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This panel is hosted by the Harvard Scholars at Risk Program (SAR), Heal Ukraine Group (HUG), and Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA), in collaboration with Harvard Medical School affiliated physicians and scientists. It is co-sponsored by The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, and the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard.
In Person and Online
Starting in 2022 and now into 2023, The Scholars at Risk Program at Harvard has sponsored six Ukrainian physicians for in-person observerships at Harvard-affiliated hospitals in partnership with the Heal Ukraine Group (HUG) and Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA). An overarching objective of the initiative is to contribute meaningfully to the repairing and rebuilding of healthcare in Ukraine. Toward that end, Ukrainian clinicians are selected for observerships at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Womens Hospitals with the expressed purpose of improving both short and long-term healthcare delivery and outcomes for Ukrainian citizens. Observers from an array of specialties are paired to work under the direction of expert physician mentors here. On April 3, you will have the unique opportunity to meet and learn from the Ukrainian doctors who are currently in the Boston area. Their expertise includes general surgery, rural family medicine, infectious disease, oncological surgery, and psychiatry. The Ukrainian physicians come from various regions and cities in Ukraine including Kyiv, Lviv, Karpvlivka village in the Rivne Oblast, and Crimea. Collectively, they will:
- Paint a picture of healthcare systems and delivery before the Russian invasion by describing strengths and challenges related to their respective subspecialties in Ukraine.
- Discuss ways in which the deliberate destruction of hundreds of healthcare facilities by Russian Armed Forces has altered delivery of medical care acutely as well as how consequences from the war will alter practice, culture, and systems during times of eventual peace.
- Describe how programs like the HUG-Harvard SAR initiative and each doctor’s specific, targeted training can support growth and expansion of their particular subspecialty. Relatedly, the panelists will discuss more broadly how they plan to bring their skills and knowledge back to Ukraine and why that matters.
The moderators will help place into context how the HUG-Harvard SAR initiative and the work of GMKA involves rebuilding the healthcare system and minimizing disruption of delivery of care even now, in the time or war.
Speakers
Ali Dzhemiliev, MD General Surgery; Crimea/Kyiv; BWH
Sofiya Hrechukh, MD Psychiatry; Lviv; BWH
Arkadii Vodianyk, MD Infectious Disease; Kyiv; MGH
Vadym Vus, MD Family Medicine; Rivne Oblast; MGH
Nelya Melnitchouk, MD, MSc, Colorectal Surgeon, BWH; Assistant Professor of Surgery, HMS; President and Founder, Global Medical Knowledge Alliance
Mark C. Poznansky, MD, PhD, Director, Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, MGH; HUG Co-Founder; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
More information, including biographies, may be found on the Davis Center's event listing.