About the Author

Ghazi M. Rayan

A first-generation immigrant American, acclaimed writer, and academician — a clinical professor of orthopedic surgery who practiced as an upper-extremity and hand surgeon in Oklahoma City, and who established the first hand surgery fellowship in Oklahoma.

Serving his community for four decades.

Ghazi devoted most of his professional career to serving his community — providing remedial care to his patients while offering scientific knowledge through research and teaching to medical students, residents, and fellows. He served as a Review editor for the Journal of Hand Surgery and on the editorial board of an online educational platform for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and is a past president of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and the recipient of several honors and awards.

The Journey

Beirut to Oklahoma City

Beirut, Lebanon

Where Ghazi grew up and received his early education.

Alexandria University Medical School

Graduated from an extension the first medical school of antiquity, established by Ptolemy II, a follower of Alexander the Great.

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Trained in orthopedic surgery at the hospital where William Osler and William Halsted, established the first American residency-training program.

Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore

Specialized in upper extremity, hand, and microsurgery under Raymond Curtis — a pupil of Sterling Bunnell, the father of hand surgery.

Oklahoma City

Settled and built a distinguished academic and clinical career spanning more than 40 years.

Education & Early Training

Ghazi grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, where he received his early education. He graduated from Alexandria University Medical School in Egypt — an extension the first medical school of antiquity, established by Ptolemy II, a follower of Alexander the Great.

He then walked patients' wards at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland — where William Osler and William Halsted, established the first American residency-training program — where he received his training in orthopedic surgery.

Specialization

Ghazi pursued further specialization in upper extremity, hand, and microsurgery at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, under the tutelage of Raymond Curtis — a pupil of Sterling Bunnell, the father of hand surgery.

A Career in Oklahoma

Ghazi settled in Oklahoma City and began his professional career by joining the full-time faculty of the Orthopedic Surgery Department, serving as an assistant professor and hand surgery section director.

He later established an academic private practice and founded the hand surgery fellowship training program, graduating more than fifty domestic and international fellows — all while training hundreds of orthopedic and plastic surgery residents.

Scholarship & Legacy

Ghazi's professional career spanned more than 40 years, during which he gave over 300 regional, national, and international scientific presentations. He is the author of ten academic books, has written more than 40 book chapters and over 200 scientific articles and editorials in peer-reviewed journals, authored five nonfiction books, and coauthored a sixth.

Life Beyond Medicine

Ghazi and his wife live in Oklahoma City and relish the company of their three grandchildren. He continues teaching and serving his community, and remains devoted to biking, traveling, reading, and writing.

More about Ghazi's biography appears in Trilogy of Perseverance, and his journey through medicine is chronicled in Immigrant Physicians.

Through the Years