To his family and the lives of the patients he’s saved, Dr. Mohammed al-Bardan is a hero. To the government of President Bashar al-Assad, he’s an enemy of Syria.

Throughout the country’s devastating civil war, Mr. Assad’s forces and their allies have killed hundreds of medical personnel and attacked hospitals, including a missile strike against the one where Dr. Bardan worked. Despite the threats to his life, he stayed.

“Leaving meant leaving Syria with no doctors,” he said.

We met Dr. Bardan nearly three months ago during a short reprieve from the war. He was among a small group of Syrian doctors granted permission to travel to Jordan for a week of training in new surgery techniques. During that time, Dr. Bardan was briefly reunited with his sister, who fled with her family to Jordan when the fighting started years ago.

But Dr. Bardan would soon return to Syria. By June, his city was under attack and captured by Mr. Assad’s forces.