To the Editor I read with interest the Research Letter by Weeks et al¹ in which surgeons from the US military have delivered humanitarian surgical care to local national civilians in war zones. The authors raise the important issue of preparing US surgeons for deployment.

Cultural sensitivity is critical in these endeavors, in particular for deployed medical personnel.² There are many different potential culture clashes that deployed troops can experience in a religious and conservative country.³ It has been well documented that some US troops’ misunderstanding of Iraqi culture when they first entered into the region led to failure of “winning hearts and minds.”⁴

我很感兴趣地给编辑们读了Weeks等[ ^1]的研究信，其中美国军方的外科医生向战区的当地国民提供了人道主义外科护理。作者提出了准备美国外科医生部署的重要问题。

在这些活动中，特别是对部署的医务人员而言，文化敏感性至关重要。²在一个宗教保守的国家，部署的部队可能会经历许多潜在的文化冲突。³有据可查的是，一些美军在刚进入该地区时对伊拉克文化的误解导致“赢得心智”失败。⁴