FRIDAY. FEBUARY 10. 2012 8:00 PM

WIIliam Lyman,

4 0,
1 1.
Terry Johnson's
Flamingos

(

A.D., Wayne

State University .
School of
Medicine, Dr. Diana

Gaitini, Technion-
Israel Institute of

Technology, and
Dr. Thomas Slovis,
Children's Hospital
of Michigan

Mixing Cultures,
Backgrounds

Rook N' Rott Hatt of Famers
I Onty have Eyes For ?b ..)
Mio Amore
l'iL Be Home
Golden Teardrops

goo

Medical student exchange between Technion and WSU
increases knowledge, caring.

The Shades of etue

Ruthann Brodsky
Special to the Jewish News

F

The Mustics

WHERE:
MARQUIS THEATER

135 E. .1"..7 1N
NORTilV:LLer,k 4867

TICKETS:
$30.00 per ticket

Available only at The Marquis Theatre

for croups of 10 or more

colt Scotty for resented seating

and specie''. pricing.

For'

more information
ptecse co ,1 Scotty at
248-921-70':0

14

February 9 2012

amilial Mediterranean Fever (FMF)
is diagnosed in populations sur-
rounding the Mediterranean Sea. It
also is found in one other area in the world
— Detroit.
FMF is a hereditary auto-inflammatory
disorder. Populations at risk include
Arabs, Jews, Armenians, Greeks and
Turks. Although the disease is considered
somewhat rare in Detroit, risk factors
include a family history of FMF or having
Mediterranean ancestry. Detroit's large rep-
resentative populations of Arabs and Jews
match that description.
Israel, on the other hand, is probably the
only Mediterranean country that treats
cases of sickle cell anemia. Detroit has
much expertise in the disease because of
its large African American population.
"Wayne State University started mak-
ing use of these similarities two years ago
by initiating a medical student exchange
to augment its medical school's patient-
centered and holistic approach to treating
patients:' said William D. Lyman, Ph.D,
director of the Children's Research Center
of Michigan (CRCM) and a key player in
the medical student exchange between
WSU and Technion-Israel Institute of
Technology in Haifa.
"Visiting Israel, Michigan students come
to appreciate how much a patient's culture,
religion and family lifestyle can influ-
ence a patient's treatment and well being.
Ultimately, treating illness in Israel often

involves treating the patient and the family.
"One of the primary goals of the Wayne
State School of Medicine is to increase the
quality of care we provide for patients and
to optimize services for the local com-
munities we serve. Three of Detroit's major
populations are Arab, Jewish and African
American:' Lyman said. "Understanding
disease pathology by discovering the simi-
larities and differences of diseases unique
to Detroit and the Middle East provide
students a more holistic approach to medi-
cine.
"A good example of this is the promi-
nent role of husbands in decisions about
women's and children's health care fre-
quently found in Orthodox Jewish and
Arab families," he said. "Often the response
to a disease in Israel is a different therapy
than the one recommended in Detroit for
the same disease or condition. Students
become aware of the possibility of environ-
mental impact."
The first group of WSU medical students
is scheduled to arrive at the Technion this
month. Six Israeli senior medical students,
including one Palestinian, already have
come to WSU as part of their clinical rota-
tion.

Mutual Benefits
In December, Children's Hospital of
Michigan and the WSU School of Medicine
hosted Dr. Diana Gaitini, MD, clinical asso-
ciate professor and director, unit of ultra-
sound, department of medical imaging at
the Technion/Rambam Medical Center in
Haifa.

.

"We have students from all over the
world visiting Technion hospitals',' says
Gaitini, a radiologist specializing in ultra-
sound."The mixing of cultures and back-
grounds encourages greater awareness and
appreciation of similarities and differences.
One of the major benefits to these visits, in
addition to the students' education, is that
each visitor to Israel returns home as an
ambassador to our country. They return
home with a different perspective of Israel.
For instance, they expected security to be
high, but they didn't expect to see Arabs
and Jews working together in the medical
community. And most are surprised at
the equal quality of treatment provided to
Palestinian patients."
Gaitini explains that Israeli medical stu-
dents are somewhat older than American
students and-tend to have a different out-
look on life because they already spent two
years in the Israeli army before continuing
their studies.
"Israeli students bring back good meth-
odologies for disease diagnosis and treat-
ment and are more aware of what others
can offeesaid Gaitini, who accompanied
the Israeli students during their first visit.
"For instance, in Israel we do treat some
cases of sickle cell anemia. They are lighter
than the ones presented in Detroit, but
learning how the disease is treated here
has been helpful because sickle cell anemia
is found in Bedouin populations in Israel
and surrounding countries:'
Valerie Parisi, MD, dean of the WSU
School of Medicine, is convinced that
the major value of the medical student

Technion on page 23