Laila Zomorodian

Fellow 2015

Laila Zomorodian is a recent graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine with a longstanding interest in underserved international healthcare, particularly maternal and child health. She is currently completing a research year to further her education with global health projects in women’s health and serve as a SCOPE fellow.

Laila will work in Gondar January through April 2015. During her time in Ethiopia, she will implement two pilot projects that train religious leaders to refer pregnant women to local health clinics. She will be responsible for implementing training, conducting focus groups, and evaluating the project using quantitative and qualitative indicators. Laila’s work will build off previous research and evaluation conducted by SCOPE fellows and address issues of sustainability and impact of the project.

Laila plans to continue work in East Africa throughout her career and brings with her a deep understanding of medicine in resource-limited settings. She spent a year in Tanzania working on obstetric fistula prevention. During her time in Tanzania, she led a small community health project in rural Maasailand to learn about women’s attitudes towards obstetric care and the obstacles that, if removed, would improve their access to healthcare.  Laila also has experience working in Uganda where she spent a summer doing medical education.

Laila’s health work overseas inspired her to learn to perform fistula surgery, a goal she is on her way to achieving.  She is currently applying for residency in General Surgery which will begin in June 2015.