{"id":717,"date":"2026-03-23T14:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T18:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/chloe\/?p=717"},"modified":"2026-03-23T14:36:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T18:36:42","slug":"physicians-returning-from-gaza-speak-at-johns-hopkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krieger.jhu.edu\/chloe\/2026\/03\/23\/physicians-returning-from-gaza-speak-at-johns-hopkins\/","title":{"rendered":"Physicians Returning from Gaza Speak at Johns Hopkins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\u201cOnce you attack a healthcare facility like that, you destabilize the entire society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Dr. Nour Sharaf<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On February 25 and March 4, 2026, students, faculty, and community members gathered across two campuses at Johns Hopkins to hear from physicians who recently returned from humanitarian work in Gaza. The February 25 panel featured Dr. Terry Jodrie and Dr. Yipeng Ge. The March 4 panel included Dr. Terry Jodrie, Dr. Fariha Sheikh, and Dr. Nour Sharaf. Both events were moderated by students alongside Dr. Shatha Elnakib, assistant research professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The panels created space for reflection on the conditions facing Palestinians amid Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide on Gaza and the devastating humanitarian crisis it has produced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panels opened with a stark reminder: Gaza is not recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a nominal ceasefire and fading international headlines, the humanitarian crisis remains catastrophic. Many hospitals are running without basic supplies like gauze, antibiotics, infant formula. After more than two years of interrupted care, treatable conditions now arrive as life-threatening emergencies. Thousands of amputees require prosthetics and long-term rehabilitation that remain largely unavailable. Widespread malnutrition continues to complicate surgical outcomes, delay wound healing, and intensify chronic illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since October 2023, more than 75,000 Palestinians<\/a>\u2014approximately 3.4% of Gaza\u2019s population\u2014have been killed. Even after the ceasefire, hundreds more have died. Gaza has become the most dangerous place in the world for healthcare and humanitarian workers. More than 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed<\/a>, and hundreds remain in detention. Panelists emphasized that the destruction of hospitals and the targeting of medical personnel are systematic, not collateral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearing Witness from Inside Gaza<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Terry Jodrie, an emergency and internal medicine physician with more than 30 years of experience in emergency and pre-hospital care, described serving at trauma stabilization points in Gaza, where rapid triage amid mass casualty events were constant and unrelenting. Physicians often worked through waves of injured patients with little time to process what they were seeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the emotional toll of working under these conditions, Jodrie explained: \u201cThere is an element of systematic desensitization. And if we did not have it, we would not be able to do this work\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Yipeng Ge, a primary care physician and public health practitioner based in Ottawa, reflected on how what he witnessed in Gaza must be understood within broader systems of settler colonialism and structural violence. He discussed how the destruction of healthcare infrastructure, the siege on medical supplies, and the targeting of hospitals reflect deeper political conditions rather than isolated wartime breakdown. Dr. Ge also spoke about his work in primary care and refugee health and how the conditions in Gaza represent the culmination of decades of dispossession and blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the March 4 panel, Dr. Nour Sharaf, an emergency medicine physician who traveled to Gaza in 2025 and again in February 2026, described returning to conditions that had further deteriorated. She emphasized how famine conditions and the collapse of routine care have made even basic chronic disease management nearly impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of diabetic patients had no idea how to take their insulin in a famine,\u201d Dr. Sharaf explained. \u201cThey’re not eating meals. So, do they give themselves to insulin? Do they not give themselves insulin? It\u2019s a very confusing situation.\u201d To figure out the appropriate approach, patients must seek advice from a \u201cphysician who is overwhelmed by the healthcare system, who\u2019s overwhelmed by the number of patients, who hadn\u2019t slept in days or had a meal to eat.\u201d She continued, \u201cThere is just no way that this healthcare system can continue to function.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Fariha Sheikh, a trauma and critical care surgeon who served in Gaza in November 2025, detailed the surgical challenges created by prolonged malnutrition, supply shortages, and delayed care. She also spoke about the challenges of entering Gaza, both with the risk of being denied entry and the regulations that prevented her from bringing any medical supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI packed up so many things that my colleagues wanted me to take on their behalf, all kinds of medical supplies. I ended up leaving an entire suitcase in Jordan, because there\u2019s no way that I was going to risk the entire group getting canceled just to get some medical supplies in.\u201d Dr. Sheikh emphasized how frustrating it can be even to enter Gaza. \u201cTruly, for anyone that does make it in, it\u2019s extremely lucky, because there\u2019s so many barriers and so many obstacles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Audience
