OO is EY Face Oe Lee

Who is eee

‘Steve Ra

Steve Ramzi, M.D.S.,. is a
medical diagnostic sonographer
at Mills Memorial Hospital here
in Terrace. In other words, Steve
does ultra-sound testing and
diagnosis of brain, eyes, pros-
tate, male sex organs, shoulder
injuries and obstetrics.

by Betty Barton

_ Pricr to Steve Ramzi’s arrival
in Terrace in December 1988,

only partial obstetric ultra-.

sound testing could ‘be done in
Terrace. The results were then
sent to Vancouver to be inter-
preted. .

Steve Ramzi began his career
in the medical field in his home-
land of Iraq. He is the son of a
Greek Macedonian mother and
an Arabic father. They moved to
Iraq from Greece when he was a
youngster.

His exodus from Iraq in 1976
stemmed from an incident in-
volving his brother, who was a
commanding officer in the Iraqi
army. His brother deserted from
the army and attempted to flee

. the country. Steve, then an

X-ray technician, aided his
brother’s escape by doing the ar-
tistry to forge his exit visa.

Before he was found out, Steve.

applied for and received a
tourist visa to visit Lebanon.
His life in Iraq had been
fraught with conflict. He was ac-
tive in drama, to relay the
message of revolt against the
government, Because of these
underground theater groups, all
drama scripts had to be screened
by the government; secret police
sat in the audiences; and anyone
who broke the rules was publicly

_ humiliated and imprisoned.

Steve also attended night

school to study physics. His goal

- has always been to be a nuclear
physicist. The government, as
part of their persecution tactics,
did not allow his education to
continue. ,

“Without hope, who can
care?’ he says. For six months,
he had ‘‘played a good boy’’ to
allay the suspicions of the
authorities. In Lebanon, he ap-
plied to the American Embassy
for immigration to the U.S.
When fighting broke out there,

the American Embassy was

‘moved to Egypt, and Steve ran
to Syria.
With an Iraqi passport, the
Syrians drove Steve ‘‘crazy”’. In
desperation, in 1977, he re-
turned to Iraq for amnesty. He
was obligated to finish his two-
year army duty. Then he escaped
~ to Germany. There he worked in
a car factory. An Egyptian doc-
tor finally let him work in X-ray
in. his private practise. The
government of West Germany
discovered him working illegally
and tried to deport him back to
Iraq.

Steve had already - suffered
personal hardship, and had lived
through the reigns of seven
presidents during his lifetime in

' Iraq. It was time to leave for
good, Steve left. for Holland,
and then returned to his
mother’s homeland, Greece.
Since he already spoke Greek

and understood the culture, the

transition was easy and he
started to recover. He worked in
a Red Cross Hospital in Athens
that first winter, and as crew on
a cruise ship in the summer.

- Steve again started the im-
migration process to. the United
States. He was told the wait
would be five years. So, he then
decided on Australia. He had
never thought about Canada
because all the advertising in
Europe depicted it as the land of
dog sleds, Eskimos and lots of
snow. Despite this, his brother
in San Diego- suggested he find
out more about Canada. At the

Canadian Embassy, they show- .

ed him photos of Canada in
summer, lent him magazines
about the lifestyle and scenery,
and recommended he attend
their monthly seminar on
Canada to become better in-

formed about the country before-

he decided if. he wanted to
emigrate.

In 1980, Steve Ramzi arrived
in Montreal, under the sponsor-
ship of distant relatives in Wind-
sor, Ontario.

As soon as he landed in Mon-
treal, he decided he’s made the
right decision. coming to
Canada. He insisted to immigra-
tion authorities that he wanted

to stay right there and not con-

tinue on to Windsor, They ar-
gued and cajoled. Finally, after
signing a release form from his
sponsors, Steve was allowed to
stay in Montreal. He..didn't
speak English or French at the
time. - °° |

He applied for jobs as a
dishwasher. At every place, he
was asked if he spoke French.
His response was, ‘‘Why do I
have to learn French? I don’t
want to talk to the dishes.’’ The
problems of language became
too much and Steve moved on to
Windsor. There, he tearned
English and worked in a Greek
restaurant, where he could at
least communicate with the staff
and owners. It took him over a
year to feel comfortable with
Canadian customs and the basic
English language.

Then, he took a six-month
medical terminology course at
the local hospital. He continued
his education at college for two
years to take Medical Radiation

Technology (he got six months’ .

credit for his Iraqi course). His
first medical job in Canada was
in Frobisher Bay. After only two
weeks, he wanted to quit. The
temperature was —35°C; there,
was a lot of snow and the com-

munity was small and isolated.

It took him two years to get used
to the snow. He was always
afraid he was going to fall
through it and never come out.

