COM Outlook Winter 2019

44 | DR. KIRAN C. PATEL COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT ALUMNI Spotlight Alia Abdulla Altruistic Alumna Provides Surgical Care in Ethiopia BY SCOTT COLTON, B.A., APR In the summer of 2018, Alia Abdulla, D.O. (’07), had the unique opportunity to travel to northern Ethiopia with a talented team of 40 anesthesiologists, nurses, physician assistants, and surgical technicians to provide acute and surgical care to more than 800 patients at Ayder Referral Hospital, which is affiliated with Mekelle University. “I’ve always had an interest in global medicine, including foreign health systems and their manage- ment,” said Abdulla of her Ethiopia experience. “I chose Ethiopia because of the state of its health and political systems. The country has had significant economic improvements over the last 10 to 15 years and is currently in a very progressive time.” During her five-day stint at the hospital, Abdulla— a surgical oncologist and general surgeon in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area—was involved in a range of activities, including performing surgical procedures and sharing her expertise with other physicians. “As a surgical oncologist, I conducted teaching rounds with the surgical residents and provided them with valuable clinical teaching during surgical cases,” she said. Although she performed seven surgeries on patients suffering with gallbladder, liver, or thyroid cancer, she evaluated many more cases that were unable to be scheduled for surgery due to time constraints, limit- ed resources, and room availability at the 420-bed hospital, which was filled to capacity. “The other identified patients will be scheduled for surgical intervention with local surgeons and/or held until the next time we return,” explained Abdulla, who is working to establish a permanent program that will allow her and others to participate in additional surgical trips to Ayder Referral Hospital. “Performing surgery in a developing country is a challenging feat for American-trained physicians; you have to be flexible, because you will not have the equipment and the resources you can easily call upon in the United States,” said Abdulla, who encountered one especially challenging case while in Ethiopia. “I was doing a resection for a large liver mass, and in these types of cases, bleeding and catastrophic hemorrhage are the biggest concerns. There are Alia Abdulla poses with one of her patients, who was recovering from a partial hepatectomy.