Photo provided by Denise Howard.

Qatar Foundation’s Primary Health Care Center, better known as the QF Clinic, now offers gynecological services for its members. It has hired a gynecologist, Denise Howard, who is also a senior attending physician at Sidra Medical and Research Center.

Originally from the United States, Howard graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with a medical degree and a master’s degree in public health in 1993. She did her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Magee-Women’s Hospital, which is a part of the University of Pittsburgh’s Health Science Center.

Before moving to Doha 11 months ago to join Sidra, Howard worked  for five years in the United Arab Emirates as the head and corporate clinical lead in the obstetrics and gynecology department at Al Noor Hospital.

“Coming to the Middle East was a wonderful opportunity to work in a different culture and country,” she said.

Howard said she was very interested in joining Sidra, even when she was still working in the Emirates. “I started my career in academics and working for Sidra was an opportunity to go back to academics,” she said. “Working for Sidra allows me to conduct research, involve myself in medical student education and also take care of patients, which is a very unique opportunity.”

Howard started working at the QF Clinic six weeks ago on the 21^st of January. She also currently works as an assistant professor in the clinical obstetrics and gynecology department of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. In addition, she holds the position of associate director of the obstetrics and gynecology clerkship there.

Though Howard is involved in many medical activities in Qatar, she said she enjoys the challenge.

“I’ve been practicing for a number of years in a variety of settings,” she said. “Plus OB/GYN docs are used to a juggling a lot of responsibility, so for me it actually makes life interesting.”

Howard said she joined the QF Clinic because she enjoys interacting with different people from Education City, and the clinic offered her the opportunity to meet potential colleagues from the various universities here. At the same time, Qatar Foundation was also interested in including additional medical services, said Howard. “I was fortunate to be chosen to start,” she said, adding that this is the first time QF is offering gynecological services in its health center.

Howard will primarily provide consultation to her patients at the QF Clinic. “Any further detailed gynecological services might require referral to the Hamad Medical Corporation,” she said. She added that this is because the QF Clinic only has equipment suitable for primary health care, and not for other in-depth services.

However, she will still be able to order test kits for some sections of gynecology, like mammography and ultrasound, she clarified. Further testing will have to be referred to Hamad Medical Corporation, as is commonly done by other primary health care centers in Qatar. Howard will provide her services to patients on the 3^rd and 4^th Thursday of every month.

So far, Howard has only held three sessions at the QF Clinic, but she said patients have already expressed interest in her services. “I was busy enough on my first day,” she said, adding that she met approximately 10 patients during her first session. She also added that this interest among students might lead to a further expansion of health services at the clinic in the future.