Executive Chair’s Report to Annual General Meeting, 10th July 2012

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

Dr David Chinitz (Braun School of Public Health at the Hebrew University) spoke to the Association about how health care is organized and funded in Israel and compared this to the way that the NHS is structured and supported.

All medical schools are notified at the start of the academic year about the scholarship scheme, and students actively involved in the affairs of the Association are also very aware of the scheme. Thirteen elective bursaries were awarded (August 2011 – July 2012) to medical students for electives, many of which were for periods of study in Israel, but also including placements in Fiji, Vanuatu, South Africa, Australia and the USA. The tradition of presentations by medical students on their return to the UK has been continued, and Meardad Amirian, Aaron Hughes, Naomi Kaplan and Naomi Tomlinson have all 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.

Four Israeli medical students did electives at Newham Hospital (Barts and the London Medical School) in summer 2011, and an additional student came to the UK in April. One of the student members of the Association, Adam Levine, arranged for two Israelis to attend the European MBPhD conference at UCL. Three students will be based at Newham in summer 2012.

The medical student groups have held many social events in both London and Birmingham, and contact has been established with other campuses (Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Nottingham).

Prof Anthony Warrens delivered the Presidential Address entitled “Mind the Gap”. Prof Warrens traced the history of organ donation and told the Association about the disparity between the number of potential recipients on the transplant lists and the number of donors available. He illustrated his talk with case studies, some of which posed serious ethical issues.

The 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Israeli Medical Association took place at the headquarters of the European Parliament in November. An exhibition highlighting aspects of the Association’s activities attracted considerable interest, and included the Jews and Medicine posters from Dr Simon Cohen. Prof Katz spoke on the theme of “why there is a need for Jewish doctors’ groups in Europe in 2012”.

At a London conference on Medical Halacha organized by Drs Landau and Opat three members of the Association made significant contributions. Prof Warrens spoke about ethical aspects of organ donation; Prof Hochhauser spoke about end of life issues confronted by Jewish physicians; and Prof Katz about how the Jewish community plays a role in developing public policy about health issues.

Rabbi Prof Avraham Steinberg, the Israeli authority on Jewish medical ethics and originator of the “Steinberg Law” about end of life issues, spoke at this conference; met with the heads of the Ethics Committees of the British Medical Association and the General Medical Council, together with prominent members of other faith communities that are active in this field; and addressed a meeting of the Association about

A reception was held for eleven Israeli colorectal surgeons who visited the UK for a training course. The reception was followed by a discussion about medical professionalism in the two countries led by Dr Alex Deutsch (who had again initiated and organized the visit) and Prof Irving Taylor.

The Annual Dinner took place on 16^th May 2012. The guest speaker was Prof Sir Mark Pepys, Director, Wolfson Drug Discovery Unit, and Emeritus Professor of Medicine Centre for Amyloidosis and Acute Phase Proteins, Division of Medicine, Royal Free Campus, University College London. Sir Mark outlined how his career had developed as an illustrative example of the opportunities open to physicians in the UK.

Prof Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, (and subsequently appointed as Chief Scientific Officer to the UK Government) visited Israel in May 2012. During his visit Sir Mark saw the new Medical School facility in Safed, met with the Director of the National Cancer Centre, and visited the Technion and Rapaport School of Medicine in Haifa. In Jerusalem he met with the Brookdale Institute, and then visited the Hadassah and Hebrew University campus in Ein Karem, where several researchers gave presentations. A dinner in his honour was hosted by the Hebrew University. He visited Shaarei Zedek Hospital where he was shown the facility by the Director, and later was taken round the Weizmann Institute by the President of the Institute. After visiting Ben Gurion University he met with the Israeli Medical Association to discuss questions about postgraduate medical education, and the final event was a dinner hosted by the Israeli Ministry of Health Chief Scientist, Prof Israeli, attended by the President of the Israeli Academy of Sciences, Prof Ruth Arnon.

