საუკეთესო სურვილებით,

სოფო ბელქანია

ადამიანური რესურსების მართვისა და საერთაშორისო ურთიერთობების დეპარტამენტის უფროსი

საქართველოს ოკუპირებული ტერიტორიებიდან დევნილთა, შრომის, ჯანმრთელობისა და სოციალური დაცვის სამინისტრო

აკ. წერეთლის გამზირი 144,  თბილისი, საქართველო,  0159

მობ:  +995 599 223232

Mariam Tarasashvili 

Second Secretary; Economic affairs 

Office: 202-387-2390 ext.403 | Cell: 202-809-4882

1824 R Street NW, Washington DC, 20009

Embassy of Georgia to the United States

​Follow us on   Facebook,   Twitter,   Medium, and  Web

საუკეთესო სურვილებით,

სოფო ბელქანია

ადამიანური რესურსების მართვისა და საერთაშორისო ურთიერთობების დეპარტამენტის უფროსი

საქართველოს ოკუპირებული ტერიტორიებიდან დევნილთა, შრომის, ჯანმრთელობისა და სოციალური დაცვის სამინისტრო

აკ. წერეთლის გამზირი 144,  თბილისი, საქართველო,  0159

მობ:  +995 599 223232

Mariam Tarasashvili 

Second Secretary; Economic affairs 

Office: 202-387-2390 ext.403 | Cell: 202-809-4882

1824 R Street NW, Washington DC, 20009

Embassy of Georgia to the United States

​Follow us on   Facebook,   Twitter,   Medium, and  Web

საუკეთესო სურვილებით,

სოფო ბელქანია

ადამიანური რესურსების მართვისა და საერთაშორისო ურთიერთობების დეპარტამენტის უფროსი

საქართველოს ოკუპირებული ტერიტორიებიდან დევნილთა, შრომის, ჯანმრთელობისა და სოციალური დაცვის სამინისტრო

აკ. წერეთლის გამზირი 144,  თბილისი, საქართველო,  0159

მობ:  +995 599 223232

Mariam Tarasashvili 

Second Secretary; Economic affairs 

Office: 202-387-2390 ext.403 | Cell: 202-809-4882

1824 R Street NW, Washington DC, 20009

Embassy of Georgia to the United States

​Follow us on   Facebook,   Twitter,   Medium, and  Web

Thanks for the email. Yes. we would be happy to work with you and the ministry towards a plan for science advancement programs in Georgia.

Regarding your questions:

We select the team based on the needs of the country and the programs we would implement there. This will be mainly for medical and surgical programs that are NOT currently established in the country or that specific university. Sorry for the confusion about Tajikistan. No Tajik national has been part of our teams so far. We work with other countries and that was a just mistake in the initial email. The academic physicians (faculty members) are from universities in the US and Europe.

To start, we will communicate with the ministry to see what they needs based on the strategic plan for healthcare. Based on the need, we will try to organize a team of academic physicians/surgeons for an educational trip to Georgia to start one or two specific medical or surgical programs there.

Step 1: The academic physicians, with specialty relevant for a specific plan, will travel to Georgia. We, in collaboration with the local host university, will organize hands-on training programs. For examples, for a specific surgical program, AIMS team members will do training operations as well lectures. Local surgeons (selected by the host local university or ministry) will attend the operation to be trained for that specific procedure/ technique. Lectures will be open to all surgeons in that institutions. As I said academic physicians/surgeons will work on a voluntary basis. The travel and lodging costs will be paid by the host institution.

Step 2: In some cases, local trained surgeons will need to see and learn about the general setting for a specific program. For example, transplantation programs will need other requirements besides the surgical skills of the surgeons, e.g. comprehensive setting for the whole process: from organ procurement to transplantation. In that case, after AIMS team leaves Georgia, we will try to organize obeserverships for the trained Georgian surgeons at one of the hospitals in the US or Europe. This will help them to observe the same technique/procedure in an established setting and learn about the setting requirements for such a program. This will help the process of establishment of that program in Georgia and will improve the quality. Obviously, the Georgian surgeons will be sponsored by their home institution during their stay abroad.

The surgeons will be able to continue the program in their home institution in Georgia.

- Step 3: If required, we will try to organize follow up education trips (usually with the same team members) to help the local surgeons with questions or possible obstacles.

In general, these advanced programs are usually very expensive to establish. Conventionally, hospitals or governments need to send physicians or surgeons abroad for training. But since those physicians are not licensed for medical practice in the US or Europe, they cannot receive hands-on training and therefore, can only observe or shadow, which is not always helpful. AIMS helps the developing countries to start such programs faster and at no significant cost. In addition, the trained surgeons/physicians will be able to train surgeons/physicians from other Georgian hospitals or medical centers in their home country. So this can be seen as a training-the-trainers program as well. 

Please let me know if you have any question.

Best regards,

Alireza Haghighi