Thank you for visiting the page of the Bolivian American Medical Society. Please email or call me with any questions or comments regarding BAMS. The following is a brief history of the society, as told by its First President, Dr. Jaime Escobar. The "Bolivian-American Medical Society" was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of Illinois in June 1976. Its first name was "Bo
livian Medical Society, Inc." There were about 150 bolivian medical graduates in the Chicago Metropolitan area from Bolivian medical schools such as San Andres, San Simon, San Francisco Xavier, and other Foreign Medical Schools. The important meeting to start the Corporation was held at the home of Dr. Jaime R. Escobar in River Forest, Illinois. He was elected as the First President. A Board of Directors was also elected. The founding doctors were fourteen in total. The Societies main activities were to improve the medical education of the young doctors in the three Medical Schools in Bolivia, to help the General Hospitals to provide better care to our bolivian brothers, to organize medical conventions, to disseminate new medical knowledge to doctors and students, and to organize medical missions to improve the health of our needy bolivian brothers and sisters. Along the years, there were many non-bolivian doctors that contributed to our Society. Therefore the name was changed to "Bolivian-American Medical Society," to integrate other colleagues that have enlarged and positively improved our mission. The Society has organized more than fifteen Medical Conventions in Bolivia. Also, it has improved the Libraries of the Medical Schools in La Paz and Cochabamba. Because of our never ending efforts to help Bolivia, President Jaime Paz Zamora recognized our Society with "The Condor of the Andes," the highest honor to a private organization abroad. Our Society will continue to be active and to be recognized in the State of Ilinois and throughout the United States. We invite you to participate and to support all current and future activities to help Bolivia and to get to know us better.
---Dr Jaime R. Escobar, February 19, 2014.
