Texas

The Texas chapter of the Iranian American Medical Association (IAMA-TX) organized 15 events in 2009 that were focused primarily on the following goals:

1. Creating networking opportunities for Iranian-American healthcare professionals and students.
2. Providing health-related services to our community.
3. Granting scholarships to Iranian-American students in Texas.

It should be noted that most of our newly established services would not have been possible without our close collaboration with other Iranian and American organizations. Within the framework of our bylaws, we have actively fostered partnerships with other nonreligious and nonpolitical groups to better serve our members and community.

Networking Opportunities

In addition to our traditionally held Nowruz luncheon (March) and annual gala (October), multiple new networking events were made available to our members in 2009. That effort was focused on the creation of venues that acknowledge the diverse professional backgrounds of our members. In partnership with the pharmaceutical industry, we offered 3 industry-sponsored lecture series, which were very well attended; therefore, we plan to offer a lecture series on a quarterly basis in the coming year. In addition, the IAMA-TX Student Committee organized a social mixer and 2 movie nights, which provided excellent networking opportunities for our student members. In collaboration with the Texas Medical Liability Trust, we also held an ethics continuing medical education lecture, which provided a great opportunity for physicians of various subspecialties to socialize and obtain an hour of ethics continuing medical education credit, which is mandatory in Texas. We also organized for the first time a dental continuing education lecture. We plan to offer an annual dental continuing education lecture to bring together Iranian-American dentists, who are a major portion of our members. In addition, we published our first IAMA-TX member directory this year, which was distributed among our members. We hope that this directory will facilitate networking and collaboration among Iranian-American healthcare professionals in Texas.

Community Service

Over the last 10 years, the members of our chapter have published monthly patient information articles written in Farsi in the Asheghaneh magazine . Those articles, which were written by Iranian-American experts in various medical specialties, have become a helpful source of medical information in our community. We hope to publish those articles on the Web so that they can be read by speakers of Farsi worldwide. In addition, we organized a health information booth at the Nowruz Festival of the Iranian Cultural Foundation in Houston, Texas, which provided an excellent opportunity to inform thousands of attending Iranians in our community about IAMA activities and services.

Our chapter continued to organize health screening events in 2009. Our annual mammography event, which was held in collaboration with Excel Diagnostics, has become an important service that enables uninsured or underinsured members of our community to undergo screening for the early detection of breast cancer. In partnership with the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in Houston, Texas, we organized a comprehensive health screening event that provided information about participants’ blood pressure and blood glucose levels and the results of a lipid panel and studies of thyroid, renal, and hepatic function.

Awarding Scholarships

The IAMA-TX chapter awards scholarships to Iranian-American students in healthcare fields who are enrolled in universities across Texas. The main goals of that awards program are to recognize the accomplishments of young Iranian-Americans and strengthen their connection to their Iranian heritage. The recipients are selected by the Scholarship Committee according to predefined criteria. This valuable service has been possible only through the generosity of donors, who have been contributing to our scholarship fund for more than 10 years. We awarded 5 scholarships in 2009. The number of applicants significantly exceeded the number of awarded scholarships, but unfortunately, we were unable to grant more than 5 scholarships because of budget constraints.

Financial Report

The IAMA-TX chapter is led by a volunteer board. Most of our budget is used for the scholarship fund and other philanthropic services, such as health screenings. We received a total of $22,625 from donations, membership fees, and ticket sales. Our total expenditure for 2009 was $22,716.

The 2009 IAMA-TX chapter board members consisted of:

• Shervin Assassi, MD, president
• Zarifeh Johnson, DDS, vice-president
• Nahid Guilak, MD, treasurer
• Shahriar Tabassi, MD, secretary
• Ali Azhdarinia, PhD, member at large
• Nahid Mirabi, MD, member at large
• Parissa Mohajer, DC, member at large

Dr. Ali Azimpour, Dr. Ebrahim Delpassand, Dr. Hooshang Guilak, Dr. Katayoon Hashemi, Dr. Homayoon Mohajer, and Dr. Cyrus Sajadi, were our advisory board members. Ms. Vida Kahrizi assisted us as a volunteer in organizing various events, and Ms. Anahita Zangeneh; Dr. Ali Mazloom, and Ms. Sepideh Shirali organized the Student Committee activities.