Prof Mary Rudolf (Centre for Public Health, Medical Faculty in the Galil, Bar Ilan University) spoke to the Association about her “Dreams and hopes for the Galil”, explaining how the intention is that the medical school will address inequities in health care in an underserved community, bring economic development to a disadvantaged region and provide cutting-edge training and education for a new generation of caring young doctors.

The Association website continues to be in the capable hands of Dr Simon Woldman.

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.   Unfortunately 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 2011 to July 2012

From the UK:

Alexander Beadel (KCL)

Dept of Cardiology, Hadassah / Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

Samuel Borin (Barts and the London)

Dept of Ophthalmology, HaEmek Hospital, Afula, Israel

Naomi Bratt (KCL)

Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Medicine, Tamale Regional Hospital and Shekhinah Clinic, Ghana

Raphael Cooper (UCL)

Medicine: Diabetes, Fiji

Daniel Daud (Newcastle)

Dept of Infectious Diseases and Medicine, Hadassah – Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

Aaron Hughes (UCL)

Diabetes, Northern District Hospital, Vanuatu

Naomi Kaplan (UCL)

Orthopaedics: Stone Clinic San Francisco USA; Radiology: Singing River Group, Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA

David Kelly (Trinity College Dublin)

Nephrology and Cardiology Depts, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

Emma Pack (UCL)

Anaesthetics Dept., Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sidney, Australia

Adam Sher

Medicine: HIV, Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

Samuel Smith (Trinity College Dublin)

Dept of Cardiology, Sheba Medical Centre / Tel Aviv University Medical School, Israel

Demetris Tsiakkis (Birmingham)

Dept of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Sheba Medical Centre / Tel Aviv University Medical School, Israel

Charlotte Ziff (Southampton)

Dept of Cardiovascular Surgery, Sheba Medical Centre / Tel Aviv University Medical School, Israel

From Israel to UK (Newham Hospital):

Adi Goldstein (Ben Gurion University Medical School)
Katya Mail (Tel Aviv University Medical School)
Adi Silverman (Tel Aviv University Medical School)
Ofir Vinograd (Ben Gurion University Medical School)
Barak Ritan (Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem)

Executive Chair’s Report to Annual General Meeting, 13th July 2011

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

Prof David Isenberg, in a Presidential address, told the Association about the history of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, about clinic-pathological correlates in this disease, and about emerging translational advances in the field. He illustrated his talk with case studies, some of which posed serious ethical issues.

All medical schools are notified at the start of the academic year about the scholarship scheme, and students actively involved in the affairs of the Association are also very aware of the scheme. Nine elective bursaries were awarded (August 2010 – July 2011) to medical students for electives, many of which were for periods of study in Israel, but also including placements in Ghana, Zimbabwe and Australia.

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

Four Israeli medical students did electives at Newham Hospital (Barts and the London Medical School) in summer 2010, and four Israeli medical students will be taking part in this scheme in summer 2011.

The medical student groups have held many social events in both London and Birmingham, and ran a second successful winter ski vacation.

Dr Ilan Bank, from Tel Aviv, delivered the second Sam Cohen Memorial Lecture. Dr Bank told the Association about his memories of the late Prof Cohen, and then described his work in Immunology, where he has been involved in the identification of a subgroup of lymphocytes that are now in clinical trials in anti-cancer therapy.

Several members took part in the Medical Ethics and Jewish Law meeting in Copenhagen, where the exhibition on the theme “Jews in Medicine”, compiled by Dr Simon Cohen, was on display.

Mr Norman Lebrecht, author of a recent new interpretation of the life and work of Gustav Mahler, spoke to the Association about Mahler’s medical history. He used excerpts from music to demonstrate how medicine and illness had been an important influence on the composer.

Sixteen Israeli colorectal surgeons visited the UK for a training course, and took part in a discussion about surgical training in the two countries. This was chaired by Prof Irving Taylor and Drs Alex Deutsch (who initiates and organizes these visits from Israel) and Mark Ornstein took part.

