A joint online meeting was held between the University Medical Center Hamburg in Germany and both the Deanery of the College of Medicine, Al-Nahrain University, and the College of Medicine, Wasit University.
A joint online meeting was held between the University Medical Center Hamburg, Germany, and both the Deanery of the College of Medicine, Al-Nahrain University, and the College of Medicine, Wasit University. There are established and planned memorandums of understanding between the three educational centers. The German side was represented by Prof. Dr. Carola Bendt, Director of the Medical Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Hamburg, Dr. Klaas Habach, Consultant Psychiatrist and Supervisor of Psychotherapy Programs at the University of Hamburg, and Mrs. Monika Plotvoggel, a psychotherapist and scientific researcher at the German Medical Center.
Al-Nahrain University was represented by Prof. Dr. Anis Khalil Nail, Dean of the College of Medicine, Assist. Prof. Dr. Ammar Mousa Al-Musawi, Assistant Dean for Scientific Affairs, Assist. Prof. Dr. Uday Khalid Abdul Jabbar, member of the Psychiatry Unit/Department of Internal Medicine, and Dr. Hanin Hussein Sahib, Cultural Relations Officer. Wasit University was represented by Assist. Prof. Dr. Nasir Al-Maliki, Dean of the College of Medicine, along with the Assistant Dean for Scientific Affairs, the Cultural Relations Officer, and Dr. Mahdi Abdul Karim, Consultant Psychiatrist and Lecturer at the College of Medicine, Wasit University.
The meeting began with introductions, followed by a brief presentation by Dr. Bendt about the University Medical Center Hamburg, from its establishment in 1889 to the present, highlighting the development of its infrastructure, services, and academic progress. She also introduced the Baghdad Children’s Association, organized by expatriate Iraqi doctors in collaboration with the University of Hamburg, which runs the Middle East Program for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy. Through this program, a group of Iraqi psychiatrists and researchers were trained to serve as psychotherapists across Iraq. The role of Al-Nahrain University in facilitating this initiative was discussed, including the signing of a cooperation agreement and a memorandum of understanding with the German side.
Following this, an open discussion took place. The Deans of Al-Nahrain and Wasit Universities, along with their assistants, emphasized expanding cooperation in various specialties with the German side, including joint teaching, exchange of visiting professors (both in-person and virtually), and collaborative research. The German representatives mentioned that the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) offers opportunities for academic, service, and research grants twice a year through online applications, based on clinical partnerships between researchers and academics from around the world and their German counterparts.
It was noted that both the College of Medicine at Al-Nahrain University and Wasit University have entered clinical partnerships with the University Medical Center Hamburg in the field of psychiatry and psychotherapy for children and adolescents. The meeting concluded with an agreement to hold a workshop as part of an international Iraqi-German virtual conference to further discuss these partnerships and explore ways to expand them to include various medical specialties.
