Dear members and friends of IAMA-Javaan,

As the newly elected President of the Iranian American Medical Association-Javaan (IAMA-Javaan) for 2007-2008, I would like to thank all the participants of the 14th Annual meeting held in San Francisco in May 2007, for choosing me to lead this Association for the upcoming year. I am both honored and humbled and sincerely appreciate your support.

First, I would like to inform you that we had a wonderful, enjoyable and informative meeting in San Francisco, where we had the chance to socialize with friends and colleagues from other states and countries. This year we had great attendance from other specialties as well. The scientific part of the meeting was a great success. Many Iranian-American physicians and scientists were present, and there was a fantastic opportunity to meet and listen to very successful and highly ranked Iranian-American colleagues in Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy. In attendance also were students from universities across the country.

On behalf of the IAMA-Javaan, I would like to extend our special thanks to the leadership of the IAMA for their efforts and management of this meeting, as well as their continuous support and inspiration.

Secondly, I would also like to thank the 2006 IAMA-Javaan Board of Directors for their achievements for our group during the last year. Special thanks should be addressed to Dr. Danesh Mazloomdoost, Dr. Katayoon Hashemi, Dr. Soraya Rofagha, Dr. Hale Yarmohammadi, Dr. Azadeh Farzin and Dr. Ali Moshirfar for their efforts in organizing our first Annual Meeting in Galveston TX in January 2007.

At this time, I would like to introduce the new Board of Directors of IAMA-Javaan 2007-2008.

We are also grateful and honored that Dr. Danesh Mazloomdoost, Dr. Soroaya Rofagha, Dr. Rocsanna Namdar and Dr. Alireza Faheeh would like to assist the organization by sharing their knowledge and experience this year as well.

Our mission and goals in 2007-2008:

With all due respect for our colleagues and what they have accomplished before us, we would like to state our mission and achieve the following goals in 2007-2008:

Mission Statement*

- Promote networking between all of the Section members and its founding Association.
- Promote the interest of the younger generation members of the Association.
- Support and guide students, residents, fellows, and young professionals of Iranian descent studying in medicine and its allied fields.
- Actively promote the academic and humanitarian commitments of the Parent Association.
- Disseminate information regarding interested young professional Iranians seeking immigration to the United States to study and practice in medicine and its allied fields and advance the goals of the Section and Association.

(* Source: the IAMA-Javaan By-Laws)

Our Goals

1) Recruiting new people to our organization IAMA-Javaan (and IAMA):

We would like to encourage and invite you, your friends and colleagues in the Health Care Profession to join and support us. We are people in the fields of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Basic Science Research, ranging from students to the specialist level in different fields. We would like to expand our social and scientific network among all the Iranian-American professionals in the Health Care related fields to bring people together, to introduce and facilitate the unlimited opportunities that people might not be aware of.

We all know that individually, Iranians are very successful people, but as a community, we are almost an unknown minority. We would like to have a positive influence in our society, be heard and combat stereotyping in the media in a proactive, collaborative, respectful and team oriented way. We would like to be respected for what and who we are, and not portrayed by negative media propaganda. To accomplish these ends, we must be proactive as a group. If we help and promote each other, then we, as Iranian-American professionals, will be respected, appreciated and heard.

2) Having a strong, up-to-date and well-functioning media for efficient communication:

In an effort to accommodate the increasing amount of work, it is necessary to improve and update our existing website with new features designed to ameliorate the search for useful information regarding our By-Laws, calendar of events and helpful professional and educational opportunities. Our current website address is: www.iama.org and our e-mail address is: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Our new and updated website would be announced and available for use very soon.

3) IAMA-Javaan 2nd Annual Meeting in January 2008:

Our 2nd Annual Meeting will be held during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in January 2008 from Friday 18th to Monday 21st in Irvine, Orange County, CA. More information will be posted later on our new website, and it will also be sent to you by e-mail when the final program is scheduled and approved. We look forward to seeing you at this very important meeting.

Friday January 18, 2007: Arrival, registration, meeting friends,…. (Optional).
Saturday January 19th.: Official opening, Conference activities.
Sunday January 20th.: Conference activities or social activities.
Monday January 21st.: Departure.

The Atrium Hotel (at Orange County Airport) will be hosting our meeting and for IAAM-Javaan participants, they have offered a reduced rate of $119.00 per night for single or double occupancy. The address is:

18700 MacArthur Blvd.
Irvine, CA 92612
Phone: 949-833-2770

Cut-Off Date: 12-27-2007.
(When you call for your room reservation, please remember to inform the Hotel that you are attending the IAMA-Javaan Conference to receive the special rate).

4) What can we offer our membership?

