Oman

Medical pioneer and co-founder of SQU Dr Al Riyami passes away

Dr Bazdawi bin Mohammed al Riyami with late Sultan Qaboos and His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud al Said
 
Dr Bazdawi bin Mohammed al Riyami with late Sultan Qaboos and His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmoud al Said
Dr Bazdawi bin Mohammed al Riyami who served the Sultanate's healthcare sector for nearly four decades, passed away after a brief illness on Wednesday morning. He was one of the founding members of Sultan Qaboos University.

Dr Bazdawi was a prominent name in the healthcare sector.

Born in 1948, Dr Bazdawi had a rich scientific academic background through which he contributed to the establishment of SQU and then to the establishment of the College of Nursing there.



He studied medicine in Iraq and started working in 1972 in a hospital in Dhofar. He then flew to the UK to specialise in Pulmonology (chest diseases) and upon his return went back to work in Dhofar again, after which he moved to Al Rahma Hospital and became its Director.

In 1984, Prof. Dr. Bazdawi was chosen to participate in the establishment of Sultan Qaboos University, where he worked as an Assistant Professor, and rose to become the Dean of the College of Medicine & Health Sciences until he retired.

'Oman's medical history is incomplete without the mention of Dr Bazdawi who has been a formidable figure in reaching out to the medical students and made his name etched in the history of medical sciences of the country,' Abdulla Rubaei, a senior broadcaster with Oman TV told the Observer.