History

The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) was incorporated as a professional organization in New York City in 1950. Under the leadership of Roman Osinchuk, MD, post World War II Ukrainian immigrant physicians united in an association of physicians and dentists. Their primary goal was to share the immigrant experience, expand on educational and professional possibilities, and interact with colleagues in an exchange of medical knowledge and practice. UMANA members sought representation among their American professional peers, and a pathway for interaction with their newly adopted country.

In the next decade, UMANA membership began to grow. Young men and women sought opportunities to enter medical fields of education in American and Canadian schools, and soon began to swell the ranks of UMANA. By 1975 there were 17 Branches of UMANA, 12 in America and 5 in Canada.

In 1955 UMANA held its first Medical Scientific Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, we have held 38 National Medical Conventions throughout North America, recently convening a successful meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2005.

In 1954, UMANA began publication of a Ukrainian language medical journal Likars’kyj Visnyk or Journal of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (JUMANA). It has been continually published since then, and remains a unique edition of medical writing in the Ukrainian language.

In 1995, UMANA added the English language newsletter UMANA News to enlarge the scope and outreach of the association’s work.

National headquarters moved from New York to Chicago in 1975, and are currently located in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of the Windy City.