My first job in anesthesiology following my training was at a hospital in Beirut, Lebanon at the very beginning of the civil war. Although it was a unique experience in caring for massively traumatized persons, the experience from a personal point of view was beyond most people's imaginations. We had constant shortages of everything. We sometimes went weeks without electricity or running water and yet we had patients every day who needed emergency surgery. After two years, I made the decision to leave Lebanon and to come to the United States, the hardest decision I have ever had to make. I did not know it at the time, but the civil war would continue for fifteen years after I left.

My major areas of interest are pediatric anesthesia and acute pain management in children. I enjoy teaching residents the anesthetic management of complex pediatric cases, especially including the placement of peripheral nerve blocks and epidural or caudal catheters for postoperative pain management.

Another interest of mine is anesthesia for liver transplantation and small bowel transplantation. UMass has the only small bowel transplantation program in the northeast. I find these cases especially interesting, challenging, and rewarding.

Publications

Walz JM, Foley P, Hirsh MP, Habib FE. Anesthetic management of patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. IARS 78th Clinical and Scientific Congress, 2004, Abstract #S-215.

Academic Background

MD, Alexandria School of Medicine, Alexandria, Egypt, 1972

Postdoctoral Training

St. George's Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon, Residency in Anesthesiology, 1975-1978
Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, Fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesiology, 1980
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Residency in Anesthesiology, 1980-1983
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Fellowship in Pain Management, 1983
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Fellowship in Cardiovascular
Anesthesiology, 1984