Dr Marah, a medical student from Homs, Syria knows that no matter how young a physician is, they should always be updated with the best skills and practices.

The shortage of medical staff, surgical equipment and training programmes are significant barriers to quality healthcare in her region, and these problems are worsened by a poor socioeconomic situation.

After studying medicine for only two years, Marah assisted in a Mastectomy operation on a fifty-year-old woman. Owing to the anaesthetist’s lack of experience, the patient was not under good anaesthesia and experienced a great deal of pain during the procedure. Although Marah was very anxious, she looked after the patient and decided that surgery was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life.

In 2019, we invited Marah to attend our overseas HEST course in Lebanon where she was taught how to perform many complex surgical procedures and was able to build up her confidence. She told us that the training course inspired her to “use every source of power I have to help the patients and that no matter how hard the situation is we should always remember that patients must be our first priority.”

Marah hopes her country finds peace soon and believes that by working together and supporting each other, her people can improve their future. We are confident that Marah will make a brilliant surgeon and we are proud to be supporting her on this journey.