Dr Issam Muteir graduated from Iraq’s Al-Nahrain University (formerly Saddam University) in 2000 and completed his internship and specialist training in Internal Medicine in Baghdad in 2006.

In 2007, Issam was awarded the prestigious Endeavour Research Scholarship, allowing him to move to Australia and to conduct research at a one-stop screening clinic to detect early diabetes complications at Charles Sturt University, and to investigate the role of antioxidants in diabetic microvascular complications.

Four months after his arrival to Australia, Issam became Associate Lecturer in Neuroscience and Biomedical Science in the School of Community Health at Charles Sturt University, teaching physiotherapy, occupational therapy, nursing, and speech pathology to undergraduate students for one year. In 2009, Issam’s first Australian medical duties as a clinician were at Warragul Emergency Department. He then joined the Royal Australian College of Physicians. He completed basic physician training in Western Health and his advanced training (Acute Care and General Medicine) at Monash Health and trained in cardiology in both Monash Heart and Western Health.

His love for Warragul Hospital and the community brought him back to the hospital where is now a General Physician. Issam’s areas of interests are evaluations and management of cardiovascular diseases and complex acute and general medical conditions. In his last years of further study for a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology, Issam’s interests are in epidemiological research, disease prevention, auditing, diagnostic studies and with a special interest in cardiovascular and diabetes research. Issam enjoys a busy family life and is now finishing his book about his extraordinary, sometimes tragic and humorous medical and personal experiences during the Iraq wars, including the turbulent post-war medical chaos there, and his career path to Australia.