Annual General Meeting 2014

Executive Chair’s Report to Annual General Meeting, 16th July 2014

Since the last Annual General Meeting, the Association has been involved in a wide range of activities in pursuit of our charitable aims:

All medical schools are notified at the start of the academic year about the elective scholarship scheme, and students actively involved in the affairs of the Association are also very aware of the scheme. Fourteen elective bursaries were awarded (August 2013 – July 2014) to medical students. The tradition of presentations by medical students on their return to the UK has been continued, and Daniel Swerdlow has done so during the year. Medical schools are also notified by the Association about Jewish festivals in order to avoid timetable clashes, particularly with examinations. Two Israeli medical students are planning an elective later in 2013. The local medical student groups have been active in London, Birmingham, Leeds and Nottingham. Several Association members have participated in the JUMP-ORT scheme to provide mentoring for Jewish sixth formers interested in medical careers.

The Presidential Address was delivered by Prof Daniel Hochauser and was entitled “Jews and Cancer”. Prof Hochhauser provided an erudite and accessible exposition of how cancer research has advanced towards the development of drugs that target key molecules implicated in tumour growth. At the same time he reflected on the important contribution that Jews had made to these developments, and on the significance of the genetic inheritance of Jews, with implications not only for cancer incidence but also for therapy.

Dr Mohammed Al-Hadid spoke to the Association about his achievements in negotiating the admission of Magen David Adom to the International Red Cross, as an example of a positive co-operative initiative, despite much criticism and risk. Similarly he helped found, promote and develop the Masters course in Emergency Medicine at Ben Gurion University. He described the present Jordanian crisis – lacking the resources of other Middle Eastern countries, but confronted with a complex humanitarian crisis. The open border with Syria has resulted in an influx of ~600,000 refugees. These join a similar number of Syrians already living in Jordan, large cohorts of Palestinians and Egyptians, and migrant workers – today there are 6 million Jordanians and most probably a very similar number of refugees in the country. This situation creates cultural, educational, health and security problems, and he and his colleagues are working to tackle them.

Nine Israeli colorectal surgeons visited the UK on the annual programme organised by Prof Alex Deutsch and supported by the Israel and British Commonwealth Association John Firman Fund. The surgeons are guests of Mr Richard Cohen (University College London Hospital), Mr Joseph Nunoo-Mensah (Kings College Hospital) and Mr Andrew Williams (St Thomas’s Hospital), and will be attend a course at Basingstoke Hospital. After the reception Prof Irving Taylor led a discussion of clinical cases from Israel and from UCLH which demonstrated different aspects of the investigation and management of patients presenting  with large bowel obstruction and massive large bowel haemorrhage

The Annual Dinner was held on 1st April 2014 and was attended by almost 200 doctors and medical students. The guest speaker was Professor Sir Michael Stratton FRS who is Director of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In his talk Prof Stratton reflected on the three last three decades of genetic research: from 1990-2000 was the period of the Human Genome Project; from 2001-10 was the period when disease association linkages were identified; and since 2011 we have entered the period when costs of genome sequencing are falling to such an extent that personal sequences are becoming more easily available, which poses interesting ethical problems, but also offers opportunities for more focussed treatment options. The vote of thanks to Prof Stratton was proposed by Dr Jo Franks, the toast to the Association was proposed by Dr Nicola Rosenfelder, Dr Michael Denman spoke about the UK – Rambam Hospital Loewi meeting which took place in March 2014  and Dr Mervyn Jaswon spoke about his experiences teaching paediatrics at the new Bar-Ilan Medical School based in Tzfat.

Prof David Salisbury, who was previously Director of Immunisation at the Department of Health, and responsible for the national immunisation programme; and who now works on the WHO Global Programme for Vaccines spoke to a meeting on the theme of “An Immunisation Update”, describing how the influenza immunisation programme has evolved and touching on some of the other immunisation campaigns that have succeeded.

Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz. Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, visited Israeli universities, medical schools, research institutes and hospitals as Henry Cohen Visiting Professor in June 2014. This visit was co-funded by the Jewish Medical Association, Hadassah UK and the British Friends of the Hebrew University. He was accompanied by Lady Borysiewicz (Dr Gwenllian Borysiewicz), who is a general practitioner). They started their visit in Jerusalem with a tour of the Old City and a reception for the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University where they met with the Univeristy President, Prof Ben Sasson. The following morning Prof Jonathan Halevy hosted them at Shaarei Zedek Hospital and explained to them how the Israeli healthcare system is run. Their next visit was to the Hebrew University – Hadasah Ein Karem campus where the Dean of the Medical School, Prof Lichtstein, had arranged for them to meet senior staff, and to hear about research topics from some of the younger faculty. Prof Naparstek, who is in charge of academic activities at Hadassah, spoke to them about clinical research. The following day started with a visit to the Weizmann Institute where they were met by the Director, Prof Zajfman, and heard about recent research advances in biomedicine. This was followed by a visit to Ben Gurion University where the Rector, Prof Zvi Hacohen, told them about the University before hearing research presentations introduced by Prof Shoshan – Barmatz. On Tuesday the first visit was the Technion where they met with the President, Prof Lavie and colleagues, and this was followed by a tour of the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya and a meeting with the Director, Dr Barhoum. En route back to Tel Aviv there was time for a brief visit to Caesarea (to see the antiquities) before going to a dinner in their honour hosted by the UK Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould. The newly appointed Director – General of the Ministry of Health, Prof Afek; the head of the Israeli Medical Association, Dr Eidelman; and Prof Shimon Glick were amongst those present. The final visit was to Tel Aviv University where they met with Prof Aron Shai, and with Prof Menachem Fisch, who has a linked porgramme with Cambrdige.  and the head of the Ambassador Gould also hosted a lunch the following day- amongst those present were Prof Avi Ysiraeli (Chief Scientist, Ministry of Health); Rabbi Prof Hershkowitz (President of Bar Ilan University); Prof Lapidot (on behalf of the Israeli Academy of Sciences); and Prof Yuval Dor from the Hebrew University, who has a joint Birax project with Prof Cooke in Cambridge.

The Association website continues to be handled by Dr Simon Woldman. Dr Simon Nadel represents the Association at the Board of Deputies.

The activities of the Association would not be possible without the stalwart support and efforts of our Financial Officer, Mrs Helene Gordon, and our Administrator, Mrs Hilary Cane.

Jewish Medical Association (UK) members have continued to provide expert advice to the Board of Deputies and other Jewish organisations about professional issues. This has included the preparation of material outlining the issues of health and social care relevant to the Jewish community which should be raised with Parliamentary candidates. Unfortunately there has been a recent recrudescence of criticism of the Association itself, and of the links between British and Israeli medicine. In contrast, however, there have been many productive interfaith discussions, and there are plans for these to be extended during 2014-5.

 

Executive Chair’s Report to Annual General Meeting, 9th July 2013

Since the last Annual General Meeting, the Association has been involved in a wide range of charitable activities in pursuit of our charitable aims:

All medical schools are notified at the start of the academic year about the elective scholarship scheme, and students actively involved in the affairs of the Association are also very aware of the scheme. Twenty seven elective bursaries were awarded (August 2012 – July 2013) to medical students. Seventeen were for periods of study in Israel, and the other ten ranged from the Orkneys to Guyana, Honduras, Australia, South Africa and the USA. The tradition of presentations by medical students on their return to the UK has been continued, and Joanna Ish Horowicz and Leo Arkush have done so during the year.

Medical schools are also notified by the Association about Jewish festivals in order to avoid timetable clashes, particularly with examinations.

Three Israeli medical students did electives at Newham Hospital (Barts and the London Medical School) in summer 2012. Three students are planning an elective later in 2013.

The medical student groups have held social events in both London and Birmingham, and contact with other campuses has continued, with a new initiative in Nottingham. A joint meeting was held with the Muslim Healthcare Students Network on the subject “Circumcision circumscribed? An interfaith perspective on 2012”. Speakers were Prof David Katz, Dr Asim Yusuf and Mr Adam Wagner.

The Presidential Address was delivered by Dr Fiona Sim and was entitled “Health system reform: is it good for our health?Dr Sim explained that public health physicians and their colleagues have developed useful models to look at outcomes of health service reform. Then she guided the Association through the complexities of the latest changes which would be taking effect in April 2013, and indicated why some of these might be a cause for concern.

An Israeli Medical Association meeting for international physicians was held in December 2012. Prof Michael Baum spoke at the meeting about his recent studies in breast cancer.

