After completing dental school in Iraq, Dr. Hashim Hassan (Class of 1975) came to the UAB School of Dentistry to complete an oral surgery residency. In 1971 he met his wife, Dr. Diane Hassan, who was working at UAB at the time. When asked how his practice in the Wiregrass came to be, he answers simply, “I married a girl from Dothan Alabama”, but the story is a little more exciting than that.Hashim and Diane married in 1975 and moved to Baghdad, where she earned her medical degree. They lived in Iraq for seventeen years and welcomed their son, Mohammad, in 1977. During their time in Iraq, the family endured the Iraq-Iran War (1980-88), the Gulf War (1990-1991) and the 1993 cruise missile attack that finally led to the fall of Sadaam Hussein’s regime.
Like many in his field, Hassan holds Dr. Scotty McCallum in the highest of esteem and considered him to be an invaluable mentor and friend. During his second year at UAB, Hassan would often drive Dr. McCallum to see patients so that he could work on papers as they traveled. “Once we went to the VA Hospital in Tuskegee and saw a patient with oral symptoms of diabetes,” Hassan recalled Dr. McCallum suggesting when he gets back to Birmingham to read about the connections between Diabetes and oral health. “I thought, I don’t see him but every three or four weeks, I bet he’s going to forget. Two months later I am working with him on a patient and Dr. McCallum says, ‘tell me what you learned about diabetes.’” Deciding that honesty was the best policy, Hassan said, “I’ll tell you the truth I didn’t read about diabetes…but if you’ll give me two days, I’ll read all I can.” After that, he and Dr. McCallum would go on to become friends and eventual colleagues when Hassan was appointed to Dean of the Dental School in Baghdad.
Hassan didn’t have much experience in the business of running a dental school, so in 1976 he invited Dr. McCallum to visit Baghdad. They made an agreement that UAB would send dental students to Baghdad to visit and learn. Hassan hoped that this practice would provide an enriching experience for all involved, and also that it would provide an avenue for more Iraqi students to come and train at UAB. “From 1976 to 1978, while I was dean, over 20 Iraqi students came to UAB to get a degree,” he said. “In the following years, most of the staff of the dental school in Iraq had graduated from UAB.”
As Dr. McCallum advanced to become the Vice President for Health Affairs and Director of the UAB Medical Center, Hassan was named president of Al-Mustansiriya University—one of the first medical schools in the Middle East, with five campuses and around thirty-five thousand students. The close relationship with UAB continued as he was named Dean of the University of Baghdad, where he served from 1978-1983.
Due to Sadaam Husseins rise to power, Hassan left academia and ran a successful private practice from 1983-1993. His departure from his government appointment angered Hussein and resulted in Hassan and many other former ministers being sent to the front lines of the war. “He wanted us to get killed…
but God didn’t want us to get killed,” Hassan said, “of the 230 former ministers who had left the government, not one of us knew how to shoot a gun.” And yet, he survived.
In 1993, as further punishment, Hassan was placed on a list of former government employees who were not allowed to leave the country. Realizing his family had no future in Iraq, and that his son would soon be drafted into the army, he decided to get them out. That October, he flew Diane and Mohammed to the US and settled them in Dothan. While his son, “Mo” enrolled in Dothan High School, Hassan returned to Baghdad.Six days later, as he was arriving home, Hassan was attacked on the street in front of his house. Despite begin shot twice, once in the head and in the side, Hassan recovered. “I was lucky that the neurosurgeon who did the surgery for me is a friend and a very good guy—so I got out without any consequences,” he said. Fortunately, the United Nations had begun working to remove anyone who had been put on the no-travel lists. Hassan was contacted and told that in two days he would be evacuated. He didn’t even get to go to his office before leaving.
Once back in Alabama, Hassan reconnected with Dr. McCallum who encouraged him to enroll in dental school to obtain his DMD so that he could practice in Alabama. He took his advice, enrolling at UAB from 1997-1999. Hassan recalls that his DMD experience “was the two best years.” He started working in Dothan in September 1999, where he continues to practice today.
The UAB School of Dentistry is undoubtedly woven into the fabric of the Hassan family. Hassan’s son, Mo, went on to earn his undergraduate degree from UAB and graduated from the School of Dentistry in 2001. He also resides in Dothan and has practiced there since 2005. Hassan says he has a lot to be grateful for and he credits dentistry and Alabama for so much in his life. “Alabama and UAB, and the people here, are so meaningful to me”, he says.
For more on this incredible journey, see Diane Hassan’s 2008 book, Angels Among Us…Even in Iraq.