Hadassah Hospital—Roman Krivochenitser
Unlike most of the James Madison students on our trip, I study medicine back in the United States. Therefore, I decided to focus my project on medicinal practices in Israel, specifically focusing on Hadassah. Hadassah is the biggest and most famous hospital in Jerusalem. I specifically aimed to highlight two themes within my presentation. One of which was the unraveling of many myths surrounding Israeli medicine and the treatment of its patients. The second theme was to present Hadassah as one of the best and most successful peacekeeping programs in the Middle East. By the end of my presentation, I hope most of the students would see what great innovations and positives come out of Israel and what can be achieved even amidst hostile conditions. The media tends to portray Israel in a negative light, only focusing on death and war. Hadassah is a beacon in the Middle East that deserves much more praise and recognition.
To begin, one must have a basic overview of Hadassah’s history and where it came from. Established in 1912 in New York City, Hadassah was founded by a group called the “Daughters of Zion” led by Henrietta Szold. The idea was to spread Zionistic ideals throughout America by heading education and public health initiatives. The name Hadassah was derived from the Hebrew holiday of Purim. It happened that the group had its first major meeting on Purim and the name was adopted from the Hebrew name for Esther (Hadassah). This once again stressed the importance of Women to the Zionist movement. Eventually, the organization began to expand and they decided to send two American nurses to Palestine during WWI. The nurses set up a small clinic to help the wounded and ended up staying in Palestine, helping the Jewish communities prosper. In 1939 the first Hadassah hospital was established on Mount Scopus in East Jerusalem. Mount Scopus is part of the Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) which also features the second Hadassah hospital at Ein Kerem. At the time, Hadassah was the foremost hospital in Western Asia. Hadassah played a pivotal role in the war of independence. Positioned in Jerusalem, the hospital was in the midst of the greatest fighting. On April 13, 1948 the Hadassah Convoy Massacre occurred where Arab captured a Hadassah truck driving under a white flag full of doctors and patients and killed everyone. There were about 80 dead and Israel shut down the hospital on Mount Scopus. As a result, the new Hadassah wing was opened in Ein Kerem in 1961. This is now the biggest hospital in Jerusalem, not in all of Israel though. It is known worldwide for its trauma center. The Hadassah at Mount Scopus was reopened in 1967 but is not used as much as Ein Kerem.
Data for my presentation was acquired from two main sources. My first source was a paramedic working for Magin David Adom by the name of Tsvi. Tsvi used to be an EMT back in the United States but has lived in Israel and worked in Israeli medicine for the past 16 years. My other source was a current medical student for Hadassah by the name of Misha. Misha was finishing up his first year at medical school at the time of our interview. Both of my sources stressed the level of difficulty and work required to become a doctor in Israel. The school format is very similar to that of the United States – 4 years basic training followed by 3 years clinical and then 1 year of residency and after that a specialization if you would like. However, Israeli doctors must know the medical practices on all continents, Europe, Asia, and especially in America. Also, the lectures or taught in the native language, Hebrew, whereas all of the textbooks are in English. Israel functions on a socialized medicine basis. Therefore, even after all the work and time that doctors put in they still only make around $50,000/year. This is only slightly over average Israeli income. In comparison, doctors in the USA make around $100,000 more money for the same job and less time.
Medicine is the toughest field in Israel to be accepted into. Only 100 students are allowed in per institution out of about 1500 applicants. Since there are only 4 medical institutions in all of Israel, this means that there are only 400 new doctors each year out of 6000 who are interested. Therefore, only the best of the best can practice medicine in Israel. What ends up happening is that many students travel oversees to Europe to get their medical degree and can practice medicine in Israel if they pass the entry exam. However, even with this there is still a shortage of doctors in Israel.
One of the most popular myths surrounding Hadassah is about its discrimination towards Palestinian Arabs. This is a tool for the media to hide the facts and once again present Israel in a negative light. In reality, about 20% of all medical students are Palestinian and 30% of the current doctors in Jerusalem are Palestinian Arabs. Furthermore, Hadassah and all of Israel never discriminate when it comes to treating patients. In fact, Hadassah was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and numerous other exceptional health care awards for its patient care practices and treatment of all individuals. Even terrorists are treated in the hospital before being sent off to their respective disciplinary institutions. In Judaism, life is valued over all else and therefore it is unthinkable to deny anyone that basic right. This is one of the reasons Israel has socialized medicine that is available to all. It is a wide-known fact that Israel and specifically Hadassah provides the best health care in the Middle East. Over the past decades, Arab leaders from different countries have all in secrecy flown in to get treatment in Israel because the quality of healthcare is that much better. Just as an example at the level of healthcare provided we can look back into history during the war in 1967. At that time, 310 operations were performed in just over 60 hours and out of 985 patients only 11 had perished. Now, 40 years later the health care has kept exponentially improving.
The quality and improvement of healthcare has effected all populations, especially Palestinians. As Palestinian obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish said, “Israeli hospitals extend humanitarian treatment to Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and West Bank. These efforts continued when all other cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis came to a halt during the most recent intifada.” The statistics of healthcare for Palestinians is also astounding. Not only have mortality rates among Israeli Arabs fallen by nearly two-thirds but also life expectancy has increased from 70 (in 1970) to 76 today. Today, the average Palestinian living under Israeli authority can expect to live longer than a white European male. Despite this, Israeli hospitals still receive negative media attention with their treatment of Palestinians. Many Palestinians do not trust Israel and therefore do not go to their hospital, only going to the very poor hospitals in their area. By the time they are transferred it is too late and there is nothing that can be done. Also, Magin David Adom, the Israeli ambulance service, is not allowed to go into “Palestinian Land” without a police escort. Therefore, even if a life is at stake the Palestinian Authority will not let the Israelis in simply out of principle. By the time the patients arrive to the hospitals it is also too late. Based on these misfortunate happenings many people have a skewed view of Israeli medicine.
Israel has the best medicine because they use the latest medical technology that is produced in Israel. Israel as a country is one of the largest producers of biomedical innovation. One example is Given Imaging, a company that developed the Pill cam. The Pill cam is a camera in a small tablet that is swallowed and takes pictures of the GI tract, small bowel, and colon. The camera takes 55000 images, producing a movie of about 6 – 8 hours that can be viewed to see if there are any problems within the patient. The patient wears a data recorder as a belt while the pill is in the body and all of the information is collected onto a database. Companies such as these work closely with Hadassah and other medical institutions in Israel. Hadassah itself does a lot of research. Half of all medical research in Israel is conducted in the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem. Israeli scientists are part of the leading researchers for stem cell development and innovation. This advanced technology is not available in Arab countries because they do not accept Israeli products and therefore their quality of healthcare suffers because of it.
One important aspect of Israeli medicine is response to crisis and terrorists attacks that can occur on a daily basis. There is a special class that everyone has to take in medical school so that everyone can be aware of the protocol. During a country emergency, all doctors and staff are on call and working. Israel has one of the best response times in the world. In fact, institutions from different countries send representatives to see how Israeli medicine functions under a crisis because it is world-class. The main reason is the quality of communication between Magin David Adom, the ambulance service, and the hospitals. It takes no more than 20 min to clear up the biggest attack and to have everyone in the hospitals already receiving treatment. There is a correspondent in every hospital from Magin David Adom working 24/7 to be in constant communication. Therefore, the hospitals know which kinds of patients are on their way to which hospital so they can mobilize and prepare right away for treatment. The patients are immediately carted into the right room for operation and the whole process flows smoothly.
It is unfortunate that Israel has to be so proficient in this, but it is the reality of the situation of which they live in. Israeli medicine continues to thrive in the face of negative media scrutiny and hostilities in the area. Hadassah employs and treats everyone as equals, promoting peacekeeping efforts while continuing a standard of the highest quality medicine in the world.
