ENJOY A FUN FILLED EVENING WITH SHRUTI MUSICAL GROUP A FUNDRAISER FOR ANNAI ASHRAM
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ATMA– GW Events 2010
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1. GW chapter has decided to send $1000 as our first 2010 donation to "Doctors without
borders" through ATMA CF.
2. GW chapter is organizing "Health Camp for Bhutan Refugees" at the request of
the community. This is scheduled on 3-13-10 at the auditorium of Baltimore Hindu
Temple. Kindly volunteer to help us out there. This is a small way of giving back
to the needy by donating your time. You can call Dr. Jay Gopal for details regarding
this health camp at (cell) 410-932-6986.
3. We are having a fundraising event of Indian Live Music by Washington Shruthi
and few dances by young talented dancers choreographed by Mrs. Revathi Kumar on
May 15, 2010. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend with family and friends.
We are planning to donate a significant amount of the collection to Annai Ashramam
(Pengal Nala Changam) in Trichy. Without your generous support ATMA's mission cannot
be accomplished.
4. Our Chapter is also organizing a CME event with 5 credit hours on May 30th along
with TNF during their convention at Philadelphia. Let us celebrate this memorial
day weekend with our Tamil friends and families at Phily!
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ATMA Greater Washington Chapter– Health Fair on March 13 2010
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March 13, 2010, 7 am, a cold rainy and gloomy morning in Maryland, the ATMA-GW doctors
and volunteers left their homes to care for the refugees of Bhutan living in Baltimore.
The Bhutan refugees are the newest refugees, immigrated within the last 2 years.
There are 70,000 of them in US and 700 of them live in Baltimore. They are considered
to be the most under-served in the area were they live in Baltimore. Though, they
are in the process of getting their medical assistance from the state, many of them
were yet to see a doctor and did not have any health care. Since ATMA’s mission
is to provide health care for the needy, when the Bhutanese community requested,
the GW chapter ceased the opportunity to conduct the health camp.
The health camp was held in Greater Baltimore Temple Auditorium. None of the refugees
had cars or access to public transportation; they had to be picked up by volunteers
in 10 cars and had to make 2 shifts to bring about 60 of them.
After a formal registration, the volunteer physicians’ conducted the health camp
with utmost dedication, care and compassion.
Every individual was evaluated with the following:
Weight, Height, BMI, Vital signs including BP measurement
Review of History (Patients came with a pre-filled form)
Physical exam, limited to GE, HEENT, Dental, CVS, RS, GI
Counseling was given on: Nutrition, Tobacco use, education on breast, colon and
prostate cancer. This is in addition to counseling on their specific problems.
Two of the phlebotomists helped in blood drawing for: CBC, CMP and cholesterol (Courtesy
of Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore)
At the end, a referral was given to every person for a follow-up to a free clinic
located closer to their residential areas. The patients were appreciative of the
care provided by the ATMA doctors.
Thanks to all the following physicians for volunteering their time and efforts in
making this health camp a success:
Dr. Jeyanthi Sirithara, Dr. Sankari Sivasailam, Dr. M. Vasanthakumar, Dr. Unni Sivaraman,
Dr. Raj Manickam, Dr. Devika Ananthakrishnan, Dr. Geetha Raja, Dr. Rama Shankar,
Dr. Deepak Baskaran, Dr. Sam Baskaran, Dr. Sri Sirithara and Dr. Jay J. Gopal. Also,
thanks to non-physician volunteers. Without them, this health camp would not have
happened.
This is the first of this kind of health camp we have done since the inception of
ATMA. This camp has created precedence for future health camps. The next health
camp is planned for uninsured elderly Indians living in greater Washington area,
summer of this year.
"Makkal Sevai Mahesan Sevai"
Dr.Jay J Gopal
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