We often hear from global affiliates how much they value the deep clinical expertise of Johns Hopkins, where physicians devised a landmark breast cancer surgery (1889), pioneered the first direct heart surgery (1944) and invented the first implantable pacemaker (1972). It was our experts who discovered the first effective treatment for sickle cell disease (1995) and performed the first living donor HIV-to-HIV kidney transplant (2019), among myriad other breakthroughs in patient care that originated at Johns Hopkins’ medical institutions.
From the beginning of the Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare joint venture, our clinicians have worked alongside their colleagues in Saudi Arabia to enhance clinical care at JHAH. In 2019, members of JHAH’s board requested that Johns Hopkins send its physicians to JHAH to provide medical services to Saudi Aramco employees and dependents on a rotational basis.
So we started an on-site clinical program, through which our physicians participate in rotations at JHAH to provide direct patient care, including by performing advanced procedures and surgeries, reviewing complex cases, and providing consultations and second opinions.
JHAH surgeons and clinicians are very well trained — board certified in the United States, Canada and Europe — and are dedicated to providing high-quality, patient-centered care. They are eager to continue to develop their skills and adopt innovative procedures and technologies that will allow them to deliver high-value care.
Through our clinical rotations, JHAH physicians work with Johns Hopkins experts who are exemplary clinicians, and who are committed to mentoring other physicians, scientists and educators to be leaders in their field.
Last year, we sent 18 faculty members in clinical areas including pain management and anesthesiology, bariatric surgery, surgical oncology, otolaryngology, urology, radiology and vascular surgery. On the ground, they are able to provide direct care to patients, many of whom require complex care honed through high exposure. Because Johns Hopkins clinicians specialize in rare and complicated cases, they are robustly qualified to provide patients with this advanced care.
It becomes a win-win: JHAH clinicians receive an invaluable learning opportunity, and JHAH patients have direct access to life-changing care close to home with the comfort of family and friends nearby.