In closing, I extend my deepest gratitude to our members for their support, to our donors for their generosity, to our advisors for their wisdom, and to our board members and volunteers for their commitment. We are confident that we can expand our activities in close collaboration with the IAMA-central chapter and the IAMA-Javaan in 2010. We look forward to contributing our share in shaping a cohesive and progressive Iranian-American community.

Illinois

For the past year, the Illinois chapter of the Iranian American Medical Association (IAMA) has continued its regular activities under the direction of President Barry Sadegi, MD; Vice-president, Ali Djalilian, MD; and Secretary Marc Fallah, MD. In addition, that chapter of the IAMA has had the privilege of hosting the IAMA central executive board members.

The activities of the IAMA Illinois chapter in 2009 included:

1. Quarterly meetings attended by board members and other members of the IAMA. Issues discussed during those meetings included the new IAMA e-bulletin, membership dues, and the recruitment of new members. The IAMA Illinois chapter is in the process of obtaining state tax-exempt status, the filing for which has been submitted twice and is in progress.
2. The IAMA IL chapter annual meeting. Annual meetings of the IL chapter are held every December in conjunction with an entertainment program. Last year’s event was held on December 19, 2009 and the program included the presentation and discussion of current issues followed by dinner and entertainment. Activities at the 2008-2009 annual program, which was attended by more than 60 IAMA members, also included a silent auction for fund-raising for the IAMA.

In addition to those activities, Dr. Sadegi attended a meeting of the “Shabeh Jomeh” Group and met with several Iranian medical students and residents who have just begun their work in Chicago, Illinois. They discussed IAMA goals and the areas in which the IAMA can assist young medical students and residents.

New Jersey

Board meetings of the New Jersey chapter of the Iranian American Medical Association (IAMA) are held every 2 months, and issues related to the recruitment of new members and planning for IAMA dinner programs were discussed in the meeting held during 2009.

In 2009, two joint meetings of the members of the IAMA New York and New Jersey chapters were held in the Persian Tea Room Restaurant in New York and both meetings were very well attended. The attendees enjoyed scientific lectures by renowned members of the faculty of several New York medical schools as well as music, dancing, and good food. Those meetings, which were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, were very successful in both recruiting new IAMA members and fund-raising for the IAMA.

New York

Ohio

Virginia and Washington D.C.

It is our pleasure to inform you that recently, the ninth chapter of the Iranian American Medical Association (IAMA) was established in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The IAMA was founded in 1993 in New Jersey, and New York states, the sites of its permanent headquarters. A nonprofit, nonpolitical, nonreligious, and tax-deductible medical organization, the IAMA has as its primary goal the enhancement of scientific and cultural interactions among Iranian Americans and is committed to supporting the scientific, humanitarian, and cultural activities listed below.

1. The IAMA focuses on educational and charitable causes and promotes professional biomedical meetings among all Iranians in biomedical fields in the United States.
2. The IAMA sponsors at least 2 annual medical conferences accredited for continuing medical education.
3. The IAMA publishes a biannual bulletin and is going to publish a biannual medical journal.
4. The IAMA has built several clinical medical facilities in earthquake-damaged areas in Iran.
5. The IAMA assists Iranian medical doctors in finding jobs and residencies in the United States.
6. The IAMA offers to healthcare providers a voluntary annual trip to provide medical care for people in regions of Iran that are deprived of such care.

We would like to invite you to join the newly formed chapter of the IAMA as an active member. To obtain additional information, please visit our Web site (http://www.iama.org/), contact us by completing the e-mail form found under “Services” and then, in the dropdown menu, under “Contacts” on that web site, calling us at 973-595-8888, or sending a fax to 973-790-7755. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Executive Committee of the IAMA in Washington D.C., Virginia, and Maryland