A panel discussion on the theme of Invention and Innovation in Israeli Biomedicine was chaired by Prof Daniel Hochhauser. The talks all covered areas of translational medicine. Speakers were Prof Barenholz (Hebrew University),  Prof Cohen (Ben Gurion University), Prof Revel (formerly of the Weizmann Institute).

The Annual Dinner took place on 23^rd March 2011. The guest speaker was Professor Sir Michael Marmot, Director of the International Institute for Society and Health and MRC Research Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London. Sir Michael gave an entertaining and thoughtful talk, explaining how his identity as a Jewish physician interdigitated with his interest in health inequalities, and how these should be tackled as a priority by the medical profession.

Prof Sir Michael Rawlins, Henry Cohen Visiting Professor for 2011, founding Chairman of the National Institute for (Health and) Clinical Excellence (NICE), and Honorary Professor,  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, visited Israel in May 2011. In Jerusalem he visited Hadassah / Hebrew University where he was welcomed by Prof Leon Epstein, and gave a seminar at the Braun School of Public Health, chaired by Prof Orly Manor. He also met with Prof Jonathan Halevy and colleagues at Shaarei Zedek Hospital. Later he was hosted at a dinner by Dr Gamzu, Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, where the Chief Scientist, Prof Avi Yisraeli was also present. While in Jerusalem Prof Rawlins also had an opportunity to see historical and cultural sites and visit Yad Vashem.

The following day Sir Michael started with a visit to Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariyah to meet the director, Dr Masad Barhoum. In Haifa he visited the Rapaport School of Medicine and Rambam Hospital, and then the main Technion campus to see the Bioengineering Unit and meet with Prof Lavie. The UK Ambassador to Israel, Mr Matthew Gould, hosted a dinner for leading members of medical academics and hospital director, including Prof Ruth Arnon of the Weizmann Institute, President of the Israeli Academy of Sciences. In addition the Ambassador hosted a breakfast for Sir Michael to meet with leading representatives of the Israeli medical equipment and biotechnology industries. His final visit was to the rehabilitation and clinical skills centres at Sheba Medical Centre, where he also met with Dr Zeev Feldman and colleagues of the International Section of the Israeli Medical Association.

During the past year there have also been several important internal changes have been made to the way that the Association is run.

The Association website was launched in late 2010, and Dr Simon Woldman has taken on the unenviable task of co-ordination and administration. This site is already accessed frequently, and proving an invaluable active resource as well as a record.

Anna Walton, who has given several years of friendly service to the Association as administrator, left us in April. Her place has been taken by Hilary Cane, who has already played a valuable role in the arrangements for the Annual General Meeting, and is planning to start her task by surveying our membership over the coming months in order to identify better our needs and interests.

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 on many occasions during the year.  Unfortunately this has once again included countering attempts to damage the links between British and Israeli medicine. On a more positive note, it has also included several interfaith discussions which will be pursued further during the coming year.

Scholarships and Electives – August 2010 to July 2011

From the UK:

Meardad Amirian (Southampton)

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

Samuel Borin (Barts and the London)

Dept of Ophthalmology, HaEmek Hospital, Afula, Israel

Naomi Bratt (KCL)

Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Medicine, Tamale Regional Hospital and Shekhinah Clinic, Ghana

Hannah Lipman (UCL)

General Medicine, Victoria Hospital, St Lucia

Miriam Lopian (KCL)

Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Shaarei Zedek Hospital, Jerusalem; and Dept of Paediatric Cardiology, Wolfson Hospital, Holon, Israel

Dalia Nelson (KCL)

Emergency Medicine, Monash Medical Centre; and Respiratory Medicine, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia

Jonathan Reiner (UCL)

Dept of Neurology, Ichilov-Sourasky Hospital, Tel Aviv, Israel

Emma Shall (UCL)

Dept of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ichilov-Sourasky Hospital, Tel Aviv, Israel

Naomi Tomlinson (Birmingham)

Paediatric HIV, Mutare, Zimbabwe

 

From Israel to UK (Newham Hospital):

Yossi Ben-Sheetrit (Tel Aviv University Medical School)

Shira Rabinowicz (Tel Aviv University Medical School)

Yuval Schachaf (Technion – Rapaport Medical School, Haifa)

Michael Yoshpa (Hebrew University Medical School, Jerusalem)

Chairman’s Report to Annual General Meeting, 13th July 2010

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

Dr Nicholas Naftalin, in a Presidential address, told the Association about his experience in reorganisation and reconfiguration of UK health services in order to improve patient care.

