| Surgeons Visit Iran |
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  Videolaparoscopic surgeons Camran Nezhat (left)
and Mark Vierra (right) Two medical staff physicians have opened the door to what they hope will be the revival of the once-thriving interchange between academics in the United States and Iran. Camran Nezhat, clinical professor of surgery and gynecology/obstetrics, and Mark Vierra, assistant professor of surgery, returned in early December from a two-week visit to the University of Tehran, where they demonstrated advanced techniques in laparoscopic surgery and met with top-ranking university officials. The two surgeons believe they are among the first Americans to have received a formal invitation to the government-run university since the United States and Iran severed relations two decades ago. While the trip was billed as an opportunity to share American medical expertise, Vierra and Nezhat said their Iranian hosts seemed more interested in establishing relationships and restoring the strong ties that once existed between academics in Iran and the United States. Officials of the Tehran university also expressed a strong interest in seeing a renewal of political ties between the two countries, Nezhat said. "This is an excellent opportunity for us - for this country - to have access to Iran," said Nezhat, who is an Iranian native. "The situation is ripe. Iran strategically is extremely important. Iran was a good partner before and is ready to have a good partnership again. They are just waiting for someone [in the United States] to start the dialogue." The two surgeons said they found Iran operating under a two-tier medical system with well-equipped, expensive private hospitals for the wealthy and public, government-run hospitals that are seriously lacking in terms of equipment and physician training. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, Nezhat said Iran suffered a severe "brain drain" as many of its physicians and other professionals fled to the United States and Europe. He said many of those he met during the visit expressed nostalgia for the days when affiliations with U.S. physicians and academic medical centers were commonplace. Nezhat pioneered videolaparoscopy in the United States and is an internationally recognized expert in the field. His latest visit to Iran was his first since he left the country 25 years ago to continue his medical training in the United States. Both he and Vierra said they were surprised to find the country in severe economic decline, largely the result of longstanding U.S. economic sanctions and Iran's eight-year war with Iraq. Vierra said he believes the visit was made possible by the recent softening of U.S. - Iranian relations. Nezhat and Vierra say they hope their recent visit will lay the groundwork for future
exchanges between U.S. and Iranian physicians. He noted, for instance, that Iran has the highest rate of esophageal cancer in the world, for reasons that aren't understood. At the same time, the rate of esophageal cancer in the United States is significantly on the rise. "I'm sure we could learn more in Iran in one year about esophageal cancer than we could in ten years here. So I can see fruitful collaborations on both sides," he said. |
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