Howayda Al-Qathami (1962-) is a Saudi doctor and heart surgeon, the first cardiac surgeon and the first consultant for pediatric cardiac and congenital surgery in the Middle East, and the second in the world. She is one of the 50 most famous people in the world, according to the American World Fame Foundation.
Her educational and professional career
She was born in Taif, studied in Cairo and Taif, graduated from King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, then worked at the Military Hospital in Riyadh, worked as a specialist in adult and pediatric cardiac surgery at Brossier Hospital in Paris in 1990, and in the same year she returned to Riyadh and worked at the Prince Sultan Center for Diseases And cardiac surgery as a senior specialist in heart surgery for adults and children, after which she traveled to Canada and completed her specialization in pediatric heart surgery at the University of Toronto Hospital in Canada, and obtained a Canadian fellowship. In 1994, she returned to work at Prince Sultan Center as a consultant pediatric cardiac surgeon in the center, and in 2004, she obtained a senior consultant position.
achievements
The first cardiac surgeon and the first consultant for heart surgery and congenital defects for children in the Middle East, and the second globally.
The first to pioneer the pulmonary artery bypass procedure for children with congenital defects in the Middle East.
The first to perform a pulmonary valve transplant without opening the heart or placing the patient on an artificial heart or lung machine, and this is the first operation of its kind in the Middle East.
honors
King Faisal Medal, Fourth Class
The Yemeni Unity Medal and the Gold Unity Medal, for their efforts with the Saudi Charitable Medical Mission, to perform surgeries for congenital heart defects for Yemeni children
