Re: [medics] Fwd: A salute for Medics
Tarik Elhadd
dear ibrahim & medics
a well heeded call,
tHE DOCUMENTATION OF THE RENOWNED FOR-FATHERS OF MEDICINE IN OUR BELOVED COUNTRY, A GREAT GREAT COUNTRY, WHICH IS CURRENTLY HAMPERED BY ALL SORTS OF DECLINE IN EVERY ASPECTS OF LIFE, WILL ONLY GIVE US FUEL TO STAND UP TO THE CURRENT CHALLENGE AND START THE BUILDING UP OF WHAT WENT INTO OBLIVION FROM THE LEGACY LEFT BY THOSE GREAT MEN AND WOMEN OF THE PAST.BELOW IS THE ENTRIES OF THE LATE PROFESSOR AHMEDABDELAZIZ YACOUB IN PLARR'S LIVES OF FELLOWS OF THE RCS OF ENGLAND.I WILL POST YOU OTHER ENTRIES OF OTHER DISTINGUISHED FORFATHERS WHO HAVE BEEN ENCRYPTED IN THE HISTORY OF SOME ARCHIVES IN UK.
TARIK ELHADDMANCHESTER, DEC 2013
BIOGRAPHICAL ENTRYYacoub, Ahmed Abdel Aziz (1931 - 2013)
MB BS Khartoum 1956; FRCS Edin 1961; FRCS 1961; MRCP Edin 1964; FRCP Edin 1972; MSc Khartoum 1974; FACS 1976; FRCSI 1980; LLB Cairo 1986; MSc Khartoum 1996; PhD London 2000.
- Born
- 12 January 1931
Gubbat Salim, Abri, Sudan - Died
- 26 April 2013
London - Occupation
- Cardiothoracic surgeon
Details
Ahmed Abdel Aziz Yacoub, widely known as Ahmed Abdel Aziz, was a pioneering Sudanese cardiothoracic surgeon. A charismatic leader and gifted teacher, he was a staunch advocate of training in surgery in the Sudan. He was born in Gubbat Salim, Abri, in northern Sudan on 12 January 1931. His father was a civil servant who was employed in the customs department. Ahmed was the second eldest son from a family of three brothers and one sister. He received his primary education at Port Sudan, Sudan's second city, and in 1946 he was part of the first cohort of pupils to be enrolled at Wadi Saynda Secondary School, one of the first schools established by the British in the 1940s based on the Eton and Harrow model.
In 1950, Ahmed was accepted into the Kitchener School of Medicine (it became the University College Khartoum in December 1953), obtaining the college prize in his first year. He had a very distinguished undergraduate career, obtaining several prizes, including Jackson's prize in pathology, the Waterfield prize in public health, and the Archibald prize in community medicine. He graduated with a distinction and a prize in surgery in April 1956 (by then the University College Khartoum was renamed the faculty of medicine, Khartoum University).
As a student and surgical trainee, Ahmed Abdel Aziz was mentored by B Hickey, the first professor of surgery at Khartoum and, following his graduation, he was trained at Khartoum by William MacGowan, senior lecturer to the faculty of medicine and senior surgeon to the health services. Later on, the two became close friends. William MacGowan was the first to perform a cardiac catheterisation at Khartoum Hospital in 1957, and the first to have performed cardiothoracic surgery there. It was probably MacGowan who encouraged Ahmed's love of cardiothoracic surgery, which was by then an evolving specialty. Julian Taylor, who succeeded Hickey at Khartoum, was very passionate about the training of young Sudanese surgeons, an enterprise Ahmed would eventually successfully take on.
Through the guidance and encouragement of his mentor Julian Taylor, Ahmed was posted to the UK, where his surgical career blossomed. In January 1960 he was appointed as a surgical registrar and lecturer in the department of surgery at University College Hospital, London. He obtained his FRCS from the Edinburgh College in January 1961, and from the English College in May of the same year. His early success in obtaining these fellowships paved the way for many other young Sudanese doctors to follow suit.