Rabbi Prof Avraham Steinberg, the Israeli authority on Jewish medical ethics and originator of the “Steinberg Law” delivered a “Hodgkin Lecture” which was arranged following an initiative by one of the Association’s patrons, Rabbi Dr Abraham Levy, under the auspices of the Montefiore College. The theme of the lecture was “Organ Donation” and Prof Steinberg presented an analysis of how the current Israeli approach, which accepts stringent donor brain stem death criteria, has been analysed both by physicians and rabbinic authorities. Prof Warrens and Prof Katz also spoke. Following this meeting there have been ongoing discussions with the UK Transplant authorities about how a variant to the consent form might be introduced which would be acceptable more widely amongst the Jewish community.

A reception was held for eleven Israeli colorectal surgeons who visited the UK for the training course organized annually by Dr Alex Deutsch. The reception was followed by a discussion led by Prof Taylor and Dr Deutsch about clinical and ethical dilemmas in advanced colorectal cancer management. Speakers were Mr Richard Cohen and Dr Adrian Tookman, and Drs Ilanit Mahler and Amir Dagan presented Israeli cases that posed important ethical problems.

The Annual Dinner took place on 7th May 2013. The speaker was Ambassador Daniel Taub, who is a Patron of the Association. In his address Ambassador Taub noted that he had served briefly as a combat medic in the Israel Defence Forces. He referred to the Israeli Army oath which required medics to treat all injured on the battlefield – from both sides – which was a clear reflection of a higher value which the Army has to respect and implement. Later in his career he had participated in the negotiations for the recognition of Magen David Adom by the International Red Cross.

 

With regard to legal issues, he discussed how he had had to give advice about aspects of warfare, and in particular about ethical dimensions of what is and is not lawful. He observed that the concept of a United Nations may have been wonderful at the outset but that it has become an organisation which is defined by the ability to remain silent in so many instances. The behaviour of the UN in relationship to Gaza was a striking example of dysfunction.

 

Reflecting on Israeli medicine today, he said that the Israeli hospital ward is a force for unity, demonstrating how multiple nationalities can live together harmoniously. Despite this, Israel faces challenges not only militarily but also in terms of legitimacy, and today some of these challenges are emanating from universities and hospitals in the UK, which harms relationships. Responses need to be immediate – do not let false accusation go unanswered – but the deeper response is also very important, which has to include the promotion of enduring medical and academic links between the countries.

Prof Michael Arthur currently Vice-Chancellor of Leeds University and President / Provost – elect of University College London, visited Israeli universities, medical schools, research institutes and hospitals as Henry Cohen Visiting Professor in May 2013. This visit was co-funded by the Jewish Medical Association, Hadassah UK and the British Friends of the Hebrew University. He was accompanied by Mrs Arthur (Dr Elizabeth McCaughey, who is a community paediatrician. They started their visit at the Western Galillee Hospital in Nahariya; and then went to the Technion, where he met with the President and with senior adminstrators, saw the facilities for widening access to higher education, and met with researchers. In Jerusalem the following day started at Shaarei Zedek Hospital before meeting with the Research Vice-Dean of the Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine and colleagues in Ein Karem. They spent time at the Givat Ram campus, where they were hosted by the Director of the Centre for Brain Research, before returning to visit the Hadassah Hospital. The final day started with a meeting with the President of the Weizmann Institute. followed by discussions with several researchers. After a lunch meeting at Sheba Medical Centre the British Council hosted a seminar with members of the Israeli Council for Higher Education. The visit concluded with a dinner in his honour hosted by the UK Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, where the guests included the Acting Director of Hadassah; Sir Ian Gainsford; the newly elected President of Bar Ilan University and the head of medical education at their medical school; the Director for Global Research at Teva; and representatives of the Israeli Medical Association

Sadly Dr Alan Naftalin, Hon Secretary of the Association for many years, died in December 2012. In the Association’s tribute to him his warm and friendly approach, his unfailing ability to focus on what was really important, and his enthusiasm for education were noted. Despite his serious illness he gave much time, thought and energy to the Association’s affairs, and promoted it as one of his priorities, setting an example to his friends and colleagues. The Naftalin family kindly allowed the Association to hold a special meeting in his memory, and Caroline Marcus (who is a Museum and Gallery Lecturer, a devoted neighbor of the Naftalin family and has hosted the visiting Israeli medical students annually) addressed the meeting on the topic: Rembrandt, the Rabbi and Dr.Tulip: a flavour of Amsterdam’s Jewish Quarter in the 17th Century

The Association website continues to be in the capable hands of Dr Simon Woldman. Prof Taylor has relinquished the role of Board of Deputies representative and his place has been taken by Dr Simon Nadel

The activities of the Association would not be possible without the stalwart support and efforts of our Financial Officer, Mrs Helene Gordon, and our Administrator, Mrs Hilary Cane.