_His second job was at Moose
Factory, 10°C warmer that
Frobisher Bay (only — 25°C)!
He kept his sanity by taking
many correspondence courses itt
pathology, anatomy and ultra-
sound from the Winnipeg
Health Science Centre.. He re-
ceived the highest marks in a
class of 36 students. After one
year in Moose Factory, Steve
moved to Windsor as an ultra-

sound supervisor.

zi?

Pare ot a re

Be ie ace nen ta eT

.
er a ee : tw

Terrace Review — Wednesday, February 7, 1 990. B15.

Multi-taceted Steve Ramzi, shown here in his working environment at the ultra-sound lab in
Mills Memorlal Hospital, came to Terrace in 1988 after rattling around much of the world
and some remote areas of Canada. He thinks he'll stay here awhile.

In 1986, Steve passed his
RDMS registration, enabling
him to teach Canadians practical
hands-on skills in ultra-sound.
By 1987, he was able to do ultra-
sound seminars.

His ‘shoulder project’ was his
“first really happy project”’ in
ultra-sound. Ramzi points out

that ultra-sound can better iden-.

tify partial tears in“ shoulder
rotator cuff injuries. Sometimes
X-rays miss it if the tear is ob-
scured by the bones.

The machinery used to get the
images includes a hand-held flat
probe that is moved around the
torso of the patient being ex-
amined. The critical part of the

Vece &3

and then receives them as they
come back.

Despite the fact that the
crystals are nearly all the same
price — about $9,000 — Ramzi
noticed a wild variation in the
qualty and durability of the
crystals. He discovered that by
‘bombarding them simultaneous-
ly with continuous waves and
pulse waves of sound, and then
watching the results on an os-
cilloscope (a sound-detecting
machine that displays wave pat-
terns on a screen), he could tell
the high-quality crystals from
the duds.

The outcome was the ‘Ramzi
Procedure’’ which is becoming

recognized in technical circles.

and is destined to save hospitals
everywhere substantial sums of
money. It has also given the
crystal manufacturers a method
and incentive for quality con-
trol. The manoeuverability of
the ultra-sound transducer

means damage is detected in up ©
- to 80 percent of cases. Although

he describes the technique as ‘no
big deal’, Ramzi says a lot of
people are not aware of the ex-
tent to which ultrasound can be
used in the diagnostic process.
He is the author of Canada’s
first educational manual on the
subject to shoulder ultra-sound.

Another invention Ramzi has
patented and is still developing is
the ‘Cry Buster Crib’’. This
device is intended to allow new
mothers a bit of well-deserved
rest — a voice-activated
mechanism sets the crib rocking
when the newborn begins to cry.
Ramzi explains his inventive

. philosophy, ‘My curiosity keeps

LW

me going.”

With all his inventiveness,
Steve thought he was ‘‘too good
for Windsor’’. So he went to
California on a leave of absence.
He lectured at UCSD in San
Diego, worked in a hospital in
Palm Springs, and when he felt
homesick for Canada, he ap-
plied for a job in Terrace.

Steve explains, ‘‘Canada
taught me organization. It made
me feel secure.’? Upon arrival in
Terrace in December ‘88, Steve
asked the hotel clerk, ‘‘Where’s
downtown?” When informed
that he was ‘downtown’, he
decided he’d have to think
seriously if he could stand living
here, se, ;
‘Attempting to return to the
U.S., Steve encountered prob-
lems with his green card status
(authority to work in the U.S.).
He called his lawyer, who in-

I

50%

er es iol. oad

SPECIAL |

the cleaning of any
RED garment

(not including suedes and leathers)

From February 7-17, 1990

chichards
Cleaners

8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. to §:30 p.m. — Saturday
KIDDIE CORNER FROM THE POST OFFICE

hatever you wear
Wie clean with a)
Only drive-thru In town

» Best, most rellable and cleanest service
Drop off point at Thomhill Public Market

formed him there was nothing
he could do. Steve jokingly
describes lawyers as having three
hands; with one always in the
client’s pocket! With this ob-
stacle preventing his return to
the U.S., Steve phoned Mills
Memorial Hospital adminis-
trator and accepted the job here,
for one year. He still hasn’t got
used to the lack of covered park-
ing, the expensive clothing or
groceries. But he recalls, ‘‘T lik-
ed the peace of the town, and the
fresh air.’’

Steve plays tennis, squash and
racquetball. He says when he
started to meet people, his at-
titude towards the town changed
dramatically.

Steve Ramzi has decided to
stay in Terrace for at least
another two years. And if Ter-
race continues to grow, maybe
he'll stay here forever.

off

GOL em eee

39223 Emmerson St.
Terrace, B.C. V8G 2R9
Phone 635-5119