Dr. Shant Shekherdimian on Healthcare in Armenia and the Role of the Diaspora in Health Reforms

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On July 7, 2014, the American University of Armenia (AUA) School of Public Health (AUA SPH), in collaboration with the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, organized a Public Health Seminar with Shant Shekherdimian, MD, MPH. Dr. Shekherdimian gave a presentation titled “Healthcare in Armenia: Identifying Needs and Defining the Role of the Diaspora.” He described the current status of the health system performance in Armenia, identified the main challenges, and suggested how health professionals from the diaspora could contribute to the health system performance improvements in a more systematic way to lead to sustainable improvements.

Dr. Shant Shekherdimian was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His educational background includes a medical degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Public Health with an emphasis on global health from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Shekherdimian has completed a residency in general surgery at UCLA and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery at UCLA. Dr. Shekherdimian’s clinical interests include neonatal surgery and pediatric surgical oncology. His research interests are in intestinal lengthening as a potential treatment of short bowel syndrome. Dr. Shekherdimian has participated and lectured at several international conferences pertaining to his surgical specialty and public health. He is involved in several projects with the aim to improve pediatric care in Armenia, including spearheading a novel model of effective diaspora contribution to health care systems in home countries.

The large audience of public health and medical professionals, including students, faculty, researchers, and physicians, asked questions and made comments during the question/answer session following his presentation. The reception in AUA’s Akian Art Gallery provided the opportunity for informal interactions between Dr. Shekherdimian and attendees of the public health seminar.

You can view the video of the seminar here.

The AUA School of Public Health works actively to improve the health of the populace and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals and others to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.

Dr. Shant Shekherdimian

Audience members in AUA’s Alex & Marie Manoogian Hall