Ammar Ghanem is a physician from Zabadani, Syria. He graduated from Damascus University in 1994 and completed his residency at Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA. He then pursued a Pulmonary Fellowship at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, followed by a Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA.

Currently, Ammar is practicing in a Detroit suburb as part of a private single specialty group. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at Michigan State University and a core faculty member of the pulmonary and critical care fellowship programs at McLaren Oakland and Lansing.

SAMS Medical Mission Involvement

Ammar has been married for 23 years and has three children. His wife is an assistant professor at Lawrence University, teaching biomedical engineering and computer engineering courses. His eldest son, Yaser, is studying business at Oakland University, while his second son, Zied, is a junior at the International Academy. His youngest daughter, Haneen, is in fifth grade at a public school.

In his free time, Ammar enjoys gardening and watching sports. He has been volunteering with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) for 13 years and has served as a Society and Foundation Board Member from 2013 to 2015. He led the Jordan Committee during its peak work, delivering aid to South Syria, and he helped establish multiple committees, including the Fundraising and Missions committees.

Ammar has been a Foundation Board Member for the past three years and was elected as the Vice President of the Society Board in July. He has participated in multiple missions to various areas, including Turkey, north Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. In the current year, he has been involved in three missions—one to Jordan and two to northwest Syria.

His most significant accomplishment is being part of the fellowship group that manages and teaches ICU fellows in northwest Syria, the first of its kind in the country. They have already graduated one candidate and plan to graduate six more in the coming year.

Ammar expresses gratitude for the Syrian community in Michigan and Detroit, describing them as kind, soft-hearted, and generous. He feels fortunate to be part of a group that has made significant contributions to helping others at different levels. He also co-chaired the successful SAMS conference in Detroit last fall, which focused on new topics related to the business of medicine and drew many attendees.