Dr. Vivian McAlister and Canadian Forces Health Services Unit Featured in Western News

Western team among unit earning NATO honour

By Paul Mayne, Western Communications
January 10, 2013

For the last six years, Western faculty members Ray Kao, Brian Church and Vivian McAlister have spent numerous months in Afghanistan providing advanced surgical and medical care to coalition, Afghan civilian and enemy casualties.

Part of Canadian Forces Health Services (CFHS), the trio played a significant role in establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit (R3MMU) at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, the first-ever NATO multi-national field hospital involved in combat operations.

Recently, Canada's role in that unit was recognized by NATO with the Dominique-Jean Larrey Award, only the second time NATO's Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services has granted their highest honour for medical support.

Currently, McAlister is working in Kabul with post graduate medical education programs, particulary responsible for advising on surgical residency training. He and his Afghan colleagues have written residency curricula for general surgery, urology, ENT and orthopedics. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada have provided considerable help, through Dr. Ken Harris, the former chair of Western's Department of Surgery, who is now the college's director of education.

McAlister added members of Western's Department of Surgery have also assisted the effort with advice including faculty members Drs. Ken Leslie, Brian Taylor and Mike Ott and general surgery administrator Christine Ward.

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