Ahmed returned to Khartoum in January 1962 and spent one year at Khartoum Hospital. He then returned to the UK, where he trained in cardiothoracic surgery in Birmingham with the most distinguished professor of cardiothoracic surgery of that era, Alphonso Liguori d'Abreu. Ahmed then spent the following year with Andrew Logan at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. During this later spell he decided to sit the membership examination (cardiology) of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the first Sudanese doctor to combine surgical and medical postgraduate qualifications in this way.
On returning to Khartoum in 1965, Ahmed was appointed chief surgeon at the cardiothoracic section at Khartoum, and he retained this post until 1983. Ahmed's quest for excellence in cardiothoracic surgery took him to yet another guru: in 1965 he crossed the Atlantic to visit Michael DeBakey (and also Denton Cooley) at Houston, Texas.
In 1974 Ahmed obtained an MSc in surgery from his old university at Khartoum, and in 1972 he was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. In 1976 he was awarded the fellowship of the American College of Surgeons. In that same year, Ahmed Abdel Aziz began to set the platform for open heart surgery in Khartoum. He first performed around 40 operations on animals jointly with Christopher Lincoln (of the Royal Brompton Hospital) and Salal Umbabi (of the faculty of veterinary medicine at Khartoum University). From 1979 through to 1981, open heart surgery operations were carried out on human patients with input from Sir Magdi Yacoub and Donald Ross. Over 20 operations were performed without a single mortality.
From the 1970s, Ahmed Abdel Aziz encouraged and supported the training of scores of young Sudanese surgeons in Europe and beyond, an enterprise he executed with zeal and perfection. He used his extensive network of previous colleagues, mentors and friends to obtain paid training posts, in UK and Ireland in particular. His earlier links with Bill MacGowan proved to be the backbone of this enterprise. And it was not just doctors who were trained: nurses and technicians were also needed in various surgical subspecialties. Many of these doctors and other medical staff are now scattered in every area of Sudan, and also in the Middle East region and beyond.
Ahmed's indefatigable energy and passion was not confined to medicine. He was an excellent administrator. He took responsibility for running the hospital where he trained and he excelled. Khartoum Teaching Hospital in the 1970s became an expanding empire, with almost every specialty represented and, from 1976 to 1983, he was its director. His tenure witnessed one of the best periods for service and education in the country. From 1989 to 1995 he was president of the Sudan Medical Council.
He also served his country as minister of sport and, in 1984, he was summoned by Colonel Numeri to help rejuvenate the Army medical corps. Ahmed took up the challenge and his efforts transformed the service.
He was also interested in the law. At the peak of his surgical career he joined the two faculties of law in Khartoum. First, he enrolled at the University of Cairo, Khartoum campus, where he obtained a licentiate in law in 1986. In 1995 he went on to enrol at the faculty of law, Khartoum University, and obtain a diploma in Sharia law. In the following year he gained an MSc in law from the same faculty. He then registered at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where he was awarded a doctorate in July 2000 for a thesis on 'Responses in Islamic jurisprudence to developments in medical sciences'. The thesis was soon published as a book, The fiqh of medicine (London, Ta-Ha, 2001), and was later translated into Arabic.
Ahmed kept up his work in education and training past retirement age. He joined the newly established faculty of medicine at the Islamic University, Omdurman, where he founded the academic department of surgery. He was awarded a personal chair there. He maintained this post until shortly before his death.
Ahmed Abdel Aziz' last years were hampered by the frustrations of Parkinson's disease. Despite the progressive nature of this terrible and disabling condition, he retained his spirit and his mental strength. He died on 26 April 2013 during a visit to London, following a short illness with many complications. He was 82. He was survived by his wife Sayida Al-Dardiry Mohamed Ahmed Nugud, an eminent obstetrician, whom he married in 1960, two daughters and a son. His eldest daughter, Sarah, trained as an ophthalmologist. His son, Khalid, is a surgeon and is on the staff of the faculty of medicine at Khartoum University. His youngest daughter, Azza, has a PhD in socio-medical anthropology at London University.
