Part 1
I graduated from The College of Medicine, Baghdad University. My College was established in 1927. The first Dean and its founder was Sir Henry Sinderson (Pasha), a British Physician who was the physician of the Iraqi Royal Family.
The College was established near by a hospital on the bank of Tigris River. It was one of the first medical schools in the Middle East.
The curriculum of the College was based solely and on British medical textbooks, indeed we still study these books up to this day.
The College staff included, in addition to British doctors, the elite of Iraqi doctors who were graduated from medical schools abroad.
Unfortunately, due to the years of political unrest and sanctions the College suffered a great deal of neglect.
Apart from the opening of a lecture halls building in the early 1980s, nothing was added to expand the original buildings and lecture halls.
During my first year as a medical student, I was so excited about the new surroundings.
The College Dean was Dr. Muhammed Abdulaah Falah Al-Rawi (FRCP, UK). He was a great physician and a patriotic man. His way of dealing with medical students was diplomatic and full of respect. Even though you may not get what you want when you meet him for a request, you will always be pleased with his cheerful attitude and hospitality.
He was assassinated shortly after the war of 2003 while he was performing his duties in his clinic. No one was convicted with this crime, as it is the case mostly in the post war Iraq.
During my second year, Dr. Hani Al-Azzawi, the eminent Anatomy professor, dominated the scene. I was assigned to write his lectures to the students, and I succeed in that task.
There is a tradition in our College, that one of the students "volunteers" to write the lectures of one of the curriculum subjects. He or she will be responsible for writing the draft, making sure that it there are no major errors, scientific or linguistic, and then submit it to the Photocopy bureaus.
A bureau is assigned for each stage, and it is not permitted that two bureaus compete on photocopying for one stage.
It was a business for the bureaus and the lecture writers, who gets some benefit from this.
Professor Al-Azzawi was one of the old-fashioned college professors. He was very punctual, and tough sometimes on the students. His English was perfect.
When he lectures, he takes you to another dimension, another world, you feel as if you are setting in a lecture hall in London or Edinburgh.
He stressed the importance of applied anatomy, which is applying anatomy knowledge in a clinical context, rather than the descriptive anatomy.
His examinations, both the practical and theory, were very hard to pass.
At the end of this year I became one of his best students.
(Right) A view of the Courtyard in front of the Deanery Building. College of Medicine, Baghdad University. (Photo credit: College of Medicine, Baghdad University Forum www.thebcmf.com)