Alfardan Medical with Northwestern Medicine provides outstanding healthcare in Qatar

Two noted consultant physicians at Alfardan Medical with Northwestern Medicine ( AMNM) have highlighted the great progress that AMNM has made in a short period since opening in Qatar and how it has benefitted the health sector. They have also highlighted the huge impact it is making in providing quality healthcare for the people of the country.

Dr Peter Lechman, Pediatrician at Northwestern Medicine Illinois and Dr Steven M Baughman, Urologist, North Western Medicine Delnor Hospital have high regards for Doha, its hygienic environment and great hospitality and warm culture.

Dr Lechman, a consultant at AMNM feels that his experience here has been overwhelmingly positive. He said, “I have had the luxury of coming here several times , and in the short time that I have been coming, I have seen a great evolution in the quality of care being given at AMNM as well as the addition of key specialists at our medical facility.”

He noted that the value added through the collaboration is bilateral. He explained: “Looking from Northwestern’s perspective, having this collaboration allows us to understand how medicine is delivered in another region of the world. And we can take some of these learnings back to our hospitals and clinics and outpatient centres to provide better care back home. The ability of us to bring specialists from the United States, especially people who have done research in particular areas or who have a particular surgical or medical expertise, only enhances the quality of care that can be delivered at AMNM."

The well-known pediatrician who has been to Doha several times, says that the development taking place here is happening at great speed and is quite impressive and the people who he works with are top-notch, both professionally and personally. He noted: “We always feel welcome, and we always leave feeling that we have learned something that we can take back to our hospital in the US. The only advice I would give is to continue building on the tremendous medical staff that you've built here at AMNM.”

“On a micro level, speaking specifically about AMNM, I would urge the physicians in Doha to continue to collaborate and reach out to the physicians in Northwestern in order to provide second opinions, to share in research, and to exchange ideas,” he continued.

The physician commented that when he came here for the first time the health insurance system was in its nascent stages, and over the last two years, it has been encouraging to see it grow in popularity enabling more and more people to access high-quality medical care. He hopes that this evolution will continue to progress to allow more and more people to access high-quality medical care.

Dr Lechman said that one of the strengths of the medical community in AMNM is its diversity. He noted : “We see people practising medicine here from all corners of the world and they come together as a team and share their experiences to create a truly unique medical experience for our patients. Over the last two to three years, we have forged great ties between our physicians in Chicago and the physicians here in Qatar.”

The physician stated that Northwestern Medicine continues to roll out a visiting physician programme where several doctors from the United States were able to see patients here in Doha. “We intend to continue to grow this programme in terms of frequency of our visits with American physicians, as well as with the variety of sub-specialties that we are covering in order to care for the population in Doha,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Baughman, a urology consultant at AMNM says that his experience here at the Doha facility has been 'incredibly' positive.

“Seeing the resources, the facilities, and the wonderful opportunity locally, it's been an incredibly positive experience. The biggest value has been the strengthening of the relationship between AMNM and Northwestern, ” he highlighted.

“I have been to 36 countries in the world and I am pleasantly surprised about the cleanliness of the city (Doha), the warmth of the people here as well as the hospitality. It is a beautiful international city. Medically and professionally, working here has been a great experience, and I've seen how professionalism in Doha is set at a very high level. The aspects of this current experience that will leave a lasting impression is that Northwestern Medicine has an incredible gift and opportunity to be associated with a very unique, advanced and capable platform for world-class medical delivery,” said the physician.

According to Dr Baughman, during his short term here, he has got an incredible lesson in local history, economy, business, and medicine from the medical staff locally and feels that the healthcare systems in Qatar and the United States are very similar in training, capabilities, and outcomes.

“I have learned a lot talking to local people, medical staff. The biggest enhancement that the regional medical footprint can provide is a better relationship perhaps with the public and private sector, allowing the people with optimised healthcare in a timely fashion.”

As for the potential areas for growth or improvement in medical areas in Qatar, the physician said that in Qatar there is a level of capability that rivals any other place in the emerging world. “It has almost everything you could ever want or need in some form or fashion. I think the potential areas for growth or improvement is a shared relationship between the Ministry of Public Health, the public sector, and the private sector on optimising population-based healthcare.”

He said that there are many advancements happening in urology. “It is hard to keep up with the ever-present changes in basic medical urology, benign urologic surgery, and cancer surgery. The latest advancement that is emerging is probably the fusion of AI with robotics and where that's going to take us in the efficiencies or surgical efficiencies, and certainly overall outcomes. There's an emerging interest in embedding data-acquired AI information on surgical efficiencies. And I think that is going to certainly be within next three to five years and that data and information are going to grow much more in the next decade,” he described.

As for the collaboration between both the organisations, Dr Baughman pointed out: “ The badge of Northwestern Medicine on Alfardan Medicine strengthens the local medical opportunity by anchoring this medical centre with a top-tier name and badge in the United States, both from a business perspective, medical execution perspective, and general medical perspective . It can be built on that relationship by filling in any potential gaps in the local market with either visiting providers or with providers that are hired with the assistance of Northwestern.”

As for further collaboration Dr Baughman added: “I probably see a regular cadence of executive, marketing, business, financial, and medical people rotating back and forth to not only grow the programme here at AMNM, but also the potential for a shared reciprocation by bringing providers to the United States, to Northwestern, to learn emerging techniques and novel techniques and new procedures.”