Our Office participated in the opening ceremony of the Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Fellowship (IRF) program which is the culmination of 2 years of hard work, dedication, and collaboration between diaspora and local professionals.

In 2020, our partner organizations Therapists for Armenia and Armenian American Sports Medicine Coalition initiated and supported various efforts including the coordination of over 60 healthcare volunteers traveling to Armenia, facilitating the donation of therapeutic supplies, hosting 20 bilingual webinars related to treatment and assessment of war injuries, initiating teleconsultation with in-country clinicians, creating a digital rehab resource library, and hosting the post-conflict rehabilitation symposium, and more.

During this event, Armineh Babikian, Founder and Executive Director of Therapists for Armenia and Nicholas Tavoukjian Founder and CEO of the Armenian American Sports Medicine Coalition (AASMC) stated that the aim of the IRF is to build the clinical competency of physiatrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists living and working in Armenia and Artsakh, to create a strong and targeted educational leadership team who will drive the development of rehabilitation within Armenia and Artsakh’s health systems, and transition into education roles within the IRF, ensuring long-term sustainability.

This year, 30 candidates have been selected as fellows to participate in the program. The program is being implemented in partnership with the National Institute of Health of Armenia (NIH Armenia), Polaris EduCorp, and Health Network for Armenia (HENAR).

The program is partially funded by the Armenian American Medical Society, the Glendale Memorial Hospital Foundation, and the Glendale Memorial Medical Executive Committee.