Story of pama
PAMA was established on Nov. 10th 2013, the founders are Palestinian healthcare professionals who practiced or are practicing in the United States. PAMA fills in an unmet need for an umbrella to embrace Palestinian and other health care professionals who care about Palestine. Driven by such need a group of Palestinian physicians gathered in Dearborn, MI and had their first PAMA meeting. Since then PAMA has been reaching out to all healthcare professionals in West Bank and Gaza and the US, helping to build bridges between US and Palestinian health professionals and institutes, and collaborating with other local and international NGOs to help achieve PAMA’s mission. PAMA membership is open to all healthcare professionals who share PAMA mission. This includes physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, therapists, and healthcare technology professionals.
Our Objectives
- Establish an open registry to all health care professionals in the United States (US) who share the mission of PAMA
- Collaborate with Palestinian Health institutes and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help promote health care in West Bank and Gaza
- Facilitate medical missions from the US to West Bank and Gaza
- Facilitate training health care professionals
Our Mission
PAMA’s mission is to provide immediate medical relief to Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank and to establish and support programs, education & training that foster the future of Palestinian health care.
Our Vision
PAMA envisions a future where all Palestinians in Gaza & the West Bank have access to comprehensive, and sustainable health care.
PAMA envisions a future where Palestinians have access to comprehensive health care and the Palestinian health care community can develop and achieve the highest possible standard of health care for the people it serves, free from any political or ideological impediments.
Message from president
When we founded the Palestinian American Medical Association in 2015, my colleagues and I decided to combine our individual efforts to support health care in Palestine. We knew that in doing so, we could make our donations more impactful, and we had so many connections in the Palestinian health care community we were confident that we could direct our donations to address the health care community’s most urgent needs. It was an idea that simply made sense. With just a little more effort, we could really make a difference. PAMA reached out to see if people wanted to support and join our efforts and, year by year, support for PAMA increased.
In seven years, PAMA has built communities of support in the US that have donated over $6,000,000 to support health care in Palestine. PAMA has established and maintains several projects in Palestine that bring medical care and education to Palestinians. PAMA also responds to the urgent needs of the Palestinian medical community in times of crisis and coordinates with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, hospitals, clinics, medical universities, and other humanitarian organizations who work in Palestine.
Our idea, our very practical and simple idea has become a passion, an inspiration, and a labor of love. As president and as a founding member of PAMA, I am the steward not only of PAMA’s programs and progress, but I am also the keeper of the ideas that PAMA is founded upon, commitment, community, and transparency. Together, our efforts will be more impactful if we are willing to commit to the extra effort. PAMA’s accomplishments are the results of the cumulative commitment of our community in the US and our commitment to the future of healthcare in Palestine.
PAMA’s consistent and reliable presence in Palestine and the growth of PAMA’s communities in the US supplies an intangible yet integral piece of any humanitarian work, hope. For decades, Palestinians have seen basic standards of living eroded by forces outside of their control. As we continue to share this commitment to bring healthcare to Palestine, we remind the people of Palestine that they are not forgotten. As PAMA grows, the more visible we become in the world, and we increase the visibility of the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
Thank you for supporting the work that inspires us.
Sincerely,
Dr. Yousef Khelfa, MD, FACP, PAMA Co-founder & President
Majdi Hamarshi, MD
Board member, Cofounder, Ex President, Chairman of Board of Directors
Yousef Khelfa, MD
President, Board member, Cofounder
Muaiad Kittaneh, M.D, FACP
Board member, Cofounder
Mustafa Musleh, MD
Board member, Cofounder, Vice President
Rami Ahmad, MD
Board member and Chair of PAMA education committee
Fadi Safi, MD
Board member, Cofounder
Nezam Altorok, MD
Board member, Cofounder and Treasurer
Safa Saleh,BSN
Board Member
Najib Albina
Board member
Marwan Ahmad
Executive Director
Syeda Fizza Batool
Executive Assistant
Majdi Hamarshi, MD
Board member, Cofounder, Ex President, Chairman of Board of Directors
Dr. Hamarshi completed his medical education at AL-Quds medical school in Jerusalem, after that he worked at Al-Quds medical school as teaching and research assistant. Then he moved to the US to complete his internal medicine residency at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Then he completed his fellowships in geriatrics medicine at Northerwestern University and critical care medicine at University of Missouri Kansas City “UMKC”, respectively. Currently he is an assistant clinical professor at UMKC, and practices critical care in Kansas City area.
