Dr. Hamid Al-Barqi …. From Saudi dates seller to the most famous surgeon in USA

By :Marwa Mahmoud

One of Saudi’s most important pioneers in the field of oral and maxillofacial surgery is not only in the Arab world, but has held the highest positions in the United States.

He was born in the year 1960 in a town called Qizima in the Baraq governorate, in the southwestern part of the Kingdom.

His past was not that easy, as he grew up as an orphan whose father died in his childhood , then moved to his uncle’ care with his brothers  until the preparatory stage, when he felt the need to find work to take care of his brothers.

But he did not wait for the work that his uncle had promised, but instead he had been involved in the work since his youth, and he moved between various works, sometimes selling dates, salt, and grazing sheep.

A turning point in his life:

After a time of hard work, he appointed his uncle to help him get a job, and indeed his uncle was able to find a position for him as the first soldier in the paratrooper brigade, with the aid of an official there, the professor actually traveled quickly to Tabuk.

That was the turning point in his life, so he kept looking at the officers in the brigade and thinking to becoming one day like them, so he could be a man of distinguished position .when he learned that this high position to obtain it must be a hard working he decided to complete high school studies.

Education in high school:

After completing his studies as one of the most distinguished students and obtaining the privilege, the army needed a group of hospital attendants in that period, and he was one of the delegates,  he obtained a nursing certificate, but with considerable superiority from the rest of his peers, where he obtained the first position.

He was moved to the Riyadh Hospital as a hospital attendant, but he was the best of them, but his old dream was still to be an army officer.

His steps to fulfill his dream:

The professor was clearly determined, patient, and endowed in order to reach his goals, so he took the opportunity of announcing a nomination course for officers, due to his superiority, his administration nominated him, and in fact he graduated and became a superior officer.

Due to his great excellence in his work, the hospital administration decided to send him to study dental medicine and surgery in the United States of America, and he continued to study until he obtained his PhD and was approved by the American Board.

Biography:

After obtaining his doctorate in general dentistry from the United States of America, he was promoted to the rank of consultant professor in Oral and Maxillofacial Reconstruction at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in the United States of America 2003/2004, and then he was appointed in charge of medical fee schedules at Jefferson College of Medicine in the United States of America. 

He was appointed as a consultant for maxillofacial surgery and director of the training program at King Khalid National Guard Hospital, and then appointed as a consultant for maxillofacial surgery in King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah.