A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

We’ve just returned from Beirut, Lebanon, where NAAMA held our 24th International Medical Convention,“Medicine in the Next Decade: Challenges and Opportunities.” For our members and their families, it was a most rewarding professional and personal experience in an ancient yet very contemporary land.  The Convention, Scientific and Lebanon Host Committees worked diligently for more than six months to create a unique “NAAMA” experience. 

This convention offered many “firsts:” the collaboration of all seven Lebanese medical schools, the words of His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh, Lebanese Minister of Public Health, delivered by Dr. Imad El Hajj, and the wisdom and vision of keynote speaker Dr. Elias Zerhouni, professor of radiology and biomedical research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and former director of the National Institutes of Health, and medical experts representing myriad specialties.  Never before attempted at a NAAMA convention: 55 different session speakers and specialty symposia within the convention that attendees can attend free of charge.  In all, 28 different presentations, three specialty symposia, 40+ poster presentations and an opportunity for students and residents to network with NAAMA members!  It is also the first time that NAAMA is offering its members the convenience of online CME evaluations and certificates.

The true value of all these efforts will be realized in improved patient outcomes, increased knowledge and added competence on the part of our members.  Along with professional development, members shared this beautiful country and city with family and friends, adding to the memories. 

If you’re not a NAAMA member, I encourage you to consider it to enhance your own professional development, to make friends of other Arab American physicians across disciplines and across the country, and to contribute to Arab American communities that need our financial help as well as the needy in our countries of origin – a way to give back for all we’ve been given.

You’d be just in time to attend our 32nd National Medical Convention in New York City, October 8-11, 2010! 

Saad Bitar, MD