About Us

Our History

In June 1991, the School, then led by Dean Aram Chobanian, MD, signed affiliation agreements with the Yerevan State Medical Institute, the Postgraduate Medical Institute of Armenia and the Armenian Ministry of Health. Although affiliations have changed over time as Armenian political and health policies have evolved, the partnership remains committed to support health education and care exchanges and collaboration with colleagues in Armenia.

black and white photo of two men seated, wearing suits and ties smiling broadly
L to r: May 1999, Dr. Derenik Dumanyan, Director, Armenian National Institute of Health, and Dr. Aram Chobanian, then Dean of Boston University School of Medicine and Provost, Boston University Medical Campus, re-signing the affiliation agreement in Boston.
Our Work Today

As a multi-disciplinary program, Boston University-Armenia Medical Partnership (BU-AMP) supports various medical projects critical to Armenia’s healthcare development.

True to the legacy of Dr. Aram Chobanian, the development of a strong primary healthcare system remains a priority.

Why Primary Healthcare in Armenia?

Recent WHO and World Bank reports confirm that primary care is the most cost-effective approach to improving population health in low- and middle-income countries. However, Armenia lacks a functioning primary care system—a common issue among former Soviet countries that historically prioritized hospital and specialist care over primary healthcare infrastructure.

The Armenian Ministry of Health (MoH) formed a Primary Healthcare Reform (PHCR) Taskforce in 2021 to analyze the primary care system in Armenia and how to enact fundamental change. Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine is uniquely positioned to help with this initiative, since the Department of Family Medicine Global Health Collaborative (DFM GHC) worked with governments to help enact fundamental primary healthcare reform in countries in southeast Asia and Africa over the past 20+ years.

The BU-AMP is currently coordinating with the Armenian MoH, the Health Network for Armenia (HENAR), DFM GHC, and other institutions in Armenia to identify initiatives that will guide the development of a fully functional primary care system in Armenia over the next 10-15 years

Currently two projects related to primary healthcare are underway, and a third one is in development.

Learn more about our initiatives.