Afghan medical officials meet with Nebraska Guard

By Air Force Maj. Kevin Hynes
Nebraska National Guard

Patti Carstens, right, director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center clinical skills laboratory, explains how the laboratory enhances medical education to her visitors from left to right: Maj. Gen. Ahmad Zia Yaftali, surgeon general of the Afghan National Army; Brig. Gen. Qandahar Shinwari, surgeon general of the Afghan National Police; and Maj. Samantha Keech, the deputy state surgeon for the Nebraska National Guard. (Courtesy photo)
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LINCOLN, Neb. (8/7/09) - Two surgeons general from the Afghan National Army and Police traveled here Aug. 2-5 to talk about ways Nebraska can help Afghanistan develop its medical infrastructure.

The visit is part of a much larger bi-lateral partnership between the Nebraska National Guard and Afghanistan that, officials hope, will strengthen ties between the two entities and ultimately enable the Nebraska Guard to help develop Afghanistan’s infrastructure.

“This is the first of what we hope will become a very long and very productive partnership,” said Maj. Gen. Tim Kadavy, adjutant general of Nebraska, as he greeted Maj. Gen. Ahmad Zia Yaftali, the Afghan National Army surgeon general, and Brig. Gen. Qandahar Shinwari, the Afghan National Police surgeon general. “We feel like there is much that we can accomplish together, and we’re excited to begin.”

Col. Scott Gronewold, state operations officer, said the August meeting is the first step toward a partnership.

“The end objective is to create a very effective and accountable government for the Afghan people,” he said.

To accomplish that goal, Gronewold said, the Nebraska Guard is looking to use its resources and expertise, in partnership with the state’s university system, governmental agencies and businesses, to help the Afghans develop their infrastructure.

Gronewold said this will be accomplished through military-to-military, civilian-to-military and civilian-to-civilian exchanges between Afghanistan and Nebraska.

"The end objective is to build capacity within the Afghan government that they currently do not have or must obtain from other countries,” he said. “This will give Afghans more confidence in their own government institutions."

During this visit, Yaftali and Shinwari met with Nebraska National Guard and University of Nebraska Medical Center officials and health professionals about ways the two Nebraska organizations can assist in developing the overall capabilities of the two Afghan organizations’ medical corps, particularly in the areas of clinical rotations and residency programs, nursing and allied health education, and delivery of health care through distance technology.

While in Nebraska, they visited the Nebraska National Guard’s air base here in Lincoln and UNMC’s campus in Omaha.

While at UNMC, they toured the center’s state-of-the-art clinical skills laboratory and anatomy lab. They also discussed ways that UNMC and the National Guard can help develop the medical education system in Afghanistan.
Currently, Afghan doctors learn their trade through an apprentice-style system, because modern medical training often isn’t available.

Also, many Afghan doctors have modern equipment, like MRIs, but lack the expertise on how to use or maintain the equipment.

One of the ways that the Nebraska National Guard and UNMC may help is through outreach programs where UNMC doctors will give week-long lectures on a variety of health-related subjects while Nebraska National Guard medical professionals will spend up to several months in Afghanistan helping doctors and nurses there learn how to use and maintain their equipment.

Yaftali said the relationship being developed in Nebraska must be long-term to be effective.

“Afghanistan is starting everything anew,” he said. “With the support of the United States, we want to build the country. We are looking for a very highly modern education system, which is what you have here in Nebraska.”

Dr. Ward Chambers, director of UNMC’s international health program and a cardiologist who has traveled to Afghanistan numerous times, said UNMC is ready to help.

“Through these efforts in education, we can build a sustaining medical system where they can educate their own health care providers,” said Chambers.

“This is a real opportunity for the state of Nebraska to be involved in medical education with the military and throughout the entire country,” he added. “I think it’s something the state can be quite proud of.”

Gronewold agreed. “This really has national and global implications. What we do here in Afghanistan also enriches the people of Nebraska because we learn just as much from them as they learn from us.”

Along with the visits to the Nebraska National Guard air base and UNMC, the officials also toured the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Afghan Studies Center as well as the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Omaha.

The Afghan dignitaries also spent a day in the Washington, D.C., metro area where they toured and met officials at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the National Naval Medical Center.

“The discussions in Washington were really an extension of our talks in Nebraska,” said Gronewold, adding that officials there spoke with the Afghans about ways to help Nebraska medical instructors develop the curriculum to be used in Afghanistan.

“We also discussed ways that the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences can help train our Nebraska nurses to be effective trainers and mentors for Afghan nursing students.”

Gronewold said he was pleased with the progress made during the talks.
“I think it has been an excellent visit,” he said. “We made a lot of progress in identifying the key issues facing us and key players, who will be involved in moving this partnership forward. We’re really excited to get started.” 

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