An international team of orthopedic
surgeons, including Dr. Edelman from
Haifa, Israel, operates on a child
in Ecuador.

pants from Uzbekistan, Ecuador, Belize,
Barbados, Ghana, India, Vietnam, Nepal,
China, Serbia, Portugal, Colombia, Kosovo,
Costa Rica, Kenya, Russia and Thailand.
Dr. Buland Thapa from Nepal said that
he hopes to implement the trauma systems
studied at Rambam in his home country
and go "from hospital to hospital" to make
sure his whole country can adequately deal
with trauma.

The Far East

A Light Unto The Nations

How one hospital in Israel has impacted health care.

Daniela Feldman
Anna Harwood
Special to the Jewish News

■ 1111111••• ■ ,-

. -

I

srael, renowned for its innovation
and science, tirelessly has contributed
to the advancement of international
medicine. Nearly every month, new medi-
cal revelations are released from Israel's
top research institutions.
In the past year alone, Israel has made
a host of medical breakthroughs from
discovering a new nutritional treatment
for Parkinson's disease, to designing a
new medical device to warn of impending
heart attack and the production of a "nose"
that can smell cancer. There also have
been revolutionary finds in the fields of
diabetes, neurology and cardiology.
But this small country's contribution to
medicine does not cease at its innovation.
One of Israel's major hospitals, the Rambam
Health Care Campus, has taken upon itself
to execute its own take on the tenet of
becoming "a light unto the nations:'
For Rambam, "Medicine Without
Borders" is not a cliche. Each year, count-
less international medical teams arrive
to learn new skills, discover the latest
research and benefit from the profession-
als who are renowned as leaders in their
fields. Rambam has developed relation-
ships with institutions from more than 52
countries, whose medical teams come to
Haifa to study in the largest medical center
in Northern Israel.

Training In Trauma
"Unfortunately, in Israel, we have a lot of

110 August 29 • 2013

JN

Thai nurses: A delegation of nurses from Thailand gathers at Rambam for training
on palliative oncology care.

experience in the field of urgent care med-
icine' said Dr. Moshe Michaelson, medical
head of Rambam Health Care Campus's
Teaching Center for Trauma, Emergency
and Mass Casualty Situations. "Our spe-
cific experience with war and terror has
led us to possess extensive knowledge in
trauma care and a highly developed sys-
tem in preparation for, and in response
to, mass-casualty incidents. A number of
years ago, we decided that we should share
this knowledge with others:'
Rambam physicians developed a course
to teach trauma care to physicians around
the world and established the Teaching
Center for Trauma, Emergency and Mass
Casualty Situations, which is the only one
of its kind in Israel. Each year, 25 select
doctors and nurses from countries as
far-flung as Mozambique and China fly

to Israel to attend this course. To date,
more than 600 medical professionals have
received training at the Rambam's cam-
pus in Haifa. Countless others have been
trained by the center in their own home
countries.
"Obviously it takes time for each hos-
pital to put the practices we teach them
into place, and it can be challenging for
some staff members who have attended
the course to start making these changes,
especially in big hospitals:' Michaelson
explained. "But we truly believe in its
importance. Every country has problems
with trauma and mass casualties, whether
it's with car accidents, industrial accidents,
military casualties or terrorist attacks —
no place is immune'
This year, the training course celebrated
its 10th anniversary and hosted partici-

In addition to the program where doc-
tors and nurses from the Far East attend
Rambam's trauma training, a formal
cooperation agreement was signed two
years ago between Rambam hospital and
Chulabhorn Research Institute, Thailand's
main cancer treatment hospital. The
agreement was signed in the presence of
the Thai Princess, Her Royal Highness,
Professor Chulabhorn Mahidol, and it was
the start of an unshakable partnership
between the two hospitals.
This year, both doctors and nurses
from Thailand visited Rambam to study
palliative cancer care. The palliative care
oncology unit at Rambam treats cancer
patients throughout the course of their
disease, dealing with the range of associ-
ated problems caused by the disease and
its intensive treatment. Emphasis is placed
on novel treatments to ease symptoms of
pain and psychological distress.
The Thai delegates participated in pre-
sentations on pain control, weight loss,
the psychological consequences of cancer,
coping with children with the disease and
the role of spiritual leaders in treatment.
A segment of the training covered vari-
ous aspects of complementary medicine
and related treatments, such as music and
art therapy, various massage techniques,
aromatherapy, guided imagery and nutri-
tional and psychological counseling.
Rambam's Oncology Institute is recog-
nized as a European Center for Integrated
Oncology and Palliative Care by the
European Society for Medical Oncology
(ESMO). The world-renowned unit pro-
vides training for international cancer
teams and conducts a range of research
studies benefiting cancer patients around
the globe.

Europe

For the past five years, Norwegian nursing
students have participated in a unique study
abroad program with Rambam Health Care
Campus and the University of Haifa. The
students study pediatric surgical nursing for
a semester as part of their final year studies.
During their stay in Haifa, the students live
in an old church residence that previously
housed Scandinavian sailors. Besides their
studies, the group tours Israel's important
and holy sites. Not only are these nurses
learning state of the art medicine, but
equally important, they are seeing a differ-