It is with great pleasure that I bring to you the report of the 16th Annual Meeting of the founders, trustees, combined boards, chapters, sections, and committees of the Iranian American Medical Association (IAMA). This meeting was held at the Boston Harbor Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, on Monday, May 25, 2009, from 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The opening remarks were delivered by Amir Ganchi, MD, chairman of the board of trustees of the IAMA, at 9:05 AM. The following IAMA members attended that meeting:

• Amir Ganchi, MD, chairman of the board of trustees of the IAMA
• Jasmin Moshirpur, MD, vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the IAMA
• Barry Sadeghi, MD, president of the board of directors of the IAMA
• Hosein Shokouh-Amiri, MD, co-chairman of continuing medical education
• Mohammad Shokouh-Amiri, MD, past president of the IAMA-Javaan and member of the IAMA Web site Committee
• Tooraj Zahedi, MD, president of the New Jersey chapter of the IAMA
• Masood Khatamee, MD, past president of the IAMA
• Vida Vida, MD, founder of the IAMA
• Ali Moshirfar, MD, co-chairman of the Continuing Medical Education Committee
• Shervin Assassi, MD, president of the Texas chapter of the IAMA
• Hamid Esbah, MD, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the IAMA
• Hooshang Mirlohi, MD, member of the IAMA board of trustees, New York
• Ebrahim Delpasand, MD, trustee of the Texas chapter of the IAMA
• Freidoon Ghazi, MD, vice-president of the Ohio chapter of the IAMA
• Darius Ghazi, MD, IAMA member
• Ashkan Afshin, MD, president of the IAMA-Javaan
• Nasser Eftekhari, MD, trustee of the Florida chapter of the IAMA
• Shahriar Bozorgzad, MD, secretary of the IAMA board of trustees and member of the International Committee

The activities of the IAMA-Javaan section were reported by Dr. M. Shokouh-Amiri, and the activities of the Continuing Medical Education Committee were reported by Drs. A. Moshirfar and H. Shokouh-Amiri. The Continuing Medical Education Committee intends to include more general topics in future annual meetings. Legal, financial planning and contract negotiations will also be added to the list of continuing medical education topics. Those announcements were met with enthusiasm.

Dr. A. Moshirfar requested a motion for the board of trustees to approve the autonomy of the Continuing Medical Education Committee regarding abstract selection. That motion was made by Dr. E. Delpasand, was seconded by Dr. J. Moshirpur, and was passed by the board of trustees with a unanimous vote. A discussion regarding the presentation of multiple smaller awards for the best abstracts was then held. The resolution of that discussion permits the Continuing Medical Education Committee members to do as they see fit in that regard. Dr. M. Shokouh-Amiri presented a report regarding the IAMA web site.

Dr. S. Bozorgzad recommended establishing an online store that would offer IAMA-related products for purchase. That recommendation was approved. Dr. N. Eftekhari recommended advertising on the IAMA Web site, and that suggestion was met with enthusiasm by both the Web site Committee members and the members of the boards of trustees; however, it was brought to the members’ attention that currently, no guidelines exist for selecting vendors interested in advertising on the IAMA Web site. Dr. S. Bozorgzad then asked for guidance from the Bylaws Committee regarding policies governing advertisement on the IAMA Web site. Because H. Guliak, MD, the chairman of the Bylaws Committee, was not present, Dr. B. Sadeghi, as the president of the IAMA board of directors, appointed Dr. A. Moshirfar to the Bylaws Committee to assist in creating guidelines for advertisement on the IAMA Web site. Dr. Moshirfar accepted and will collaborate with Dr. Guliak in that regard.

Dr. M. Khatamee submitted a request to advertise his book titled "Doctor, Are you Listening?" Copyright 2008, published by Fertility Research Foundation, New york, NY 10075 on the IAMA Web site. After guidelines for advertising on the IAMA Web site have been confirmed, the Web site Committee will contact Dr. Khatamee about that issue.

Dr. Shervin Assassi, a member of the Texas chapter of the IAMA, initiated a discussion about membership fees. A motion to change the membership fee structure in January 2010 was made by Dr. Moshirfar, seconded by Dr. Delpasand, and approved by majority vote. As a result and effective as of that date, the standard membership fee was changed to $150 for the practicing physicians , and free for the fellows, residents, and interns, and the fee for the retirees, and nurses was changed to $75. All students can join the IAMA at no charge. A majority vote also confirmed that effective from January 2010, each chapter of the IAMA would receive a refund of $50 of the $150 standard membership fee.

Dr. B. Sadeghi appointed Dr. S. Assassi to the Financial Committee, which also includes Drs. A. Afshin and H. Shokouh-Amiri and B. Radfar, MD. Dr. T. Zahedi was appointed chairman of the Membership Committee, and Drs. Delpasand and H. Shokouh-Amiri volunteered to serve on that committee.

Much time was spent discussing how to increase membership enrollment. Dr. Bozorgzad recommended a referral reward system in which membership dues for the following year would be waived for any member who refers 3 new members that join IAMA at the standard membership fee. No final decision was made regarding that proposal.

All committees were reminded to submit a quarterly report of their activities to the board of directors and board of trustees as per the bylaws of the IAMA. Las Vegas, Nevada, was approved as the location for the 17th Annual Meeting of the IAMA. Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; and Orlando Florida, were considered as sites for the 2011 annual meeting and as alternative sites for the annual meeting this year.

The board of trustees and committee members expressed their gratitude to Dr. B. Sadeghi and the Illinois chapter for their contributions to the IAMA and to Dr. H. Esbah, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the IAMA in Boston, for hosting one of the best annual meetings of IAMA. The board welcomed Dr. D. Ghazi of Kentucky and expressed appreciation for his contributions. The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 AM.