Meet the Staff
Huda M. Ayas, MHSA, MBA, Ed.D
Executive
Director
Dr. Ayas is the founder and
Executive Director of the Office of International Medicine Programs; Director of
the Global Health Track and Course Director of Interdisciplinary Medicine, in
the School of Medicine and Health Sciences; and Assistant Professorial Lecturer
of Global Health, in the School of Public Health and Health Services at the
George Washington University Medical Center.
Dr. Ayas received her MHSA and MBA degrees from The George Washington University
in 1993 and 1998 respectively. In addition, Dr. Ayas completed and received her
doctorate degree from the GWU School of Education and Human Development in the
summer of 2006. Dr. Ayas’ dissertation focuses on the impact of intercultural
experiential learning on intercultural sensitivity in medical education and
addresses the issue of how to adequately prepare physicians to provide
culturally effective health care and treatment to the diverse patient population
present in America.
As Executive Director of the Office of International Medicine Programs, Dr. Ayas
has formed over 50 global strategic partnerships and affiliations and has
developed and implemented many international medical educational and training
programs. These programs include the International MD Program which allows
non-US and non-Canadian students to study medicine at GWUMC and then return to
their home country to practice; The International Observership Training Program
which allows foreign physicians to come to the U.S. for up to 8 weeks of
training in a specific area of medicine; The International Residency Training
Program which allows foreign medical graduates to pursue their clinical training
here in the U.S.; The International Clinical Electives Programs which allows the
exchange of medical students with our affiliated institutes for 3rd and 4th year
rotations; the Fellowship Program which was designed to increase the knowledge
and skills of a physician in any subspecialty beyond that of residency training.
She also founded and directs the Global Health Track, a program designed to
increase GWU medical students’ intercultural sensitivity and awareness about
international health systems as well as regional diseases while learning how to
assess the specific health needs of countries at various stages of development.
Her new educational initiatives include the formation of a global health track
for residents; continuous global public health rotations; and interdisciplinary
medical and surgical missions to include medical, public health, and physician
assistant students.
Dr. Ayas is currently working on a “pilot project” to develop and implement a
graduate medical education model in Asmara, Eritrea. The model calls for
in-country training of Eritrean residents in pediatrics and surgery by placing
U.S. trained physician on the ground for a minimum of one year. The pilot
project was launched on October 15, 2007. Recently, Dr. Ayas additionally led a
GW delegation to Saudi Arabia that resulted in a commitment of $8M from the Saad
Group towards global humanitarian projects.
Dr. Ayas also coordinates and participates in leading numerous medical and
surgical missions. She serves as a key representative for all international
projects at GWUMC, and has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Asia, Middle
East, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin American. Dr. Ayas has given presentations
at numerous healthcare conferences and is a member of several professional
affiliations. Dr. Ayas speaks fluently in Arabic and French.
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