Egypt and Lebanon Visits Affirm
International Partnerships
To affirm current partnerships
in Egypt and explore additional potential collaborations in both
Egypt and Lebanon, John F. Williams, MD, EdD, vice president for
health affairs and dean, School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
and Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine, and Huda M.
Ayas, Executive Director, International Medicine Programs, traveled
to Cairo, Egypt and Beirut and Byblos, Lebanon.
GWUMC currently has collaborations with Cairo
University in the areas of maternal-child health curriculum development
and distance learning in international health services. An additional
collaborative opportunity, a proposed emergency medicine services
improvement project, was also discussed. Dr. Williams and Ms.
Ayas met with Dr. Saleh Bedeir, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine,
Cairo University (CU) and six CU faculty members. The meeting
also included, via teleconference, Robert Shesser, MD, MPH, professor
and chair, Department of Emergency Medicine; Ayman El-Mohandes,
associate dean for research, SPHHS and associate professor of
pediatrics; and representatives of USAID-Cairo.
While at CU, Dr. Williams and Ms. Ayas joined
GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and Dr. Henry Ebel, a researcher
and friend of President Trachtenberg's, in a meeting with Professor
Dr. Nageeb Goher, president of Cairo University. Discussions at
this meeting focused on the current medical and public health
collaborations with CU and other potential future GW and CU initiatives.
Alshorouk Hospital in Cairo, a GWUMC partner
of three years, is completing an ultramodern expansion of its
facility. Dr. Williams and Ms. Ayas met with various staff at
the hospital to discuss the partnership and toured the new facility.
GWUMC hopes to collaborate on undergraduate
medical education with the new Egyptian-American University (EAU),
so Dr. Williams and Ms. Ayas met with the founders of the EAU
to discuss potential collaboration. Over the next three to five
years, EAU will be constructing its facilities, designing its
curriculum, and choosing faculty.
While in Cairo, Dr. Williams and Ms. Ayas had
the opportunity to meet with Dr. Daniel C. Kurtzer, the United
States Ambassador to Egypt. The purpose of this meeting was to
provide Dr. Kurtzer with information about GWUMC's various collaborative
relationships in Egypt and to discuss health care and education
in Egypt and other ways that GWUMC might become involved. Also,
Dr. Kurtzer introduced the potential for collaboration on a naval
research project.
In Beirut, Dr. Williams and Ms. Ayas toured
the American University of Beirut, where they met with Dr. Nadim
Cortas, vice president and dean; Dr. Dalia El-Bejjani, who will
train as an observer in Critical Care here at GWUMC this September;
and representatives of the Lebanese University, the Lebanese Order
of Physicians, the Ministry of Public Health, and AMIDEAST, a
World Health Organization.
The Lebanese-American University in Byblos has
expressed interest in collaborating with GWUMC on educational
projects for its new medical school. Dr. Williams and Ms. Ayas
toured the University and met with a variety of University representatives
to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration.
While in Lebanon, Dr. Williams and Ms.
Ayas were pleased to have the opportunity to meet with two Beirut-based
GWUMC faculty members, Dr. Abdo Jurjus, adjunct associate professor
of anatomy and cell biology, and Dr. Karim Trad, assistant clinical
professor of surgery and the President of Trad Hospital.
(Huda Ayas, executive director, International Medicine Programs,
and John F. "Skip" Williams, MD, MPH, EdD, vice president
for health affairs and dean, SMHS, and Bloedorn Professor of Administrative
Medicine (front row, at left) convene with faculty members from
Cairo University.)
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©
2001 The George Washington University Medical Center