Yousef Khelfa, MD
President, Board member, Cofounder
Dr Yousef Khelfa received his Doctor of Medicine “MD" degree in 2003 from Al Quds University Medical School, Palestine. In 2009 he got his American Board of Medicine degree after finishing his internal medicine training at St Joseph Regional Medical Center -Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY. Dr khelfa worked between 2009-2013 as an Academic Hospitalist before he became Assistant Professor of Medicine at Oakland University William Beaumont in Michigan state. In 2014 he was elected as Fellow of American College of Physicians. He finished his Hematology/oncology training at Marshall University-School of Medicine in West Virginia. Currently he is a practicing oncologist in Northern California.
Muaiad Kittaneh, M.D, FACP
Board member, Cofounder
Dr. Kittaneh did his Internal Medicine training at Advocate Christ Medical Center/University of Illinois at Chicago where he also served as a Chief resident and faculty for an additional year. He pursued further training in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the University of Miami. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology. He has served as a Principal Investigator and Co-investigator on many phase I/II clinical trials at one of the nation's leading institutions in the field while working at Karmanos Cancer Institute/WSU. Over the past few years he developed a specific interest in cancer genomics (Specifically BAP1) and he provide consultation, evaluation and management of different cancer types including Breast, GI, Mesothelioma and Melanoma.
Mustafa Musleh, MD
Board member, Cofounder, Vice President
Dr. Musleh received his medical degree from Al-Quds University in Palestine in 2004. Before he moved to the United States in 2007, Dr. Musleh worked at Al-Quds medical school as a research and teaching assistant. Then he joined the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and served as a general practitioner in the free clinics in the refugee camps. Dr. Musleh completed his residency and fellowship training in the United States at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Musleh is an advanced endoscopist, he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, and he is the Chair of the Gastroenterology department at Premier Health Network. Dr. Musleh is one of the key faculty of the Gastroenterology fellowship program at Wright State University and heavily involved in medical education of medical students, residents and gastroenterology fellows.
Rami Ahmad, MD
Board member and Chair of PAMA education committee
Dr. Ahmad graduated in June 2010 from Jordan University of Science and Technology School of Medicine with Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery. After graduation Dr. Ahmad worked in several hospitals in Jordan, the last of which was internal medicine resident at King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman, Jordan, April 2013-June 2014. Then he moved to the US to complete his internal medicine training at Trinitas Regional Medical Center, Seton Hall- Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine and graduated June 2017. Then he joined Yale School of Medicine as internal medicine attending and clinical instructor. Dr. Ahmad joined PAMA as a supporter, donor and a Teleconference staff. His passion to education and his commitment was noticeable, and PAMA is lucky to have him as board member and the chair of the Education committee. In this role, Dr. Ahmad will oversee the Teleconference program, students educational activities, and more.
Fadi Safi, MD
Board member, Cofounder
Dr. Safi did his medical education in the University of Baghdad and Al-Quds medical school, after that he completed his internal medicine residency and a fellowship in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine at the University of Toledo medical center in Toledo, Ohio. He currently serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the division of pulmonary and critical care at the University of Toledo. He is a medical director of the respiratory care department in the hospital.
Nezam Altorok, MD
Board member, Cofounder and Treasurer
Dr. Altorok completed his medical education at Al-Quds medical school in Jerusalem, after that he completed his training in Internal Medicine at Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem. He then completed a residency program in Internal Medicine at the University of Toledo in Ohio and a fellowship program in Rheumatology at University of Michigan. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the department of medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Toledo, and he serves as an associate director of the Internal Medicine Residency program.
Safa Saleh,BSN
Board Member
Safa is a critical care nurse. She obtained her bachelors of science in nursing from the University of Cincinnati . She lives with her family in Cincinnati, Ohio and currently works in a hospital system on a cardiac intensive care unit caring for postoperative cardiothoracic patients. Safa leads PAMA Nurses by providing educational webinars to nurses throughout Palestine.
Najib Albina
Board member
Dr. Najib Albina grew up in a US Army family and lived all over the US and Germany. In high school, Dr. Albina was involved in sports including football, soccer, and cross country and also made it to the rank of Eagle Scout. Upon graduating from Würzburg American high school in Germany, Dr. Albina moved to Lisle, Illinois to attend Benedictine University where he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Molecular Biology. From there Dr. Albina enrolled in the Illinois College of Optometry where he graduated in 2003 and has made Chicago his home since.