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| Iraq |
| DOCTORS SHARE MEDICAL EXPERTISE WITH IRAQI COLLEAGUES |
| 2004-01-27 |
| BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Last week, soldiers from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment medical team shared their knowledge and expertise with their Iraqi colleagues. Lt. Col. Kelly Murray, the 2ACR Regimental Surgeon and Capt. Evelyn Rodriguez, the 2nd Squadron Medical Officer, guided a group of Iraqi instructors through the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) course. The study covered methods of dealing with difficult or abnormal situations while delivering babies. The Iraqi instructors were picked from a group of 40 individuals who attended an earlier ALSO class given by the regiment last October. The students picked to teach ALSO were the best all-around students in the first class. They were selected based upon test scores, hands-on training and articulation. Murray and her group of doctors taught the initial ALSO course. The second course featured Iraqis teaching Iraqis with the soldiers acting as mentors and evaluators. Blocks of instruction taught in ALSO include dealing with shoulder dystocia â an abnormally difficult childbirth -- and mal-presentation of the baby as it is being born. Dr. Eman Mahammed was one of the students selected to teach a class during ALSO. âWe have a good relationship with the medical personnel in the coalition,â she said. âEven though most of the problems we are dealing with in this class are not new, we are getting to see and learn new, more modern techniques for these problems.â Murray said she would like to see ALSO taught in all major cities throughout Iraq. She has requested a grant that would finance this operation. She also has plans for teaching and facilitating the Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP), as a logical follow-up to ALSO. Neonatal Resuscitation involves the immediate medical intervention techniques used on newborns. Other projects the regimental surgeonâs office has been involved in include the creation of the Iraqi Family Physicians Society to promote primary care in Iraq and the Physicians Leadership course (PLC) to teach hospital administrative skills to physicians. Much of the material used for the course was donated by the American Academy of Family Physicians, which has been supporting ALSO instruction with physicians throughout Iraq. The desired end result of ALSO and other related classes is to reduce the infant mortality rate by 50 percent throughout Iraq. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |