The International Medical Conference in Memory of Dr. Alan Gabster fills a pressing regional need to elevate medical knowledge among all levels of healthcare providers in Panama. Its objective is to bring together health professionals and national and international researchers to exchange experience and ideas in response to the country’s most immediate medical needs.

Alan Gabster was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1953. He studied Virology and Medicine at the University of Southern California (UCLA), did his Internal Medicine and Cardiology residency in Albuquerque, and his Fellowship in Nuclear Medicine in Wisconsin. Subsequently, he moved to Montana where, in addition to focusing on cardiology, he worked as a pro bono physician for low-income populations.

We are convinced of Dr. Gabster’s vision to create a channel of access to world-class continuing education for physicians in the country’s interior. Therefore, since the first version in 2010, we have continued the conference annually. Our goal is to strengthen the regional healthcare system by putting updated and innovative medical knowledge on the radar of regional physicians that can be translated into better care for patients in the interior. We also aim to create a context where national and regional collaboration networks between researchers, students, and health professionals can be expanded.

Topics address healthcare, increment research, medical innovation, and public health issues, especially those affecting rural Panama and similar rural and indigenous regions worldwide. At the same time, we work to create synergies between providers from Panama and abroad to discuss clinical diagnostic guidelines and identify better patient management.