RCSI Affiliate Member Interview December 2022

AFFILIATE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

This month, Dr Katba talks to us about his background, surgical career, his experience of Ukraine before he arrived to Ireland and some of the challenges he faces.

I am a paediatric surgeon from Ukraine. I lived, studied and worked in Kyiv. After graduating from medical school in 1993, I completed an internship at Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, where I first began practicing medical English. I then worked as a general practitioner in Gaza, in the Palestinian territories. In 1995, I started my specialisation in surgery until 2010, when I was awarded a PhD degree in Paediatric Surgery from the National Medical Academy in Kyiv. During this period, I worked in various places in hospitals in Palestine and Ukraine. I am able to operate on children with various surgical pathologies, abdominal, neonatal, thoracic, urological and emergency medicine, using open and laparoscopy methods. Before the war in Ukraine, I worked as a paediatric surgeon in various private hospitals in Kyiv.

December 2022

Name: Dr Ziiad Katba Education Details: MD, PHD Nationality: Ukraine What was your motivation for pursuing a career in surgery?

It was in the theatre at Makassed Hospital when I first assisted in surgery for a gunshot injured child, I understood that this mission was for me, especially given the decision making and entrepreneurial spirit that I thought I had.

Why did you apply for Affiliate Membership of RCSI? I was very happy to receive a message from RCSI about Affiliate Membership, I hope this can be my first step towards introducing myself and building bridges to my new career here in Ireland.

What has been the best piece of advice you have received since you started pursuing a career in surgery?

Never leave the field until you're done.

Stand to the end, don't give up

How do you see Affiliate Membership benefiting you, your career and your other colleagues coming to work in Ireland?

Since arriving in Ireland, have you successfully secured a job and started working? How was that process for you?

I hope that RCSI will find a way to help Ukrainian surgeons in this difficult time for us to stay and work in Ireland. Ukrainian doctors have the appropriate knowledge and skills and deserve to be treated as doctors from EU or EEA States.

It was very difficult for me and for other Ukrainian doctors who moved to Ireland to get a job as doctors, as the IMC Irish Medical Council does not recognise Ukrainian medical education as being equivalent to EU qualifications, and it will be a long and difficult path for a Ukrainian doctor to work in Ireland regardless of the level of education and experience they have.

Affiliate Membership could serve as an opportunity for Ukrainian surgeons to become familiar with the healthcare system roles in Ireland.

How has your experience moving to Ireland been? How are you and your family settling in?

Ukrainian doctors have a different story than others surgeons who come for work in Ireland. We moved because of the war, not looking for a new work place, so we were completely unprepared for the situation we found ourselves in.

Are there any specific supports that would be beneficial in supporting you and your colleagues?

Since we arrived in Ireland, we have received tremendous support from the people and government of Ireland, for which we are very grateful. Unfortunately, the promises made to introduce doctors from Ukraine into the Irish healthcare system have not yet been fulfilled. I believe that without a conscious and consistent strategy to absorb Ukrainian doctors, the most experienced Ukrainian doctors will have to leave Ireland.

My family members are in different countries at the moment and I am doing my best to bring them to live with me.

Do you have anything else you would like to share with your colleagues, or other Affiliate Members who are just starting out in their journey to pursue a surgical career?

Surgery is an art. When studying medicine, knowledge is needed. In surgery, skills and craftsmanship are also needed.