Dear AAMA friends, members and supporters
As promised, please see below some quick updates from the past couple of days:
- Monday July 25, I spent about 5 hours seeing patients and discussing cases with our first cohort of Armenian urogynecology fellows at Beglaryan Women’s hospital (photo 1)
- Tuesday July 26, spent an additional 6 hours with the same fellows at Izmirlyan hospital (photo 2)
- Both days we treated patients with urinary incontinence, prolapse and other pelvic floor disorders. Wednesday and Thursday will be surgery days (more to come)
- The fellows are hungry to learn, eager to improve their knowledge base and technical skills, and very accepting to the American-based health care standards to improve the quality of life of the patients they are caring for. The potential of the young generation of physicians is great and very promising! I encourage all of you, the readers of this newsletter, to start thinking about ways to replicate or build on our experience and those of others to improving specialty training in your own areas of expertise to ultimately benefit the entirety of health care in Armenia. I propose that a reliable, robust and effective health care system in Armenia is the missing link to a prosperous Armenia. Let us all work together to make it happen.
- I also visited the whole Beglaryan medical center, including the Zinvori Doun (soldier’s house) which has been transformed to a physical rehab center for all those in need (photo 4 and 5).
- With Inessa, our AAMA Armenia representative, I met with Lena Nanoushyan, the assistant to the MOH. We discussed all sorts of health care related topics and means to collaborate and improve communication and active participation between the diaspora and Armenia (photo 6).
- Also with Inessa, met with the Arthur and Lilit (with their newborn baby) who are running the Armenian Geriatrics center in Armenia (which also has a healthcare arm) and solicited feedback and updates on the 100 oxygen concentrators that AAMA helped purchase and ship to Armenia (word document / attachment 7).
- We had another very productive meeting with the physician and administrator running an AUA-run program (sponsored by a donor from California) know as Entrepreneurs in Health that offers loans to health care workers starting small businesses (clinics) in rural Armenia, Artsakh, and the Javakh region of Georgia. I believe there is a lot of opportunity for potential future AAMA-EIH collaboration. See link for more details on EIH https://trdp.aua.am/entrepreneurs-in-healthcare-eih/
- I leave you with this view of Yerevan at night (photo 8) and wish you all well.
- Will try to reconnect in a couple of days
Sincerely,
Vatche’
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