Afghan sees school work

The Medical College of Georgia could soon be helping Afghanistan train more doctors and health care workers and prepare for disasters.

Major Gen. Ahmad Zia Yaftali, surgeon general for the Afghan National Army, was in Augusta on Monday to meet with MCG officials and tour facilities.

The school is working on an affiliation agreement with the Afghan surgeon general's office to help it establish a military medical school.

MCG could provide aid in developing the curriculum, faculty training and so forth, said Richard B. Schwartz, the chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at MCG.

He traveled to Afghanistan earlier this year as part of an international conference on disaster medicine, which could also be something the school helps to provide for that country, he said.

"Our curricula really could be transported very easily and would be very, very applicable to the population," said Dr. Schwartz, whose department has helped to provide medical support training for the FBI.

The problem is keeping up with the growth in the Afghan army, which will nearly double in size from about 70,000 to 134,000 in a few years, said Chip Giddens, a medical team chief with the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, who works with Dr. Yaftali.

"We need to double the size of our medical department in a very short period of time," he said. "Basically, the civilian education system doesn't produce enough physicians, nurses and technicians to support this rapid growth."

Dr. Yaftali said he is working to provide better health care for Afghanistan and get better, more modern technology for his facilities.

"But without training and education, it is impossible," he said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.