Photo By Lt. Col. Michael Humphreys | Renovation of the Baghdad Department of Health and health clinic building in the Beida...... read more read more
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By Maj. Mike Humphreys
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
BAGHDAD – Medical professionals from the Rusafa area of Baghdad met at the newly renovated Beida Health Center, Jan. 19, to seek continued medical education to advance in their fields.
Approximately 25 doctors and pharmacists from the Adhamiyah District of Baghdad and the Istaqlal Qada met for the first time in the new facility in northern Adhamiyah to share knowledge on Rheumatic Fever, Hemorrhagic Fever and internet studies as part of a continued education program for doctors of eastern Baghdad.
The topics on the docket were just a few of many the medical professionals will entertain during future seminars expected to be held monthly at the facility.
"Some clinics don't have computers or internet, and this is a forum where doctors can come together and share what they've seen and learned in the area," said 1st Lt. William Mennis, a native of Pasedena, Calif., and medical officer for 1st Battalion, 27 Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Mennis, whose battalion is currently attached to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, said the seminar was a grand opening of sorts for the new health clinic completed just three months before.
Dr. Mahmood Salman, director of the Beida facility and 11 other health clinics in the Rusafa area, said the new facility will provide primary health care needs to the community as well as serve as an administration office and a convention center for medical seminars like this one.
"It will elevate the knowledge and studies in primary health care for the community and improve prevention and treatment," Mahmood said.
New technologies and treatment techniques place a high demand on physicians and other medical professionals to stay current in their field even without the distractions of a combat zone. The gathering of colleagues in the field of medicine will help spread valuable health and medical knowledge in an area where continued medical education has been largely non-functional," said Capt. Scott Tebo, of Colorado Springs, Colo., and brigade surgeon for 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div.
"To see Iraqis pick it up on their own, take their own initiative to educate each other is a terrific step," Tebo said. "It's similar to the model we use in the U.S."
More than half the doctors at the seminar were women, physicians and pharmacists from the Shaab neighborhood of Adhamiyah partnering with their male counterparts in an educational environment.
Dr. Nadia Ghazi was asked by Mahmood the day before the seminar to present her thesis on Rheumatic Fever and she graciously accepted.
Nadia said Shaab has a high level of infectious disease due to overcrowding and a socially underprivileged population. She said the new facility and the monthly seminars will greatly improve the region's level of care.
"It is very important to refresh our information, to see what is happening in the world," Nadia said. "Here we can get a full description of the disease, study new cases, and learn advances in medicine we can discuss."
| Date Taken: | 01.19.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 01.24.2009 10:57 |
| Story ID: | 29217 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 143 |
| Downloads: | 114 |
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