A. We can offer an organized informative network for Iranian-American physicians,    Bio-Medical Scientists and Allied Health Care workers.
B. Highly respected, accredited and scientific meetings arranged by IAMA.
C. Humanitarian Fundraisers such as the IAMA Bam project.
D. Educational trips to Iran.
E. Hosting of exchange groups from Iran.
F. Invitations to educational / cultural / social meetings.
G. Providing information and networking for medical students and residency applicants, and possibly for people in other fields as well.
H. Providing the necessary information for the International Medical Graduates

5) Collaboration with other Iranian Professional organizations:

We are a non-political, non-religious and non-profit organization. IAMA-Javaan is open to and welcomes anyone and everyone who is of Iranian-American heritage with a health care related education and in possession of a high level of tolerance and respect for all people of other fields, regardless of their race, gender, religion or nationality. We would like to collaborate with Iranian-American organizations of Dentists, Pharmacists, Nurses, Physical Therapists, Physiologists, Nutritionist, Psychologists, Biochemists, Bio¬medicals, Lab techs, and others. We welcome those who are interested in contributing their knowledge and experience. If this applies to you, we would be more than happy to welcome and have you in our organization. That would indeed enrich our Association.

Though we are a medical organization, we would also like to align ourselves with other non-medical Iranian-American professional associations including the Iranian American Lawyers, Engineers, Computer Sciences, Architects etc., and other Iranian professional associations on a global scale. This will create a more cohesive and vibrant network. We believe mutual understanding, respect, tolerance and support will take us to the height and depth of our goals. Your personal and professional contributions are truly appreciated. We all share our Persian heritage of which we are very proud.

Moulaanaa Roomi says:

ما برای وصل کردن آمدیم        نی برای فصل کردن آمدیم

We are here for associating, not for dissociating!

6) How to join IAMA-Javaan?

By submitting our new Membership and Demographic Forms. Our new Membership, Demographic and Donation Forms are standard Forms used by IAMA and IAMA-Javaan. These Forms will soon be available on our website as PDF documents and will also be sent by e-mail to those persons whose e-mail addresses have previously been submitted to the organization. A new feature (on-line registration and payment) will also be available 24/7. Please view these Forms when considering your membership or donations.

In addition, IAMA has State Chapters in some States here in the U.S., please contact them for more information about their local activities. You will find useful information about the State Chapters on our website. If there is no State Chapter in your state or city, please contact IAMA central office for more information and advice. IAMA central office contact information is available on our website and on our Forms.

7) Membership Fee payments and Donations to IAMA-Javaan via PayPal:

As a payment option and for your convenience, IAMA-Javaan and IAMA now offer membership fee and donation payments via our PayPal accounts. Paypal is a safe and secure system and Step-by-Step instructions are also available on our website at:  www.iama.org and/or on the PayPal’s website at: www.paypal.com. More information about this would be announced on our new website in the near future.

The membership fees for IAMA and IAMA-Javaan in Calendar year 2008 would be as follows:

• IAMA
  • Practicing MD, DMD, DDS, OD, DVM, Pharm.D, Ph.D, DPM, DCM, DO: $100.00
  • PA, RN, Med.Tech: $50.00
  • Retirees: $50.00
  • Fellows: $25.00
  • IAMA-Javaan members: FREE
• IAMA-Javaan*
  • Students, Post.Docs: $10.00
  • Residents: $25.00

  *) IAMA-Javaan members are honored Free-membership in IAMA, and the fees of $10 and $ 25 are optional and only for the membership in and support of IAMA-Javaan.

8) Introducing IAMA-Javaan and its sub-committees:

Some of the standing committees and chairs include:

• Fundraising committee
• International committee (Dr. Hale Yarmohammadi)
• Career and Professional Development (Dr. Ali Moshirfar)
• Public Relations and Membership committee (Dr. M. Shokouh-Amiri)
• Students Officer (Dr. Neda Moghadam)
• Conference committee (Dr. Behnaz Haghighi)
• Social and Cultural committee
• Academic Professional Communication
• National Workshop

You are very welcome to join any of the committees and flourish your talent and our group.

9) What is the IAMA-Javaan’s relationship to IAMA:

We consider ourselves to be the base and future generations of the IAMA. Our senior colleagues in IAMA are, have been and will be our teachers and “Pish-kesvat”. We have and strive to maintain a strong bridge between IAMA (as our parent organization) and IAMA-Javaan based on mutual respect, trust, friendship and support. We are two parts of one body, and we share our resources. We humbly offer our teachers our support, energy and knowledge, and we enjoy their knowledge, wisdom and experience.

In conclusion, dear friends, thank you very much for your time, attention and support, and we look forward to receiving your opinions, suggestions and comments and hopefully (also) your membership applications in the near future.

Respectfully,

Mohammad Shokouh-Amiri, M.D.
President of the IAMA-Javaan
October 06, 2007

IAMA-Javaan 2007 President's Greeting