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SUNY Downstate’s Dr. Patricia Kavanagh Assists Iraqi Physicians in Ramadi:

Sep 11, 2008

Dr. Kavanagh Attends First Conference Held in Anbar Province in Five Years

 

Brooklyn, NY - Patricia Kavanagh, MD, assistant professor of neurology at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, was one of two U.S.-based physicians traveling to Al-Anbar Province in Iraq this summer to participate in a medical teaching conference for the benefit of Iraqi healthcare workers. This was the first such conference in Anbar since 2003, the province having been the site of major violence until recently.

Organized by Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Saleh, the Iraqi Director General of Health, under the theme of "Science Defeating Darkness," the conference included four days of lectures and clinical teaching.  Dr. Kavanagh made the trip at the invitation of the U.S. State Department, which provided financial and organizational support.  Michael Carey, MD, chief of neurosurgery at the VA Hospital in Manhattan, was the other U.S.-based physician. Iraq-based American military physicians also accompanied Drs. Kavanagh and Carey to the conference, which included tours of the General Hospital and Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Ramadi, the provincial capital.

“We were very impressed by the knowledge of the Iraqi physicians and surgeons in Ramadi,” said Dr. Kavanagh. “They were very eager to learn from us, and I believe we had a positive impact on their ability to meet the tremendous needs of their patients.”

While violence has decreased, Dr. Kavanagh noted that there were still serious infrastructure problems in the province, and deficiencies in medical equipment and medications. “The equipment they use is very old, and the medications are of an early generation."

Dr. Kavanagh, who was joined by Dr. Carey at Neurology Grand Rounds at SUNY Downstate recently, pointed out that although the Iraqi physicians are knowledgeable about medicine, most of their knowledge is from textbooks. “They have excellent clinical diagnostic skills,” she observed, “but they have not been able to get advanced clinical training in Baghdad or abroad because of the security situation.”

“Ultimately, it will be the Iraqi people who solve their healthcare problems, but I was honored to be asked to help, and hope we can do more for them in the future,”

Dr. Kavanagh concluded. Dr. Kavanagh has lived in Brooklyn Heights for 33 years with her husband, Jim Grant.  One of their four children, First Lieutenant Emily Grant, is serving in Ramadi as a U.S. Marine Corps civil affairs officer. Lt. Grant is working on reestablishing social services, such as women's schools.

 

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About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University

Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn is one of four academic health centers (AMCs) in The State University of New York (SUNY) 64-campus system and the only SUNY AMC in New York City dedicated to health education, research, and patient care for the borough’s 2.7 million residents. Its flagship hospital, University Hospital at Downstate (UHD), is a teaching hospital and benefits from the expertise of Downstate’s exceptional medical school and world-class academic center research facilities. With a staff of over 800 physicians representing 53 specialties and subspecialties, Downstate offers comprehensive healthcare services to the community.

UHD provides high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis for kidney diseases and is the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn. Beyond its clinical expertise, Downstate houses a range of esteemed educational institutions, including its College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Graduate Studies, and School of Public Health. Downstate fosters innovation through its multifaceted biotechnology initiative, the Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT, which support early-stage and more mature biotech companies.