As part of an effort to improve the medical education system in Iraq, the physicians visited Elon's Francis Center on Aug. 21.
Elon University’s School of Health Sciences hosted a team of medical professionals from Iraq on Aug. 21, 2014, as the doctors continued a series of visits with area specialists, professors and postgraduate physicians.
Patti Ragan, associate professor and chair/program director of the Physician Assistant Studies program, and Diane Duffy, director of clinical education, led the contingent through the Gerald L. Francis Center, which houses Elon’s Doctor of Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant Studies programs.
Doctors Zina Abdul Qahar, Huda al Khateeeb and Shatha Abdullah from the University of Baghdad, and cardiologist Hilal al Saffar were among the group that toured the Francis Center. Led by Dr. Michael Brennan, a Burlington, N.C., opthalmologist, the Iraqi physicians spent the week visiting medical schools and graduate programs in the region as part of an effort by the U.S. Agency for International Development to help strengthen the medical education system in Iraq.