Ahmed Abdel Aziz will leave a long-lasting legacy.
T A Elhadd
THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND
Created: 24 July 2013, Last modified: 6 November 2013
Many thanks Elkhatim.
Ahmed Fahal suggested to me few months ago to start documenting the lives and achievement of our predecessors. And now Elkhatim reminded me of this important project which I will seriously devoted the time to see it success. To achieve this I need your collective help.I will setup a page in medics web page and encourage all to contribute by sending me information, photos, etc.Best regardsIbrahim
Begin forwarded message:From: El Khatim Mohamed <khat...@hotmail.com>
Date: 7 December 2013 09:36:15 GMTTo: Ibrahim Fahal <i...@doctors.org.uk>
Subject: A salute for MedicsDear Dr Ibrahim
This is an appreciation, recognition and a late congratulations for establishing this forum which has availed to us to know each other, exchange views on medical problem and problem of the profession at large , for you and those colleagues who are working in harmony with you to sustain this effort goes the credit, thanks for all of you, keep it up.
Dr Elkhatim Elyas Mohamed.====================================================
Dr Ibrahim H Fahal, MBBS, MD, FRCP, FRCP (Glasg), FASN (USA)
Consultant Nephrologist/Clinical Senior Lecturer
Queens Hospital/Queen Mary University of London
www.IbrahimFahal.net
www.medics-sd.org
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Tarik Elhadd
Abdel Halim Mohamed Halim
b.10 April 1910 d.16 April 2009
DKSM FRCP(1962) Hon MD Khartoum(1965)
Abdel Halim Mohamed Halim, widely known as ‘Dr Halim’, was one of the most distinguished Sudanese doctors of his generation. A polymath, he was also a politician and activist, a journalist, a novelist, a sports administrator and a public servant, to name just a few of his roles. He represented the cultured, educated elite of Sudan in the 20th century.
He was born in Omburman into a notable Sudanese family, ‘the Hashmab’, renowned for producing pioneers in politics, religious jurisdiction and journalism. Halim was named after his paternal grandfather, Abdelhalim Musaad Hashim, a Mahdist prince and military leader, who played a decisive role in the battle of Shaikan in 1883 and the defeat of the British colonel Hicks Pasha, and also in the siege and fall of Khartoum in 1885. His father, Mohamed Abdel Halim, was one of the first Sudanese to enrol into the civil service following the re-conquest of Sudan by Lord Kitchener in 1898.
Halim was first educated at a religious school (or ‘khalwa’) and then entered Omdurman Primary School, one of the first schools set up in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. He then went to Gordon Memorial College in 1924, into the accountancy section. In 1929 he was selected to enter Kitchener School of Medicine. He graduated in 1933 top of his class and as the winner of several medical prizes. During his medical school years Halim was mentored by Paul Squires (the first lecturer of medicine) and Roy Mervyn Humphreys (the first senior physician in Sudan), two distinguished British doctors who played a crucial role in developing medical services and education in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Both became Halim’s lifelong friends.
Following his graduation, Halim received his medical training at Khartoum Hospital as a house physician and then as a medical registrar. In 1939 he was posted to Britain for further training in medicine and cardiology. The onset of the Second World War interrupted his studies and he had to return to the Sudan, where he worked as an assistant to the senior physician in Khartoum Hospital (first Humphreys and then Alexander Cruickshanks). He subsequently received further training in medicine and cardiology at Hammersmith Hospital, London.
In 1950 Halim became the first Sudanese director of Omdurman Hospital (the second largest hospital in the Sudan), and in 1953 he was appointed as a senior physician to the Ministry of Health and also director of Khartoum Hospital, as the first Sudanese physician to hold these posts. His tenure witnessed the huge expansion of the hospital, with the building of the first extension, with many departments and services being added. He also orchestrated the building of its twin hospital, the Shaab Hospital, which hosted cardiorespiratory services and later neurology, neurosurgery and dermatology.
