R ;„,••••1, \ Wayne State University students Evan Sell, Sarah Wolf, Mike Warren, Rebecca Kornas, Will Nettleton and Amer Afaneh with Dr. Eliezer Shalev, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology NO DRUGS NO SURGERY 855-5550 BLASTPAIN.COM (248) TRY IT FREE NO OBLIGATION 30018 Orchard Lake Rd I Farmington Hills, Michigan 148334 Marvin & Betty Danto Health Care Center Oakland West Bloomfield 800.800.CARE www1ChooseHeartland.com Heartland Health Care Center 52 April 26 2012 vow Nov Trading Places Program gives WSU medical students experience with patients in Israel. Jen Harte Special to the Jewish News W ayne State University senior medical student Sarah Wolf of Ann Arbor had always wanted to go to Israel. So when she had an opportunity to participate in the School of Medicine's new Detroit-Israel Medical Student Exchange Program, she jumped at the chance. "I have wanted to visit Israel since my brother went on a Taglit-Birthright Israel Trip in 2007:' she said. "As a part of the Detroit-Israel Exchange Program, I could visit the country, experience medicine and apply my medical knowledge!' Wolf, born in Korea, was adopted by a Jewish family and converted to Judaism. "I was raised celebrating Jewish holidays and going to syna- gogue at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor?' During the exchange in February, Wolf learned that many aspects of medicine translate across cultural and national boundaries. "I now realize that patients and doctors have to understand, at least partially, each other's backgrounds to understand the whole person and thus treat the whole person!" This new initiative of Wayne State's School of Medicine is designed to expose participants to an environ- ment where patients from diverse backgrounds receive health care in a medical system different from those in the United States. William Lyman, Ph.D., professor and associate chairman of pediatrics and director of the Children's Research Center of Michigan, who serves as co- director of the program with Maryjean Schenk, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., vice dean for medical education, believes that the exchange is an important part of Wayne State's commitment to the populations it serves in Michigan. "Providing enriching educational experiences such as these can only prove to be an important benefit for everyone in the community," he said. Six students were the first to par- ticipate in the program and travel to Israel. They were Amer Afaneh, Rebecca Kornas, William Nettleton, Evan Sell, Michael Warren and Wolf. The students rotated at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, affili- ated with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The Technion is Israel's oldest public university and home to three Nobel laureates. Nettleton participated in the pro- gram because it provided an opportu- nity to see health care practiced in a different environment and a different style of academic and clinical medicine. He spent his time at Rambam rotat- ing in in-patient pediatrics and see- ing patients in the pediatric diabetes clinic. He said the experience had a profound impact because it reinforced his belief that it is a privilege to take care of people from all different back- grounds. "People share things with physicians that they would not share with others:' he said. "We are with people when they are most vulnerable' The Detroit-Israel Medical Student Exchange Program is a growing initia- tive at Wayne State. The program is bi-directional — students from Israel came to Wayne State last fall. The uni- versity also established an exchange partnership with Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Wayne State students will train at hospitals affiliated with Hebrew University at Hadassah Mount Scopus, Ein Kerem and Shaare Zedek medical centers later this year. ❑ Jen Harte is director of development communications at Wayne State University.