EIH Program Enters New Region of Armenia — Armavir
2 min readMRGASHAT, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) is happy to share that the first private health practice supported by the Entrepreneurs in Health (EIH) program of the AUA Turpanjian College of Health Sciences (CHS) in the Armavir region is Dr. Samvel Sedrakyan’s dental clinic in the village of Mrgashat.
Dr. Sedrakyan is a family dentist, practicing in his home village of Mrgashat, a village of around 5,700 residents, 42 km from Yerevan. Prior to applying to the EIH program, Dr. Sedrakyan ran a small dental clinic in his village. The increasing demand from the local community and nearby villages led him to consider expanding his practice and relocating to a new facility with new state-of-the-art equipment, capable of seeing more patients, and offering a better quality of care.
Dr. Sedrakyan completed the mandatory educational component of the EIH program and developed the business and quality assurance plans for his practice, which were presented to and approved by the EIH Executive Committee. As a result, he qualified for financial assistance to procure the planned dental equipment and receive the program’s support for his continuous professional development and participation in public health initiatives in the region.
Besides the standard EIH courses in Healthcare Quality Assurance, Entrepreneurship and Accounting, Dr. Sedrakyan also participated in the Preventive Dentistry course offered by the EIH program. The course introduces participating dentists to incorporate contemporary preventive practices into the scope of dental services they offer. Further, in connection with his training in preventive dentistry, Dr. Sedrakyan was selected to participate in the pilot phase of the Dental Hygiene project, which aims at raising awareness of oral hygiene in the community, as well as conducting oral health assessments of primary school children living in the Mrgashat village. Dr. Sedrakyan is also participating in the mentorship component of the program, having regular meetings with a dentist mentor from the U.S., discussing clinical cases, exchanging experiences, and learning about new developments and approaches in the field of dentistry.
The EIH program will continue to support Dr. Sedrakyan through professional advice in dental healthcare quality assurance, preventive dentistry, operational and financial management, and other relevant consulting.
The aim of EIH is to improve access to quality health services in rural communities of Armenia, Artsakh, and Javakhk through the introduction of advanced technologies and innovative approaches supporting healthcare professionals to develop private health practices.
The AUA Turpanjian College of Health Sciences works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research, and evaluation, health care delivery, and management.