Nine elective bursaries were awarded to medical students for electives, many of which were for periods of study in Israel, but also including placements in Mumbai (India) and Australia.

Two Israeli medical students did electives at Newham Hospital (Barts and the London Medical School) in summer 2009, and four Israeli medical students will be taking part in this scheme in summer 2010.

An intensive medical student Israel experience tour took a group from the north (Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya) to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and then south (Yeroucham and Ben Gurion University / Soroka Hospital).

Dr John Cookson delivered the first Sam Cohen Memorial Lecture, told us about his work in Liaison Psychiatry, following in the traditions of the late Prof Cohen, and about how the subject had developed in recent years.

Dr Masad Barhoum, Director of the Western Galilee Hospital, and the first Israeli Arab to be appointed to such a position, spoke to a meeting about his experiences running a 650 bed hospital, and his future plans for the Nahariyah medical campus.

Ten Israeli colorectal surgeons visited the UK for a training course, and took part in a JMA meeting addressed by Prof Irving Taylor on the topical subject of how UK doctors will be revalidated for medical practice in the future.

Dr Shai Dar from Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem spoke to a meeting about his experiences as part of the Israeli Emergency team that went to Haiti to participate in disaster relief.

Mr Alec Nacamuli from the Nebi Daniel Foundation spoke to a meeting about the topic “Jews from Arab Countries” and described the recent restoration of synagogues in Egypt.

Prof Howard Cedar from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, delivered a Joffe Memorial lecture about his current work on silencing of genes, highlighting how epigenetics is likely to influence cancer research in the future.

Medical students have held Freshers events in both London and Birmingham, promotion of Tay Sachs screening in Birmingham, a ski vacation, and regular social events

The first “Student Jewish Medical Association UK conference” took place in London, with participants from the UK, Italy and the Netherlands. Speakers were Jonathan Sacks (medical student from Barts and the London) on surrogacy in Jewish Law; Dr Michael Coren on Jewish aspects of paediatric practice; Rabbi Dr Akiva Tatz about assessment of risk in Jewish Law; Prof Michael Baum about the anti-scientific nature of “alternative medicine”; and Prof David Katz and Mr Benjamin Pogrund about the inaccurate analogy that is made between Israeli medicine and medicine under the apartheid regime in South Africa.

The tenth Jakobovits Lecture in Jewish Medical Ethics was delivered by Rabbi Prof Michael Broyde. Sadly this lecture took place during the week of shiva for Lady Jakobovits z”l , an outstanding personality in the Jewish world, and a strong supporter and patron of our activities.

The Annual Dinner took place on 29th April 2010. The guest speaker was the Israeli Ambassador, His Excellency Ron Prosor, who has agreed to become one of our patrons.

Prof Sir John Bell, Henry Cohen Visiting Professor for 2010, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford and President of the Academy of Medical Sciences, visited Israel in May June 2010, and met with biomedical scientists, clinical academics and the heads of several Universities and Institutes. He visited Hadassah / Hebrew University, Weizmann Institute, Shaarei Zedek Hospital, Ben Gurion University, Sheba Medical Centre and the Technion. Accompanied by his wife and children, Prof Bell also had an opportunity to see historical and cultural sites in Israel; and at the home of British Ambassador he met inter alia with the newly appointed Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health and with the President of the Israel Medical Association.

In addition Jewish Medical Association (UK) members have continued to provide expert advice to the Board of Deputies and other Jewish organisations about professional issues on many occasions during the year.  Unfortunately this has once again included countering attempts to damage the links between British and Israeli medicine within the UK medical press.

