Iraqi nurses practice skills learned during a recent medical conference near Balad. Photo by Capt. Daniel T. Sem, 25th Infantry Division.

“For three years I have had this equipment in my operating room,” Dr. Hussein, the director of Balad General Hospital in Salah ah-Din province, said in reference to items used to start a central venous line in the femoral artery. “But until today I did not know how to use it.”

Hussein’s comments underscored the importance that the small conference had in continuing the Coalition efforts here to modernize the healthcare system after decades of decay under Saddam’s regime. The 3rd Squadron, 4th U.S. Cavalry Regiment hosted the conference on Forward Operating Base Paliwoda.

This conference was the first time Iraqi medical staff had come to the base for an educational lecture, and set the foundation for a series of future educational initiatives meant to bring once-inaccessible medical training to the Balad health district. For the three Iraqi physicians and five nurses and midwives, the training was the first step in a growing partnership between Coalition and Iraqi doctors.

Dr. Mahdi, a pediatrician from Balad, said that this kind of training is exactly what the Balad area Iraqi medical staff desire.

“This is a lot of information that we take from here,” Mahdi said. “And I need more, especially me, I need more and more.”

“When [the Americans] came, you extended your arm to cooperate and help us grow, so I must accept,” Mahmood, one of the nurses, said. “Under all circumstances I must get your science, your technology and help.”

Maj. Brent Lechner, the chief physician for 3rd Sqdn., 4th U.S. Cav. Regt. gave a lecture on rare kidney diseases and said the feedback from the Iraqis was beyond what he expected.

“I was very impressed with the knowledge base and clinical skills [of the Iraqis],” Lechner said.

First Lt. Andrew Michaelson, the medical operations officer for the squadron said that a month of planning and coordination with the Iraqis culminated in the small, but successful, medical conference. Michaelson said that the positive response from the Iraqis further emphasizes the need to continue these conferences.

“The engagement and dialogue with the doctors and nurses [that was] created was excellent,” Michaelson said. “One of the first things Dr. Hussein said emerging out of the conference room was that he wanted to do it again and again.”