Teaching Hospital Staff in Iraq Surprised by Guest Presenters

By Capt. Daniel T. Sem

TIKRIT, Iraq – It seemed like a normal Tuesday morning for the Iraqi doctors and nurses of Tikrit Teaching Hospital as they filed into the conference room for the weekly senior physician case study presentations. It did not take long for them to realize something was different when an American doctor from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division stood up and began teaching on pediatric complications.

“I was very surprised,” said Dr. Muran, the senior chief of internal medicine. “I did not know anything about U.S. Army doctors coming today. [This is] a very good opportunity for us!”

Lt. Col. Lance Cordoni, the 3rd Inf. Bde. Combat Team Surgeon, and Katherine Dennison, the Salah ad-Din Provincial Reconstruction Team health lead, gave medical case study presentations Jan. 13 at the Tikrit Teaching Hospital, a modest 400-bed facility serving as the Salah ad-Din provincial teaching center for new doctors. They gave their lectures in conjunction with the presentations of four senior Iraqi physicians from the hospital staff.

Security was tight, with Iraqi police and 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Inf. Div. Soldiers providing close watch over the event. Despite the possible dangers, around 25 Iraqi doctors, nurses and residents listened intently to lecture topics ranging from urology to tuberculosis. The presentations came after months of coordination and relationship-building by coalition forces, and helped to set a new precedent in U.S.-Iraqi relations in Salah ad-Din province.

“This is a historic [day],” said Dr. Omar, the director of the Tikrit Teaching Hospital. “This is the first time American doctors presented at this hospital.”

Cordoni was not aware of the significance of the occasion until the presentations finished and Omar spoke with the group.

“I was overwhelmed,” Cordoni said. “It was my honor to usher in a new era of cooperation between Iraqi and American doctors.”

Omar oversees the training and development of the young resident doctors in Tikrit Teaching Hospital, and was the main catalyst in opening the doors to American medical professionals for their case study presentations. Omar said he hopes the event will be the start of a continuing educational partnership between Iraqi and American doctors. He is already planning to have American doctors at the next lecture series at his hospital, and said they are welcome to come teach as often as they would like.

“It would be a pleasure to us [to have them come back],” Omar said.

Cordoni said 3rd BCT and Salah ad-Din PRT plan to continue the presentations to help provide modern medical training requested by the provincial hospital staff, and further strengthen ties with the hospital. Despite the common view that the Iraqi healthcare system is decades behind the West, he said that he was thoroughly impressed with the breadth of knowledge shown by the Iraqi physicians.

“The Iraqi doctors are clearly well-trained, intelligent individuals, who in many respects rival the best American doctors,” Cordoni said. “They are only limited by their access to technology and modern medical equipment.”

Even though the Iraqi doctors displayed articulate and knowledgeable solutions to the medical problems discussed during the presentations, there is still a place for continued Iraqi-American case studies to be done.

“Like all doctors everywhere, we all need to continue to improve our knowledge,” Cordoni said. “Tikrit Teaching Hospital and Dr. Omar are doing a great job meeting that need.”