Dr. Fariha Sheikh shows photos of the physicians\u2019 bathroom and food in Gaza, reflecting on the contrast between their conditions and those of local residents: \u201cWe were spoiled. We had one meal a day, and this [chicken] was a treat\u2026our conditions were fantastic compared to what the local people were living in\u201d\u00a0 (photo: Natalie Wang)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Across both evenings, panelists described hospitals functioning without reliable electricity, shortages of anesthesia and antibiotics, overwhelmed surgical units, and the psychological toll on both patients and providers. They underscored the resilience of Palestinian healthcare workers who continue to practice medicine despite displacement, loss of family members, detention of colleagues, and direct attacks on facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenna Pullen, a junior in the Whiting School of Engineering who attended one of the panels, told the Chloe Center that hearing from speakers with direct experience in Gaza was powerful: \u201cWhile I am aware of the ongoing situation in Gaza, hearing directly from people who have been there carries a weight that news reports and statistics can\u2019t convey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Confronting Institutional Entanglements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The panels also addressed how what is happening in Gaza intersects with institutions in the United States, including universities and medical institutions. Speakers and moderators emphasized that the devastation in Gaza does not exist in isolation from American political, military, and financial systems. Universities, research centers, and medical institutions are embedded in networks of funding, partnership, and professional affiliation that intersect with defense and surveillance industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Jodrie described removing an American-made bullet from the head of an eight-year-old child. Dr. Sharaf also described the repeated mass casualty events that occurred near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Terry Jodrie discusses the impact of bombing on the demographic transformation of Khan Younis, where his trauma stabilization clinic operated (photo: April Ma)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the biggest issues that we faced was the fact that Shifa hospital received a lot of patients from aid distribution sites, and the one that was close to us was a distribution site called Zikim. And we kind of know almost like when to expect the mass casualties. We weren\u2019t prepared for them, because we still knew that when they came in, there was nothing that we could do to help us prepare for seeing 300 to 400 patients at a time in a place that really only has the capacity for maybe 20 or 30 patients. But we kind of knew, because we knew maybe the aid sites would open at like 8am, so by the time we\u2019d start to see patients trickling, it would probably be around noon. And we kind of saw that pattern happen day and day and day again. And a lot of us spoke out against it, and we tried to kind of raise awareness about what was happening in our involvement in it, as the United States government was funding these aid sites\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panelists encouraged attendees to examine these entanglements critically\u2014questioning what it means to uphold commitments to health equity and human rights while remaining silent about the conditions that undermine them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Witnessing to Responsibility<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both evenings concluded with a call to action directed at the health professional and academic community. If health is a human right, moderators emphasized, then neutrality in the face of mass atrocity is not an ethical position. The responsibility of healthcare workers does not end with witnessing suffering abroad; it extends to confronting the systems\u2014settler colonialism, militarism, racial capitalism\u2014that enable such suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenna Pullen reflected, \u201cAt the end of the talk, the host urged the audience to step outside the comfort of neutrality. That challenge resonated with me, neutrality functions less as balance and more as avoidance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Crowd
Audience members ask questions during the panel discussion (photo: Natalie Wang)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverything that happened in Gaza was man-made,\u201d Dr. Sharaf remarked. \u201cInstead of just being a doctor, I\u2019ve now become a doctor, a journalist, and a humanitarian worker. I have this huge responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The physicians who joined these panels reminded the Hopkins community that behind every number is a patient, a family, a colleague\u2014and a healthcare system struggling to survive under direct attack. Their testimonies underscored that what is unfolding in Gaza is not only a humanitarian emergency but a political and ethical reckoning for the global health community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attendees were encouraged to continue conversations beyond the panel, challenge dehumanizing narratives, support organizations materially sustaining care and survival in Gaza, and ask difficult questions about institutional accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event was co-sponsored by the Chloe Center for the Critical Study of Racism, Immigration, and Colonialism; Department of Political Science; Department of English; Alexander Grass Humanities Institute; Center for Africana Studies; Islamic Studies Program; Medicine, Science, and the Humanities Program; Program for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality; Center for Humanitarian Health; Center for Public Health and Human Rights; Center for Advanced Media Studies; Friends of MSF Student Chapter; Arab Student Union; Teachers and Researchers United\u2013UE Local 197. A fundraiser benefiting the Palestinian Children\u2019s Relief Fund accompanied the events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A video of the panel on March 4, 2026, is available for viewing here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The views expressed in this article do not represent the university or all members of the center’s community.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Terry Jodrie describes the constant presence of drones in Gaza and the challenges of treating patients injured by drone fire (photo: Eli Lesher)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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