Medical training at a time of massive shock

Gaza’s hospitals have been attacked and placed under unbearable strain.
Omar Ashtawy APA images

Access to education across the Gaza Strip has been blocked since Israel launched its attacks. Almost all universities have been reduced to rubble, including al-Azhar University and the Islamic University of Gaza.

Most other educational institutions have also been destroyed. Israel’s bombardments haven’t even spared kindergartens.

The remaining schools have been turned into shelters for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians. Because this war has stolen the dreams of many students, universities have started their quest for alternatives as the brutal assault on Gaza continued.

Medical students, now needed the most after the targeting of medical workers and the desperate need for healthcare professionals, have somehow found a way to resume their education.

However, they confront many challenges: no equipment, constant panic, the absence of academic staff and an environment that is not conducive to learning.

Despite the truly challenging circumstances, students in Gaza are clinching on to a glimmer of hope to see their dreams reborn.

Becoming a doctor under horrific conditions

For Anas al-Hindi, a medical student at the Islamic University of Gaza, the war has taken its toll on his life in every aspect.

He has been displaced from his home in al-Rimal, a neighborhood in Gaza City and had to find alternative shelter a number of times. Many of his relatives have been killed, and he almost lost his life while on the verge of becoming a doctor. Nonetheless, he has not given up.

At the start of June, medical studies resumed across Gaza’s barely functioning hospitals, including al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah and Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. Both facilities have been subjected to Israel’s unrelenting bombardment over recent months.

“This war has lasted longer than we expected. Our life has stopped, and we can’t continue like that,” al-Hindi said.

“We need to continue learning and forging our future paths, and this is a strong means of resistance.”

“The horrors are there,” he added. “It’s a miserable life but I mustn’t stop chasing my dreams.”

He pointed out that the hospitals are snowed under dealing with the massive number of casualties and are often targeted.

“The absence of various specialized doctors also plays a major role in impeding our journey. We’re studying in a warzone. Can you imagine this?” al-Hindi said.

“And we’re obliged to work on cases we have not learned yet. That’s a symptom of Israel’s war. At the same time, I am fully aware of my responsibility to learn and help my people during such times.”

He lamented that he felt his dreams had been destroyed and that he now only dreams “of an end to this war that has caused havoc to everything here in Gaza, including our universities.”

“I hope I won’t be killed and can specialize in general surgery in the future,” al-Hindi said.

Determination a driving force

Ibrahim al-Kurdi, a medical student at the Islamic University of Gaza, feels a growing pain about how his life has been turned upside down since Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza began.

He has been displaced numerous times. He also volunteered and was trapped at al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, when it was raided.

He is now learning pediatrics at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and will take on obstetrics and gynecology soon.

“I vividly remember how I had to deal with a body that was full of wounds. Debris pierced every part of the body. Thinking about how it is for a prospective fresh graduate to deal with such injuries at this point is a massive shock,” al-Kurdi said.

“We’re forced to deal with cases that doctors abroad who have 20 years of experience don’t see. It’s literally unimaginable.”

Al-Kurdi said the Israel onslaught has changed much about his becoming a doctor.

“My schedule, once filled with studying, is now filled with hours of searching for firewood and queuing up for water. I have lost my laptop and now follow up on my studies using my mobile phone,” he said.

“I am now studying under the worst circumstances. It’s not effective at all. I want to study as other medical students abroad do. I feel sorry when seeing how they relish a variety of experiences in highly equipped hospitals and an energetic atmosphere.”

“Now that I don’t have any means of education, I look forward to building myself while I am broken from the inside,” al-Kurdi lamented.

“I hope this war will end now, and we will rebuild our universities. We love life, and we, as medical students, should always learn how to practice medicine and grow to become the doctors we’ve been dreaming of. It’s our right to access education.”

“I will do my best to break through all the barriers and become a neurologist in the coming years,” he said. “I will never stop.”

Abubaker Abed is a journalist and translator from Deir al-Balah refugee camp in Gaza.