Physician shows medical Birthright group that blending profession and Judaism works.

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Medical Birthright participants at the Birthright "mega-event"

T

his summer, I had the
uncommon privilege of
staffing a Birthright/
Taglit trip to Israel for
38 medical students and
other healthcare pro-
fessionals from across
the United States. This
wonderful opportunity came my
way because this annual Birthright
experience was co-sponsored by the
American Healthcare Profession-
als & Friends for Medicine in Israel
(APF), and I serve on its national
board of directors.
The APF has three major func-
tions:
• Create and maintain a list of
physicians who commit to volun-
teering to travel to Israel at short
notice in case of a national tragedy
(God forbid).
• Provide scholarships to Israeli
physicians and nurses to travel to
the U.S. for one to two years to learn
new techniques and bring them
back to Israel.
• Organize an annual workshop in
Israel on disaster preparedness for
U.S. physicians.
How fitting, then, that for the
past several years, the APF has
co-sponsored a Birthright trip to
Israel to inspire and engage the next
generation of young physicians and
other health care workers. Dur-
ing this early and critical period in

48 October 20151

RED THREAD

the development of the students'
been to summarily exclude such
professional identity, my role was
students from the trip, the much-
wiser Birthright program leaders
to integrate their growing sense of
becoming healthcare professionals,
recognized that these are precisely
appreciation for their Jewish heri-
the types of young men and women
tage and a growing understanding
whose opinions would likely be
of (and, hopefully, love for) Israel.
changed upon witnessing firsthand
Half of the participants were
the reality of Israel.
either incoming medical students
SEEING ISRAEL
or those on vacation between first
Our
Birthright adventure included
and second years of medical school
many
of the typical sights and
— the only period in four years with
experiences
usually included on a
enough unscheduled time to be
first
trip
to
Israel
— the spiritual-
able to participate in a 10-day trip!
ity
of
Jerusalem's
Old City and the
The remaining half of the group
Kotel
(Western
Wall),
experiencing
included practitioners or students
a
mountaintop
sunrise
after a 4:30
of nursing, physical and
a.m.
climb
up
Masada,
the
occupational therapy,
experience
of
unsinkable
pharmacy, genetics and
swimming in the Dead
psychology.
Sea, the beauty of Ein Gedi
Many of the students
waterfalls,
the adventure
had little formal Jew-
of
kayaking
on the Jordan
ish education and their
River,
the
mysticism
(and
knowledge of Israel was
souvenir
shopping)
of
similarly limited, with
Tzfat (Safed), and firsthand
the exception of a few
observation of the strategic
students who had Israeli
value
of the Golan Heights.
relatives or had been to
Dr. Jeffrey
As a medically oriented
Israel previously.
Devries
Birthright
trip, we added
Interestingly, on the
Special to the
several
medical
experi-
personal statements in-
Jewish News
ences. These included a
cluded in their Birthright
tour of Laniado Hospital in Netanya
applications, two students admitted
as well as a lecture by a physician
to thinking of Israel as a "racist"
from the Israel Medical Association.
country and wanted to come to Is-
rael to see for themselves. Although
Another experience — rare among
my immediate reaction might have
Birthright trips — took place at an

Israel Defense Forces training base
for medics and physicians, where we
were privileged to observe an actual
training exercise of battlefield first
aid, triage and evacuation of simu-
lated patients, complete with the
realistic sounds of gunfire, flashing
lights and smoke.
This provided our young students
a glimpse of, and certainly an awe-
inspiring appreciation for, the expe-
riences faced by IDF soldiers, many
of whom are younger than they are.
One unforgettably moving and
inspiring experience was a pre-
sentation by reserve Lt. Dr. Asael
Lubotzky. As an IDF medic serving
in the Golani Brigade during the
Second Lebanon War, he bravely
rescued many soldiers (for which he
was later honored), until becoming
critically wounded. His response to
suffering a disabling injury, requir-
ing 15 operations and eight months
in the hospital, could have under-
standably led to depression and
withdrawal from society. Instead, he
become inspired to become a physi-
cian and complete his studies at the
Hebrew University Medical School.
He currently serves a pediatric
residency at Hadassah Hospital in
Jerusalem.
A particularly meaningful and
valuable experience of all Birthright
trips is the arrival of six to eight
same-aged Israeli peers — often