caring for the Syrian patients in Fresno

1. Wasan and Asim Abu-Baker
May 8th, 2017

2.  Services we offer :
 1- Resettlement:
 Housing
 Furnishing : partnership with Wings .
 Necessitates : Clothes, Food, Medicine
 2- Enrolling the kids at School .
 3- Vaccination
 4- Healthcare
 5- Translation
 6- Transportation
 7-ESL : partnership with The Linguistic Department At Fresno States
 8-Driving Lessons
 9-Welfare appointments
 10-Jobs
 11-Citezenship
 12-Sponsorship
 13-Scholarships
 14-Legal services

3.  Donations accepted through:
 Fresno Interdenominational Refugee
Ministries (FIRM)
 The Islamic Cultural Center Of Fresno (ICCF)

4. Walk into a room and patient
is huddled on the floor?
What if his name was Jim
Smith?
What if his name was Seyyed
Khan?
Why was he doing what he
was doing?

6. Pork products and alcohol
are forbidden
 May avoid medications that contain
these, however, if medically
necessary or life-saving they may –
gelatin

7. The Fast begins just before
sunrise and no food or drink can
be consumed
The fast ends at local sunset
times

8.  Children under the age of puberty
 People who are mentally incapacitated or
not responsible for their actions
 The elderly
 The chronically ill
 Travellers who are on journeys of > 50
miles
 Pregnant women and nursing mothers
 Women who are menstruating
 Those who are temporarily unable to fast
must make up missed days or feed the

9. Modesty is important for
many Muslim women
 Some prefer same gender providers
Don’t shake hands or hug a
patient of the opposite sex
unless patient initiates
(applies to both men and
women)

10. Premarital sex is prohibited
Contraception within a
marriage is permitted as long
as it does not do damage and
is reversible (vasectomy is
not allowed)
All fertility agents are
permitted – as long as sperm

11. Not permitted unless
 Harm to the mother
 Fetus suffers from lethal condition
 Non-lethal conditions
(hydrocephaly, spina bifida, down
syndrome) – very controversial and
generally not valid
 Rape or incest

12. Sometimes family wants to
disclose serious issues slowly
– what do you do about it?
HIPAA, malpractice, etc.

13. Suicide, euthanasia, and
assisted suicide prohibited
Medicine and technology can
be used to improve patient
life – but generally not to
keep patient in a vegetative
state

14. Education
Health Care Perception
Western Medicine
Respect for the physician (the MD)
Focus on immediate/emergency
medical needs

15. Medical interpreters
Lack of primary care and
chronic disease management
for years
Immunizations
Reproductive health
Tuberculosis

16. Anemia and nutrition
Dental care
Tobacco use
Mental Illness
Adherence to care and
follow up