Dr. Gazi B. Zibari, Professor of Surgery and Director of WK/LSU Regional Transplant Center and Malcolm Feist Chair in Transplantation (pictured), and a multidisciplinary team of physicians and nurses have been doing medical charity work in Kurdistan of Iraq since the first Gulf War. This year, a team sponsored by the International College of Surgeons (ICS), World Surgical Foundation and American Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (AHPBA) organized and presented “A Comprehensive State-of-the-Art Surgical and Medical Symposium” in Kurdistan, Iraq on March 14, 2012.
Team members included: Drs. Gazi B. Zibari (transplantation), Michael Moore (hematology/oncology), Guthikonda Bharat (neurosurgery), Arielle DuBose (PGY2), and Debbie Ross (registered nurse) from LSU Health Shreveport; Drs. Lou Smith (trauma and critical care), Blaine Enderson (emergency and trauma) and Cathy Reed (anesthesiology) from Knoxville, Tenn. The U.S. team along with local physicians spoke on a variety of topics ranging from cancer prevalence in Kurdistan to pediatric anesthesia.
After the symposium, team members treated patients in both the operating room and clinic as well as organized a Trauma and Critical Care Workshop which focused on handling trauma and emergencies in rural areas.