Life in Russia and Attempts to Move to Armenia
 

After 2022, a large number of highly qualified specialists ended up in Armenia, including doctors, some of whom still live here and actively work in their field.
 

We met one of them, Taron Sardaryan, at the “Chaika” clinic,  about which I learned quite recently thanks to my friend, artist Karishok Dulyan, whose works decorate the clinic’s bright corridor.
 

Taron is a trauma orthopedic surgeon, co-founder, and director of the Yerevan-based “Chaika” clinic.
 

He was 6 years old when his parents moved from Vanadzor to Moscow. During his many years in Russia, he managed to work both in emergency and planned traumatology, later specializing in pediatric traumatology.
 

Taron had several attempts to move to Armenia: in 2015 he thought he was relocating permanently, but after failing to find his place, he returned. Then came 2020, the war, his arrival here, volunteering as a doctor…
 

Relocation and the Founding of “Chaika”
 

Since 2023, he has been living here permanently. It was exactly then when many specialists with strong medical backgrounds found themselves unemployed in Armenia… Everyone came together, and “Chaika” was born.
 

“I realized there was an opportunity to gather everyone in a clinic that was truly loved in Moscow (the Moscow ‘Chaika’ was founded in 2012). The Yerevan ‘Chaika’ opened in 2024 because I was a complete amateur when it came to bureaucratic matters: premises, renovation, licensing. The latter took me a lot of time, I searched for lawyers and brokers who made promises, but nobody could actually do anything. I remember very well the day when, slightly offended, I went to the Ministry of Health, simply walked into the Ministry, and regretted not doing it earlier. I was surprised and inspired that I decided to establish a small business at such a right time. People gave me advice and guidance,” the hero says.
 

Taron admits that both then and now he periodically encounters illogical, sometimes absurd legal requirements inherited from the distant past, for example, requirements for clinic licensing — both in terms of space and equipment. According to him, it is obvious that these documents were drafted in different years by different people with varying levels of thoroughness. These are combined documents that are clearly morally outdated: “It seems to me that the notification-based healthcare model that exists, for example, in Georgia, works. I open a clinic, and I am more interested than the Ministry of Health in making sure everything is safe. I notify them that I am starting to provide services, they come and inspect, rather than the opposite — where I spend a long time proving to officials that everything is safe and only then start working.
 

I think this change is overdue, the question is how to start it. Maybe we need to gather some kind of petition, and that would trigger a revision?! I think it would be great if people in every field united and tried to change something.
 

I do not want to place responsibility on the shoulders of those who move here, but I think every new person coming here, regardless of their profession, carries some responsibility for changes in their field.”
 

“Chaika” — An Outpatient Clinic
 

“Chaika” operates as an outpatient clinic where one can receive consultation services from a therapist, cardiologist, neurologist, psychiatrist, ENT specialist, endocrinologist, traumatologist, gynecologist, surgeon, pediatrician, and others.
 

The clinic has a small treatment room where minor surgeries are performed, as well as ultrasound diagnostics, which are conducted when there is a preliminary hypothesis.
 

Most patients are those who know “Chaika” from Russia, but over time the clinic has gained more patients from the local population.
 

Armenia as a Country for Developing Medical Tourism
 

Reflecting on the well-known idea among us that Armenia is a convenient country for developing medical tourism, Taron says that it could indeed become such a country, because we have everything necessary for this — a large number of doctors per capita, many clinics, modern equipment — but in his opinion, any field could be promoted this way for one simple reason: everything costs less here than in many other countries.

I Sincerely Believe in the Theory of Small Actions
 

Speaking about himself as a person, as an Armenian whose life is now unfolding in his homeland, he admits that he absolutely loves being in his country during a time when everything is changing very quickly.
 

“I came here every year since my school and university days. And I like what is happening around me now. Not all of it. And I like that I have the opportunity to say when I dislike something. And I like to think that I am a small part of this change. I sincerely believe in the theory of small actions.
 

“I think that those I grew up with who remained in Russia do not have the opportunity to live as freely as I do. The level of freedom that Armenia currently offers feels enviable even on a global scale. Sometimes I enjoy everything here so much that I become afraid it may be temporary, that one day it could all suddenly close off,” Taron continues.

And he is also convinced that the reasons which once forced many people to leave in search of a better life may no longer exist in Armenia today: “I think most people will like many of the processes, dislike some others, but they will see the opportunity to get involved and fix what they do not like. That is absolutely certain!”
 

Interview conducted by Nare Bejanyan

Translation via AI based on the original article in Russian:  «Мне нравится думать, что я – маленькая часть перемены»: Тарон Сардарян