Finally several Jewish Medical Association (UK) members have continued to provide expert advice to the Board of Deputies and other Jewish organisations about professional issues.   This has once again included countering attempts both to criticise the Association itself and to misrepresent and damage the links between British and Israeli medicine. On a more positive note, these activities have included many productive interfaith discussions and these have been pursued on many occasions during the past year.

 

 

Scholarships and Electives – August 2012 to July 2013

  1. From the UK:

 

Benjamin Artman (UCL)

Dept of Cardiology and Neurology, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Leo Arkush (UCL)

Dept of Paediatrics, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Warren Backman (UCL)

Dept of Cardiology, University of Southern California

Lidia Bartosziewicz (UCL)

Depts of Paediatric Neurology and Neonatology, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Grace Bradley (Cardiff)

Dept of Paediatrics, Wolfson Hospital, Holon, Israel

Brooke Calvert (UCL)

Clinico Esperanza, Roatan, Honduras

Felicity Cartz (UCL)

Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda

Rebecca Chislett (Nottingham)

St John of Jerusalem Ophthalmic Hospital / Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Becky Foxler (Birmingham)

Emergency and Internal Medicine, Georgetown Public Hospital, Guyana

Josh Gaon (KCL)

Emergency Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia

Adi Gordon (KCL)

Dept of Paediatrics, Sheba Medical Centre / Tel Aviv University Medical School

Joanna Kurzer (UCL)

Dept of Anaesthetics, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Hannah Marber (UCL

Rheumatology and Endocrinology Depts, Mater Dei Hospital, Malta

Victoria Ormerod (Oxford)

Refugee Camp Clinic, Tel Aviv / Emergency Department, Eilat, Israel

Alison Rice (Leicester)

Emergency Medicine, Western Galillee Hospital, Nahariyah, Israel

Conor Rice (St George’s)

Emergency Medicine, Western Galillee Hospital, Nahariyah, Israel

Leah Rosenbaum (UCL)

Trauma Medicine, Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa

Robin Sands (UCL)

Depts of Anaesthetics and Cardiac Intensive Care, Cedars – Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles USA

Max Sayers (Birmingham)

Cardiology Department, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai, India

Hannah Shields (Birmingham)

Dept of Trauma Surgery, Beilinson Hospital, Rabin Medical Centre, Petach Tikva, Israel

Aryeh Sopher (Barts and the London)

Dept of Paediatrics, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Daniel Swerdlow (UCL)

Medicine, Balfour Hospital, Orkney

Amy Taylor (UCL)

Dept of Paediatrics, Meyer Childrens Hospital, Rambam Medical Centre, Haifa, Israel

Sebastian Vandermolen (KCL)

Dept of Medicine, Somerset Hospital / University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa; Tamale Hospital, Tamale

Monika Wasserman (Newcastle)

Intensive Care, Shaarei Zedek Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

Jonathan Watkins (Warwick)

Dept of Cardiology, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Brooke Zaidman (Birmingham)

Clinical Photography in Oral Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

 

  1. From Israel to UK (Newham Hospital):

Itay Aspis (Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University).

Rona Rabinowicz (Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University).

Adi Wasserlauf (Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University).

 

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will take place on Wednesday 5th July 2017 at 20:00. The Guest Speaker will be Prof Parveen Kumar CBE, Henry Cohen Visiting Professor 2017. Prof Kumar will speak on the topic of “Women in Medicine”. Full details will be distributed shortly.

The Annual General Meeting of the Association will take place on Wednesday 5th July 2017 at 20:00. The Guest Speaker will be Prof Parveen Kumar CBE, Henry Cohen Visiting Professor 2017. Prof Kumar will speak on the topic of “Women in Medicine”. Full details will be distributed shortly.