uruguay) Medical Education in Armenia – Yervand Sahakyan, MD, Vice Rector, Yerevan State Medical University American University of Armenia and Healthcare Education – Varduhi Petrosyan, PhD, MS, Dean American University of Armenia The Transformation of Continuing Medical Education in Armenia – Sona Sargsyan, MD, Head of National Certification Center for professional Development, NIH, MoH, RA NIH's experience Working with the Armenian Diaspora during the COVID-19 Pandemic - Alexander Bazarchyan, MD, PhD, Director of RA MOH National Institute of Health named after academician S. Avdalbekyan An Active Platform for Enhancement of Talent Creation & Development - International Center for Professional Development (ICPD) – Rafi Avitsian, MD, FASA Development of the Sustainable Model of Continuing Professional Development for Healthcare Practitioners of Armenia Regions and Artsakh - Hambardzum Simonyan, MD, Fund for Armenian Relief, Healthcare Programs Director
9:05 AM Multi-Sectoral Cooperation and Coordination Moderated by: Lawrence Najarian (New Jersey, USA), Elena Sagayan (San Francisco, USA), Armen Soghoyan (Yerevan, Armenia)
Developing the Oxygen Producing Capacity in Armenia: A Collaborative Effort between A.Alikhanyan Yerevan Institute of Physics and Diasporan Healthcare Stakeholders – Ani Aprahamian, PhD Director A.Alikhanyan National Science Laboratory of Armenia and Frank M. Freimann Professor of Physics, University of Notre Dame Unifying Diasporan Organizations, the United AIO Experience – Maral Mouradian, MD, FAANS
Armenia Fund in Healthcare – Anna Aghajanian, Head of Programs and External Relations Department The New York Area Diaspora Impact on Healthcare Delivery in Armenia - Lawrence V. Najarian, MD, President, The Armenian American Health Professionals Organization, PA, AMIC Executive Committee Advisor, Assistant Clinical Professor, New York University School of Medicine
9:50 AM Updates on the 6th International Medical Congress of Armenia (6IMCA) – Hambardzum Simonyan, MD – Co-Chair 6IMCA
9:55 AM Presentations by AMIC Affiliated Organizations Part II Moderated by: Shant Shekherdimian (Yerevan, Armenia), Salpy Akaragian (Yerevan, Armenia) American Armenian Health Professionals Organization (AAHPO) Armenian American Medical Society (AAMS) Armenian American Nurses Association (AANA) Armenian Medical Association of Quebec (AMAQ) Armenian Medical Association of Spain (AMADeA) Eternal Nation Foundation Fighting Infectious Diseases in Emerging Countries (FIDEC) Sante Arménie, France Union Medicale Armenienne de France, Lyon (UMAF – Lyon) Union Medicale Armenienne de France, Paris (UMAF – Paris) Panel Discussion to Follow |
Armenian Eye Care Project update, as told by founder Dr Roger Ohanesian
See our website: www.eyecareproject.com describing what we have been doing for 25 years or 53 trips to Armenia.
After seeing the conditions of the major eye hospital, AECP provided equipment to bring Armenia up to the 20th century. After that was done, we brought 12 of their physicians for 1-yr specialty fellowships at major centers throughout the USA. When they returned, they were provided the special tools used in these specialty clinics. That way they could hit the ground with both feet running.
AECP then built the Mobile Eye Hospital (MEH) to tour the rural areas in the countryside where most of the poor lived. We did eye surgery, laser surgery and dispensed glasses to those who needed them and were designated by the PAROS list as living in poverty. Those in whom we found cataracts and who were of better means (Paros list 1-25) were referred to a private doctor in their locale for surgery. We do not want to enter into competition with the locals. That person may make the decision to have his/her surgery done in Yerevan but that is their choice. The MEH program is still effective and has had 600,000 examinations and more than 50,000 surgeries mostly cataracts and glaucoma.
At the request of the Minister of Health,(MOH) AECP has embarked upon building 5 Regional EyeCenters in locations designated by the Minister. So far we have built 3 EyeCenters of the 4 or 5 to be built by 2020.
These will take the place of the MEH to provide more regular examination and treatment for those with chronic eye diseases, Glaucoma. Uveitis, Corneal Dystrophy, Retinal disorders, ocular and lid tumors.
We also have created an OR in a NICU which is in a Maternity Hospital......unlike any other in the world. In this way, a child born prematurely and having Retinopathy of Prematurity need not be transported by ambulance in an incubator to the eye hospital. Instead,he/she can be brought to the OR and the disease treated by endoscopic retinal surgery. This is one of only four centers in the world that performs this procedure.
Blindness has as a major etiology: Diabetes.
AECP's goal is to take a retinal photo of every Diabetic in the country, somewhere between 250-300 thousand Diabetics. Patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR) can be treated early to prevent blindness. Statistically, that would be 5000-8000 persons in the country.
Besides the social implications of blindness, there is a great economic reason for the government to prevent this disease. Someone becoming blind is a huge cost to the nation in lost wages and taxes as well as the amount to care for a blind person.
Dr Ohanesian is presently selecting the best fair priced camera with plans to set it up in several sites to take photos. After working out the bugs, AECP will bring in about 30 of them to examine every diabetic.
It should be an exciting program and very worthwhile to those with treatable DR, but also to become a model for all those other small countries who have large numbers of diabetics.
Dear Colleagues,
My name is Rafi Avitsian and I have asked Dr. Jerry Manoukian to provide me a short time allotment of the upcoming AMIC meeting agenda [referring to the June 2014 AMIC General Assembly in Miami] to present my ideas and a proposal as a potential project for AMIC. The following is an abstract preview of what I will be proposing in the meeting and I would appreciate if you read, reflect on and come with ideas and suggestions about this proposal.
I will explain more about by background for those who do not know me but basically I am an academic anesthesiologist with an interest in post graduate medical education. This becomes relevant in my educational activities and ties with Armenia which has been mostly directed as organizing teaching seminars, advising some officials in Ministry of Health (MOH) in the educational curriculum was as well as facilitating transfer of physicians for 1-2 month observation courses in Cleveland Clinic. In the multiple educational relations with both trainees in the postgraduate level in many specialties as well as practicing physicians, I have noted the following surprising but unfortunately true facts about medical education in the postgraduate level:
Currently there are no Licensing process or requirements in Armenia to practice Medicine
There are no well-defined curriculum for postgraduate training in the specialties in the sense that we had in any of the countries that I know of that are part of AMIC
The main complaint of residency level trainees is a lack of education and teaching and not having a didactic or hands-on training schedule which encourages them to leave Armenia in search of better education
I believe that we have a selection of great academicians and teachers in AMIC from different countries who can bring excellent suggestions in designing curriculum for each specialty and working with the MOH to specify the suggested guidelines for licensure. The American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in USA may not be the best format for Armenia, neither may be the one from Canada or UK or France etc. However with putting our minds together we can find the best stepping stone for Armenia in the current situation to build their accreditation upon. Thus:
I propose AMIC prepare a task force to identify members who can serve on a committee to evaluate different curriculum and with the help of a representative from the MOH and the Yerevan State Medical University to prepare guidelines for accreditation in each specialty.
I will be happy to present the details in the upcoming AMIC meeting.
Best regards
Rafi Avitsian M.D.