Featured Doctor

MUSMAR, Dr Samar

USA/ Palestine: family doctor

Samar Musmar is a family doctor who has worked in both the USA and her country of origin, Palestine.

What work do you do currently?

I have recently joined Central Florida Health Care (CFHC) to work as primary care physician in Lakeland, Florida /USA. It is a non for profit organization which provides quality, accessible primary healthcare that is culturally sensitive, affordable and responsive to the community's needs. I am proud to be part of a team who strives to provide high quality health care with strong attention to preventive care for the most needy and deprived people in this area despite language , cultural and financial barriers.

What other interesting activities that you have been involved in?

I have been working in academic primary care medicine for the past eighteen years in my home land/Palestine. I have established the first family medicine residency training program in Palestine in 2010 and successfully graduated the first family doctor group of fourteen in 2014 . The program is thriving and recruiting more physicians to be trained, thanks to the support of a group of academics from UK and other parts of Europe who have been volunteering their time and expertise through an organization we formed together; the IDFMP (International Development of Family Medicine in Palestine).

I am also active in regulating the family medicine in Palestine and the region as the head of family medicine committee at the Palestinian board of family medicine , and a member of the exam committee for family medicine at the Arab Board of medical specialties.

I have been active in primary care research and have published in relevant peer-reviewed medical and health journals, in addition to authoring chapters in relevant books, also am on the editorial board of two international medical journals.

I have lead a project in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of health and the WHO to train doctors and nurses on implementing the PEN approach for Non Communicable Diseases (NCD's) in Palestine.

What are your interests as a family physician and also outside work?

As a family physician, I see myself as a good clinician, team player, community leader, teacher and researcher. Outside work am a wife who likes to share moments with my loving husband, enjoying cooking together. I am also a mom of two young men who started their lives with their wives in the USA;we get together on occasions and socialize.

In Palestine I was also active in supporting community organizations like the Palestinian society for women health and the Women Union Society.

Professional details

Dr Samar Ghazal/ Musmar was born in 1957 in Nablus/Palestine. She got an MBBCH in Medicine and Surgery in 1982 and American Board of Family Medicine in 1995. She became American Academy of Family Medicine Fellow in 2004.

Dr Musmar was appointed faculty member staff at the University of Florida / School of Medicine in 1995. In1998 she started to work at An-Najah National University(NNU) as a faculty staff where she held several positions and helped in establishing several academic programs in health sciences (examples are: nursing , optometry, medicine, higher specialization in Family medicine).

For the past six years, she held the position of Vice Dean at Faculty of Medicine and Health science ,the director of Family Medicine Residency Program at NNU(the first and only family medicine program in Palestine), and the chairman of the Institution Review Board (IRB).

In addition Dr. Musmar served on important National Academic and professional organizations such as The Accréditation and Quality Assurance Commission (AQAC) and the Palestinian Medical Council (the head of scientific committee for family medicine) and member of the Scientific Committee of the Arab Board of Family Medicine.

She is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Human Lactation (JHL)), the British Journal of General Practice(BJGP), and on AN-NajahUniversity Medical and Health Science Journal(ANUMHSJ).

She has published dozens of research papers in recognized peer-reviewed journals and was a speaker in a large number of Professional and scientific conferences locally and internationally.