BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Ministry of Defense’s Surgeon General, Maj. Gen. Samir, welcomed Iraq’s military physicians for a two-day medical conference at the MoD’s headquarters here, May 4.

The theme of the two-day gathering was, “working together for advanced military medical services.”  The conference covered the achievements of the past year and looked forward to the future of Iraq’s military medical professionals.

The doctors discussed many challenges facing the military medical corps, including quality control on medications, allocation of supplies, developing a standard medical history form and recruiting new doctors.

“We need more doctors and nurses,” Dr. Samir said.  The group is working on recruiting incentives for students, like tuition reimbursement.

One of the highlights for the medical corps is having one of the most technically advanced prosthetic clinics in the region.

Another positive development happened in March when Iraqi Air Force Flight Surgeons, Maj. Abdulrazzaq and 1st Lt. Hazem, presented their findings on a fatal Iraqi Mi-17 helicopter crash to the annual NATO Flight Surgeons’ Conference held at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

The group also discussed the building of military hospitals.  “We hope to have six hospitals throughout Iraq, including Baghdad, by 2020,” Samir said.  But with the current government budget shortfall, only seven percent of the medical corps’ requests are being met.  “With the help of our Coalition partners and emergency funding from the Ministry of Defense, we will make it through and finish the Baghdad hospital.”

The group hopes to meet monthly, in a less formal setting, to share information and improve the professional standardization of the Iraqi medical corps.