Boston, MA -- While 5,000 of the world’s leading hepatologists were discussing the recent research developments in liver diseases in the Hynes Convention Center at the annual AASLD Liver Meeting in Boston, 85 medical students from more than 50 different medical schools convened at the Hilton Back Bay across the street for the second Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association Hepatitis B Outreach Training.
The Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) is a national organization representing more than 15,000 medical students nationwide and comprises over 100 medical school chapters across the country. APAMSA’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of the Asian Pacific American community.
One of the most serious concerns in the APA community is hepatitis B, which is a devastating liver disease that affects 1 in 10 Asian Americans. It is often called a "silent killer” because it can lead to liver cancer and nearly sudden death at very early ages. APAMSA’s response to this issue is a national service project called “APAMSA Fights to Break the Hepatitis B Cycle!” that is dedicated to educating, screening, and immunizing the APA community for hepatitis B.
As part of this project, APAMSA held their first hepatitis B training session in Boston last year to coincide with the annual Liver Meeting in 2006, and due to its overwhelming success, they organized a second one this year. Dr. Anna Lok, the world-renowned hepatologist, and Dr. Karen Kim, a national APA health advocate, returned to open the second meeting.
Anna Lok began the meeting by introducing some of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and treatment for hepatitis B, and afterwards, Karen Kim touched upon some of the cultural aspects surrounding hepatitis B and medicine, particularly how it affects her own life. Later in the afternoon, the participants applied what they had learned to several clinical cases presented by Dr. Naoki Tsai; in addition, they also had the opportunity to meet up with hepatologists from around the nation to discuss possible hepatitis B outreach projects in their own area. These physician break-out session leaders included: Kyung-Mi Chang, Ramsey Cheung, Danny Chu, Steven Han, Ray W. Kim, Daryl T-Y Lau, Gautham Reddy, and Sang Tran.
Last year’s projects included everything from hepatitis B screenings at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA to the launching of an educational website www.hepatitisawareness.com at University of South Florida; from a hepatitis B talk at Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin to an Asian Cultural Show fundraiser at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.
After a successful start, APAMSA’s nationwide movement to break the hepatitis B cycle continues strong.
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Related Links:
> APAMSA Hep B Meeting 2007
> APAMSA Hepatitis B
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APAMSA Fights to Break the Hepatitis B Cycle, Again
11/3/07