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New pediatrician
settles in at Mills.

by Tod Strachan.

_ "He’ 8 very special. mn
"This comment was made. by a.
Mills Memorial Hospital nurse:
during an interview with Mills.
Memorial pediatrician - Dr.
. Mohammad’ Howidi.. ‘Although
he's. only been-in Terrace a few
~ months, if -you have met him,
you might agree. =
‘At 33, Howidi might be con-
sidered young for his profession,
but after talking to him for only
a short time is becomes apparent
that he. is’ dedicated, caring,
knowledgeable, and yet at the

same time very easy to under-’

stand. He communicates in a:
way ‘easily understood by both’
the hospital staff andthe parents -
of his young patients, and, if

" they’re old enough, his patients
as well.

‘Howidi was born and. raised in
Damascus, Syria. At age 18 he
entered medical ‘school at

_ Damascus University, and five
years later moved to Iraq and
enroled in the Faculty of Medi-

cine at Baghdad University for
‘his final year of medical school.

-Howidi worked a one-year.

- internship in Baghdad. and in

1990, and. ‘then ‘moved: west to

~ Vancouver . Children’s Hospital
‘to: further specialize as a

neonatologist. A riconatologist
deals with premature babies and

infants up to 28 days after their
‘due date. -

Although Howidi still has. a
years: research to - complete
‘before he becomes.a member of

the neonatal. “fellowship, the.

training he has received to date
has already. Proven itself an
invatuable asset at Mills Memor-

jal Hospital. -

_ Neonate babies. are quite dif-

ferent than other babies-in many |
“ways. They have conditions and |
that |

diseases of their own
require. highly. specialized treat-

ment often beyond the scope of

a ‘pediatrician.

A few weeks ago; for example,
a five-week-old Prince Rupert
baby with severe congenital

heart disease became very ill
and needed to be transported to.

Vancouver Childrens’ Hospital
for immediate Surgery: While
‘the Vancouver-based transport
team prepared for the. emergency
medevac, the baby was airlifted
to Mills Memorial to. be stabil
ized.

1983 he moved to Medina,. Ala; "o, |Howidi made the correct diag:

bia, where he worked as.a gen-
eral practitioner in.a small cli-.
fic. In :1984, he moved to
Canada to. begin four ‘years of
pediatric training at the Child-

Ten’s Hospital of Eastern
Ontario, which is a branch of the
University of Ottawa.

In 1988, he solved the problem
of having to make an annual trek
to Damascus. He married Rana,’
the "girl back home". Their first
child, a boy named Hassan, was -
-born in-January 1990. |

- Howidi , graduated from the

University of Ottawa as a

: trained pediatrician in June,

nosis, and stabilized the baby
before the transfer team arrived,

Today, thanks to’ that. ‘initial -,

care, the baby is doing just fine.
“During his year of neonatal
training at Vancouver Children’s

‘Hospital, Howidi was a member

of the specialized infant trans-
port.team and knows ‘the value
‘of having that specialized train-
ing in the field.

A premature baby can take
“anywhere from. six to 12 hours
to stabilize. If the physician ina
particular. hospital is unable to
deal with the situation it means
a delay while the transport team

Dr. Mohammad Howidi: So far, | really like it here.

-does. the work before airlifting :
the baby to: Vancouver. .

A pediatrician without neonatal
training can ‘often stabilize a

premature baby, but most hospi-.

tals in the Northwest, including
Prince Rupert, don’t have a staff
pediatrician. Howidi’s pediatric
and neonatal training, therefore,
enhances the level of health care

“in the Northwest-‘and adds much.
to. the regional value of. Mills...

Memorial Hospital.-

_ But why would a doctor who
possesses the skills Howidi does -

set.up his practice in Terrace?

Howidi explains that it was his’

desire to complete his neonatal
fellowship, but 15 years of uni-

versity training and internships

had taken it’s toll: The previous

five years of residency’ alone

meant a five-day work week plus
on-call night duty every second

-or. third day night. So Howidi:

decided to set up his own prac-

tice and somehow. make time at

a tater date to complete his yeat

. of neoratal research.

