Download letter from AMWA for use with travel vendors HERE

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March 9, 2020

Dear AMWA Meeting Attendee,

After several meetings and thoughtful consideration, the AMWA leadership has decided to move the upcoming AMWA Annual Meeting to a virtual platform.

This was an extremely difficult decision to make, knowing how many attendees had looked forward to the upcoming conference, which not only serves to provide an educational experience but also a time to network, honor awardees and fellows, and announce incoming leadership. But with the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, potential risks for exposure, and the growing number of institutional travel restrictions, we realized that continuing on with the meeting would have caused undue hardships for many, if not most attendees. Our primary obligation as healthcare providers is to our patients and the communities in which we live. In light of all of these factors, we decided not to convene the live annual meeting in favor of a virtual platform.

We hope that you are able to get a refund or appropriate credit for your planned travel to the meeting.  During this unusual time, many exceptions are being made for typically non-refundable charges. For those of you who are healthcare providers, we hope that extra consideration will be given. Here is a letter from AMWA that may be helpful in procuring travel refunds.

We will be sending more details this week about the virtual platform; our current plan is to hold the virtual meeting during the same time frame originally scheduled, along with a virtual poster session. We anticipate transferring a portion of paid registration fees over to the virtual meeting to cover associated costs and offering refunds or a donation receipt for the remaining amount, once we assess the financial situation. As a non-profit association with limited staff and reserves, we hope that you will be patient with us as we navigate next steps. We also want to be especially sensitive to the needs of our student and resident attendees who may have limited financial resources.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.

In solidarity,

Roberta Gebhard, DO
AMWA President

Nicole Sandhu, MD, PHD
AMWA President-elect

Connie Newman, MD
AMWA Immediate Past President

Eliza Lo Chin, MD, MPH
AMWA Executive Director