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WASHINGTON D.C. (June 8, 2008) - As security in Iraq improves,
more doctors are returning to clinical services, but more are
needed in the Iraqi security forces, an official involved with this
process in Iraq said.
"[In Iraq they still] need quite a few doctors just to get to
the level where they need to be to provide the primary health care
for their force," Navy Cmdr. Joseph Coleman, deputy director of
health affairs for Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq,
said in a teleconference with journalists and bloggers June 5.
"They're drastically low on doctors in the military. So they're
going to need to continue to strongly recruit them and not just
rely on the civilian facilities, because everybody's strapped," he
said.
Coleman added that incentives are being offered to entice
military medical professionals to return to Iraq.
"They've kept in place the incentive pay to become a military
physician, so that keeps people ... that are returning to Iraq or
[who] have been here, [but] haven't had a job. That enables them
... and draws them in more," Coleman said. "It's more of a
recruiting tool."
Coleman added that the Iraqi Ministry of Defense surgeon
general's office is laying the groundwork to improve medical
facilities infrastructure for the Iraqi military.
"We can do that in a stepped fashion and get things going for
them at that level, moving up from clinics ... to hospitals so that
they have a little bit of a reach-back capability for the
[military] that are [at] the training bases ... and support
commands across the country," he said.
Coleman explained that the Iraqi Health Ministry has initiated
cooperative agreements with several hospitals across the country in
areas where there is a high concentration of forces, training bases
and operations.
"They end up putting in doctors into facilities and using a wing
of a hospital," he said. "That's working pretty well, and that's a
step as they continue to grow their own forces."
Iraqi citizens are more willing and able to benefit from the
community support and healthcare offered at the hospitals, but
doctors are still needed throughout the country, Coleman said. He
added that the need for healthcare remains high because Iraq has
lacked basic services for so long. But as the security situation
improves, the government has become more capable, which has allowed
for increases in basic salaries for medical professionals.
In addition to rising pay levels, educational opportunities are
being offered in conjunction with the Iraqi Health and Defense
ministries and coalition forces. "We help arrange to have local
training, education and support done ... in the neighboring
countries and, in some cases, back in the United States," Coleman
said.
He added that the interest in the Iraqi medical field is growing
in large part due to word of mouth by Iraqis who have attended the
training, which increases interest and entices others who may only
need refresher-type training to get back into service.
"When we do send someone out and bring them back and get them
operating and they're talking to their friends, that draws more
people in," Coleman said. "There are a lot of physicians out here
that need to get back."
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