From 1952 Halim was a member of the council of University College Khartoum (as the Gordon Memorial College had been renamed) and, when it became a fully-fledged university in 1956, he became the first Sudanese chairman of the university council (a post he held until 1965). Halim taught at the Kitchener School of Medicine and, after independence, he continued to be a member of staff after it became the faculty of medicine of Khartoum University. Halim trained scores doctors in Sudan and he also helped organise the training of many Sudanese doctors in Britain. Many of those he trained made major contributions to the development of clinical services and medical education, not only in Sudan, but also in neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Libya.
Halim was one of the founding members of the Sudanese Medical Association in 1949 and was the first president (from 1949 to 1965). In 1962 Halim was elected to the fellowship of the RCP, one of the first Sudanese physicians to receive this honour, and in 1965 he was awarded an honorary MD from the University of Khartoum in recognition of his contribution to the university. His commitment to medicine and medical education continued well beyond his 80th birthday.
In 1938 Halim was among the founders of the Graduate Conference movement, which advocated a better life for the Sudanese and called for wider access to education. The movement helped set the path for Sudanese nationalism and independence, eventually won in 1956. In 1942, with Ismail Al-Azhari and others, Halim helped draft the Memorandum of Independence. He was also the confidant and political adviser to Sir Sayyed Abdel Rahman El Mahdi, son of the Mahdi of the Sudan, a key religious and political leader. According to the Sudanese historian and scholar, Fadwa Abdel-Rahman Ali Taha, Halim became disillusioned by the intense divisions that engulfed the nationalist movement following independence, and he felt that much could have been achieved if the Conference Movement had stayed on course.
With several other members of his family, including his cousin, the Sudanese poet, lawyer and politician, Mohamed Ahmed Mahgoub, Halim helped found the ‘Hashmab group’, one of the first organisations that advocated the education and enlightenment of the Sudanese people. This later evolved into the ‘Al Fajr’ (the Dawn) group, and their journal – also named Al Fajr – became a hub for social, cultural and nationalist movements in Sudan. Halim was a regular contributor to the journal under an assumed name and, with Mahgoub, he co-wrote a novel, which advocated personal sacrifice for the national cause. At the time, Halim was known to have donated the money he saved for his wedding to a fundraising campaign organised by the Graduate Conference to build schools in impoverished parts of the country.
Following the overthrow of the first military dictatorship in 1964, Halim joined an interim five-member ruling council, along with two other doctors, el-Tigani el-Mahi, a psychiatrist, and el-Mabarak el-Fadil Shaddad, an obstetrician.
Halim was also a renowned administrator and civil servant. In 1956 he became president of Khartoum Borough Council, and in 1960 he was mayor of Khartoum. He was a founding member and president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and president of the Sudanese Olympic Committee for many years. He was chief of the medical committee of FIFA, football’s governing body, and in such capacity he toured many countries. Between 1958 and 1962 he was a member of the executive council of FIFA, and in his final illness he was visited by Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, in tribute to his contribution to world football.
Halim’s wife, Khalda Ahmed Khalil, whom he married in 1942, predeceased him by many years. Halim was survived by two daughters and five sons. All his sons followed him into medicine – two (Murtada and Mahdi) became cardiologists, Mohamed (Tony) is a general physician and another, Magid, became a consultant in infectious diseases.
The famous and prolific Sudanese scholar, Mansour Khalid, fittingly nicknamed Halim the ‘wise sheikh’, in memory of the Persian physician and polymath, Avicenna. Halim’s legacy as the ‘father of medicine in the Sudan’ will survive for many generations to come.
Tarik A K A Elhadd
[References:Brit.med.J., 2009 338 2311; The Guardian 23 July 2009; Sudan Med J May-Aug 2009;45(2):12-13](Volume XII, page web)