Pharmacy Alumnus Bassam Atallah ’12
Making a Difference in Cardiac Care in the Middle East
Shenandoah pharmacy graduate Bassam Atallah ’12, Pharm.D., M.S., BCPS-AQ Cardiology, FHFSA, is using his Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy education as the Heart and Vascular Institute pharmacotherapy specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Atallah joined the Cleveland Clinic in February 2015 and, in his role there, established the first per protocol physician-pharmacotherapy specialist heart failure collaborative practice agreement clinic in the Middle-East Gulf region.
Prior to becoming part of the Cleveland Clinic, he served as an assistant professor of clinical pharmacy at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
After earning his Doctor of Pharmacy degree, Atallah completed an American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP)-accredited post-graduate residency at Winchester Medical Center in 2013. Atallah is highly appreciative of his years at Shenandoah.
“The Bernard J. Dunn School of Pharmacy (BJDSOP) curriculum did not only provide the best technology and science for us, but also reinforced the values of empathy and doing good through serving our community. ‘Service learning’ was a great course at the beginning of our school years that reinforced the ultimate goal of any health care professional – that is to help patients as if they were family,” he said. “The faculty, including my advisor and lifelong mentor, Dr. Marcia Brackbill, truly wanted us to be successful and went above and beyond to ensure our success. BJDSOP and SU prepared me well to be an ambassador for best pharmacy practices and the wonderful values of the SU community on the global stage, and I am forever grateful for that.”
He is board certified in pharmacotherapy with added qualifications in cardiology. Additionally, he holds an advanced antithrombotic management certificate from ASHP. He is also a Heart Failure Society fellow, and is a member of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Atallah serves with the Cardiology Practice and Research Network (PRN) International committee, ASHP, and the Health Authority Abu Dhabi subject matter experts pharmacology committee. He has also published and presented internationally.
And many of these accomplishments are grounded, in part, in his Shenandoah education. “Shenandoah University offered me all the support I needed as an international student during my college time and training,” he said. “The inclusive and diverse environment at SU provided a unique opportunity for me to learn and make lifelong friends.”
