Changes in Medical Practice in Syria: Dilemmas and Adaptations in Medical Facilities Continually Threatened by Attack

This report examines the direct and indirect factors that are driving changes in medical practice in Syria. Though their influence is less direct (and presents issues not necessarily unique to Syria), the severe reduction in the healthcare workforce and the interruption of services due to insecurity significantly limit the overall scope of medical care that can be offered. More directly, the time available within a facility for the treatment of each patient, the possibility of follow-up care and evolution toward decentralised or home-based care, and the availability of specific medications all affect patients individually. These also point to broader challenges for medical programmes on the whole, particularly the tension between the obligation to provide the best available medical care and the reality of what is possible in such a context.