JANUARY 2024

Creating
beautiful
smiles
for life
Dr. Rudy Hajji and Dr. Odette Dougherty,
University of Michigan School of Dentistry
30969 Orchard Lake Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Conveniently located at 14 mile and Orchard Lake Road
smileenvy.org
(248) 702-0001
ing her Bachelor of Science in French
and Francophone Studies from U of M,
she spent some time teaching and volunteering
in France.
Dalia earned her Doctor of Medicine
from Central Michigan University
College of Medicine, where she served
as vice president of the medical student
council and a student representative
during the medical school’s pursuit
of accreditation. During her time
at CMU, she co-founded the Global
Health Equity Student Interest Group
and Alternative Breaks, a program
which organized medical mission trips
to Haiti. Mammo coordinated and led
the first two trips. She was inducted in
the Gold Humanism Honor Society.
At Detroit Medical Center/Wayne
State University, Mammo held various
roles, including Psychiatry Resident
Physician, followed by Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry Fellow, and eventually
Chief Fellow in Child & Adolescent
Psychiatry. She went on a mission trip
to Iraq to assess the mental health
needs of the children and adolescents
that live there. She knew she wanted
to specialize in child and adolescent
psychiatry. “People asked me, ‘why?’”
Dalia laughs.
Dr. Mammo likes talking to kids in
groups. She wants to remove the stigma
of mental health, specifically with
young people; unfortunately, there’s a
long wait list for child psychiatrists in
our state. “They need to know they’re
not alone,” she says, “and that they
can ask for help.”
If there’s a shortage of psychiatrists
to treat kids, then there’s a dearth of
doctors to assist Chaldean kids. It’s
not that they aren’t seeking assistance.
“Reactions have changed,” declares Dr.
Mammo, referring to a time when the
Chaldean community was resistant to
mental health care. “People are excited
to see Chaldean psychiatrists,” she asserts,
“especially child psychiatrists.”
Says Mammo, “Providers need
to understand Chaldean culture.
Hopefully, there will be an increase
in Chaldean mental health providers.”
Culture can influence treatment.
Sometimes extreme embarrassment
will result in nontreatment or there is
the perception that mental health issues
are a crisis in faith.
“It’s okay not to be okay,” says Dr.
Mammo.
Dr. Mammo believes in giving back
to the community she was raised in
and is the vice president of CAAHP, the
Chaldean American Association for
Health Professionals, a nonprofit and
nonpolitical educational organization
founded in 1999 to support Chaldean
health care providers.
Made up of physicians, pharmacists,
dentists, nurses, and other allied
health professionals of Chaldean descent,
CAAHP serves as a professional
forum offering education, networking,
and community service opportunities.
Mammo and her colleagues work with
other organizations like the Chaldean
Community Foundation to provide
free or low-cost healthcare to the
underserved through programs like
Project Bismutha, just like Mammo’s
grandfather did in Iraq.
“I have a care for the underserved,”
says Mammo.
That’s an understatement.
JANUARY 2024 CHALDEAN NEWS 35