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Newswise WASHINGTON (Feb. 25, 2014) The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) is pleased to announce that Huda M. Ayas, Ed.D. 06, M.B.A. 98, M.H.S.A. 93, will serve as associate dean for international medicine. Ayas, who has served in a leadership capacity at SMHS for 20 years, is the founder and executive director of the Office of International Medicine Programs (IMP). Through the IMP office, she has established and managed upwards of 125 global partnerships and affiliations in more than 50 countries and has developed and implemented many international medical education and training programs. Today, she manages more than 60 active affiliations.

Dr. Ayas established and developed this office from the ground up, said Jeffrey S. Akman, M.D., Walter A. Bloedorn Professor of Administrative Medicine, Vice President for Health Affairs, and Dean of SMHS. She has developed an international reputation as someone who is extremely dedicated to the health and well-being of our global community through education, training, and development of physicians and other medical professionals. Her leadership has led to the creation of many terrific opportunities for GW students, residents, staff and faculty to have a positive impact on our global community, which is reflected in the tremendous success of the Office of International Medicine Programs."

Within IMP, Ayas and her team have established a vast array of medical education and training programs, including: the M.D. Program for international students, which allows non-U.S. and non-Canadian students to study medicine at SMHS with the understanding that they will return to their home country to provide medical care to its citizens; the Observership Program, which allows international physicians to come to the U.S. for up to 8 weeks of training in a specific area of medicine; the International Residency Training Program, which allows international medical graduates to pursue their clinical training in the U.S.; the International Clinical Electives Program, which allows for the exchange of medical students with our affiliated institutes for 3rd- and 4th-year rotations; the Fellowship Program, which was designed to increase the knowledge and skills of a physician in any subspecialty beyond that of residency training; and, most recently, the Medical Research Fellowship Program. IMP has provided learning opportunities for more than 10,000 international and GW faculty, students, and staff since its establishment in 1994.

Additionally, Ayas serves as the director of the global health track for M.D. students, which is designed to increase intercultural sensitivity and awareness about international health systems, as well as regional diseases, while teaching students to assess the specific health needs of countries at various stages of development. She also serves as the course director of three Interdisciplinary Medicine elective courses in SMHS and as a Professorial Lecturer of Global Health in GWs School of Public Health and Health Services. Outside of GW, Ayas serves as a member of Physicians for Peace Board of Directors, and as an Advisor and Site Visits Surveyor for the GW Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI), which is a program of PEPFAR and NIH to establish a coordinating center that will evaluate progress and improve communication between partnership programs and African institutions in a dozen countries, as well as U.S. medical schools and universities.

Ayas assumed the role of Associate Dean for International Medicine on January 5, 2014.

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Founded in 1825, the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was the first medical school in the nations capital and is the 11th oldest in the country. Working together in our nations capital, with integrity and resolve, the GW SMHS is committed to improving the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities. smhs.gwu.edu

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GW's Huda Ayas to Serve as Associate Dean of International Medicine