STORY AND PHOTOS BY SGT. 1ST CLASS NICHOLAS SALCIDO/U.S. ARMY
Egyptian military nurses were introduced to the latest techniques and technology to help critically ill patients during a military-to-military exchange program in March 2015.
The U.S. Army Central International Military Affairs team arranged the first-of-its-kind exchange between the Egyptian Training Authority and the U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School (AMDCS) to address a growing need in the Egyptian military medical community for critical care of military and civilian patients.
“The challenge we face is not one of manpower, but rather the task of training this nursing workforce in both knowledge and technology to elevate the level of care,” said Brig. Gen. Hana’a Mahmoud Mohamed Abdelwahed, director of the Egyptian Military Nursing Institute.
AMDCS is the largest medical education and training campus in the world, producing nearly 35,000 graduates in the medical field every year.
“Tremendous amounts of ongoing research, from graduate programs to lessons learned from the field, come together here to modernize the battlefield of tomorrow,” explained Gregg Stevens, deputy to the commanding general. “Basic curriculum is ever-changing and reviewed every year to take those changes and write it into the curriculum.”
Brig. Gen. Hana’a and her team of medical specialists met with the chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Maj. Gen. Jimmie Keenan, along with AMDCS department chairs and their staff during the weeklong exchange. Discussions ranged from budgeting and curriculum to the implementation and continuing education of military care providers. In addition to exploring on-base facilities, the delegation attended class at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Nursing in the United States and accompanied a professor during advanced student clinicals at Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital to observe the level of education and training preceding military service.
To conclude the visit, U.S. Army Col. Denise Hopkins-Chadwick, dean of the Academy of Health Services, and Oscar Ramos-Rivera, director of the International Military Student Office, met with the Egyptian delegation to discuss the way forward for future theater security cooperation events between the two countries.
“Through partnership, we will return and follow through on the future of this new cooperative endeavor,” Brig. Gen. Hana’a said.