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There were plenty of opportun-
ities. As a member of the neona-
tal transport team, Howidi had
visited ‘almost every city and
town. in the province. Nanaimo
needed. a. pediatrician, So did
Terrace, Trail and a’ number of
other hospitals across the nation,
all the way to Truro; Nova

‘Scotia, who would have paid

dearly for: Howidi’s skills.
But Howidi chose. Terrace for:
two basic reasons: it is close to

Vancouver Children’s Hospital:

‘with its special care nursery and
people he knows, along with the
Opportunity to get involved in
thé neonatal research he-needs to

complete. And,.he likes our part

of the world,
Terrace is small and. “quiet
compared. with the big cities he

and his wife are used. to.. "We

found the people. very, very
friendly," Says Howidi. "They

smile at you, talk to you, try to
introduce themselves... And. in
the big city nobody looks at you.
So far, I really like it here.”
And to top it all off, there are
the advantages - offered — by
Mother Nature; the accessibility
to mountains, rivers and forests.
It wasn't quite like home. There
are rugged mountains and forests
in Syria too, of course. But there

is also a. lot. of desert ‘and. a.

much different climate.

_ Syria has moderate: to cold
winters with snow in the moun-

tains but rarely any in the cities

_ and towns. Spring. is just. right;
‘ not too hot and not too cold. In

the summer, says Howidi, "It’s a
bit hot,” sometimes as hot as 35
degrees Celsius. But fall is much

like spring, just right, although 7

sometimes a little windy.
As far as Mills Memorial Hos-
pital is concerned, Howidi is

_ also pleased. "It’s a good: hospi-
tal," he ‘says, He describes the
- staff in pediatrics as being dedi-

cated, pleasant and willing and

‘eager to learn.

Many pediatric staff members
joined about 80 other caregivers
from various points throughout
the north for a week-long neona-

-  Ferrace Review — Wednesday, January. 22, 1992 15

“ ria to the No

hwest. |

tal conference in Terrace last

‘ October. Howidi gavea 14-hour
lecture. on a broad range ‘of =

neonatal topics during that con-

ference. In addition, the: Terrace,

staff will be. receiving periodic
Jectures from Howidi on. any
number of topics selected by
either Howidi ‘or the nursing

staff themselves,

Howidi’s ‘only concern is
equipment that is either out-

‘dated. or totally absent in the
Mills Memorial pediatric depart-

ment. One piece of equipment, a

pulse oximetry, has already been

ordered. A pulse oximetry —
measures the oxygen saturation
in the blood continuously.

‘The pediatric department has

‘one, but Howidi says both ‘the

pediatric ward and the nursery

should have one of their own.
- The only other alternative, if the

single machine is already i in use,

- ‘Is to take continuous blood tests

and wait for the results to be
analyzed inthe lab, ©
A new overhead warmer ‘for
newborns is also required. Mills
Memorial owns three, but one is _
over 30 years old and not used.
Another new piece of equipment
required is a ventilator to: help
sick babies breathe. It is a high
price item, about $10,000 to
$15,000, and Howidi is hoping a
local service club will raise the
money for the purchase, =
There is one purchase, though,
at the very top of . Howidi’s
priority list — 2 ‘CT™ scanner.
Atd with each donation to the

_R.E.M. Lee Hospital Foundation
_and the sale of cach cash calen-

dar, the day of that purchase

draws. ‘nearer.
"The only thing we need des--

perately," says Howidi, "is a. CT’

scanner... Desperately. Because .

if we have a child who I suspect
has a brain ‘tumour you cannot

afford to wait very long. Usually

it's headache, headache, head- —
ache — if could be from
migraine or sinus — but if 1

have a one or two percent doubt
-in my mind that this could be a

brain tumour, the only way to be
certain is with a CT scanner."
A CT scanner will do much

‘more ‘than simply find tumours,
of course. Various parts of the

body, for ‘example, | can. be
scanned for abscesses and infec- —
tions as well.

"We have nuclear medicine,"
says Howidi. "And that’s excel-
lent... You can use it for all
kinds of things. But the CT -
scanner will stop a lot of peopie
from going south....And witha
child, you have to send a parent
too."

And so, with the CT scanner,

‘Howidi -reinforces - something

most of the community already
knows: if Terrace is going to
attract and keep young pro-
fessionals, it needs to have the —
right -kind of equipment. The
region needs an orthopedic sur-
geon, for example, and the CT
scanner might be the deciding

factor ina potential candidate's:

mind, And in’ keeping young

‘professionals like Howidi, the

CT scanner, may be the most

important asset the region has...