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.