Open Medical Club Georgia
Goals of OMC Georgia
1. To provide opportunities for physicians to learn about Salzburg Medical Seminars and to popularize and use the knowledge and experience gained during these seminars in Georgia.
2. To improve the quality of health care delivery by enhancing the clinical skills and knowledge of physicians and other health care providers.
3. The fostering freely exchange of ideas and the opportunity to develop professional relationships.
4. To establish contacts with educational centers through the world, provide a comprehensive source of information, which meets the needs of physicians and other health care providers, and carry out conferences, training courses and educational-exchange programs.
5 To protect patients’ and doctors’ rights, co-operate with medical professional associations, other NGO’s and governmental organizations and to take part in the process of building the democratic, open civil society in Georgia.
6. To assist in treating English-speaking patients living and travelling in the region.
7. To take advantage of new technologies, such as distance learning, telemedicine and satellite symposia in order to develop innovative delivery systems for medical educational programs to physicians and discuss problematic cases.
8. To become actively involved in regional networks to assess the educational needs of physicians and to develop appropriate activities to meet those needs.
9. To take part in the process of providing the local medical institutions with new equipment and medications.
These goals will be carried out by the establishment and maintenance of a full-time office of OMC.
The office of OMC will function as the central administrative office for all activities.
History
The Open Medical Club Georgia was founded in December 2000 as a non-profit, non-governmental organization, by the former participants of Salzburg Medicl Seminars and Internship Programs which are organized by the American Austrian Foundation and the Open Society Institute.
These seminars and internship programs not only broadened the view of participants in their specialties, but also offered them first hand experience in a well-funded and fairly well organized general health care system. In addition to all that fellows established personal relationships which most likely will last for rest of their future personal lives and will be the basis for further contacts and exchanges of people and ideas.
All participants were deeply impressed by the atmosphere of the seminars and internship programs and returned home encouraged and committed to changing health care delivery system in Georgia for the sake of the patients.
At the beginning they tried to spread the information and experience separately, but after some time almost everybody guessed that it is better work together. So they joined in a non-formal association, which after some time became a pressure group and then established as a legal entity, the Open Medical Club.
The Open Medical Club was established in order to foster the network of physicians who have been participants in the Salzburg Medical Seminars International and also of others who are interested in sharing progressive knowledge and experience. They hope that their endeavor will enable seminar alumni to build on relationships and ideas begun during their seminar experience.