Chairman’s Report to the Annual General Meeting – July 2009

During the period since the last Annual General Meeting it is pleasure to report not only on what has been achieved, but also on the increasing participation of so many of our members in the development of new initiatives and activities:

• To start the year off  in September 2008 the medical student group, led by Abigail Martyn and Paul Wolfson, organised a freshers event welcoming new Jewish medical students
• Dr Claire Walford, in a Presidential address, described her experiences of teenage violence from the perspective of an Accident and Emergency Department
• Prof Charles Sprung delivered a Jakobovits Memorial Lecture in Jewish medical ethics, discussing his Europe – wide studies of end of life issues in critical care units, and reviewing recent Israeli law relating to this topic.
• The night before his talk in London Prof Sprung delivered the same lecture to the inaugural meeting of a JMA(UK) Manchester group organised by Drs Ellis, Kwartz and Simon.
• The Channukah event took the form of a panel discussion on “Physician assisted suicide” with Dr Margaret Branthwaite and Dr Michael Fertleman as speakers.
• Neil Bradman spoke to the clinical trainee group, which is led by Dr Claire Naftalin, on his work on chromosomal tracing of Jewish ancestry.
• JMA members provided back-up support and medical cover at Limmud, organised by Dr Paul de Keyser.
• Prof Mark Clarfield spoke to a meeting about his experiences as a physician at Soroka Hospital / Ben Gurion University Medical School during the recent conflict in Gaza
• Rabbi Dr Akiva Tatz spoke to a group, organised by Dr Patrick Stafler, on Jewish medical ethical issues.
• The annual dinner was attended by over 200 people, with Prof Michael Baum as speaker. Prof Baum outlined the problems that he has encountered during the past year ever since he participated in a debate in the columns of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), and spoke about his efforts to promote unified and positive linkages between British and Israeli medicine. He appealed for more funds to support this work, and the response from JMA(UK) members has been considerable
• Several members of JMA(UK) attended the meeting of the World Fellowship of the Israel Medical Association (IMA) in Tel Aviv in April. Speakers included Prof Michael Baum, Dr Kenneth Collins and Dr Michael Peters.
•  To celebrate the end of the academic year the medical student group held a successful summer party.
• Prof Howard Cedar delivered a Joffe Memorial lecture in Cancer Studies, explaining how gene silencing influences our understanding of developmental biology as well as of cancer.
• Dr Leslie Solomon spoke to the clinical trainee group about the topic of circumcision.
• The medical student Israel tour is planned for 26th – 31st August 2009.
• Several JMA(UK) members have responded to Dr Paul de Keyser’s request for help with the “drop in” centre that provides support for refugees and asylum seekers.
• Dr Louise Morganstein is organising  help for Jewish Action and Training for Sexual Health (JAT) in their work with schools and youth groups.
• Dr Charlotte Benjamin has initiated a JMA(UK) mentoring scheme to provide our members with a friendly voice to whom they can turn with their queries.
• Two Israeli medical students are in the UK currently as part of an exchange scheme organised by Dr Alan Naftalin.
• The educational programme run by JMA(UK) is submitted for accreditation for continuing medical educational purposes via the Royal College of Physicians.
• During the year JMA(UK) members have provided expert advice to the Board of Deputies of British Jews and other Jewish organisations about professional issues.

This does not mean that we can be complacent about our activities. We need to expand our membership, to revamp and revitalise our website, and to begin to tackle broader themes and topics that are important in the UK Jewish medical community. We have to achieve a subtle combination of professional, educational, cultural and social objectives.

It would be, however, naïve, if not ridiculous, for me to table this report without reference to some of the serious problems that have arisen over the past year. During the latter part of 2008 Michael Baum and I, in our personal capacities, attempted to facilitate some agreement within Israeli medical circles which would prevent internal controversies spilling over into the UK. We had support and a way forward to investigate concerns offered by the IMA, but these attempts foundered in accusations of lack of good faith.  Subsequently there has been intensified criticism of the IMA, as well as personal attacks on the President, Dr Blachar, who is also President of the World Medical Association (WMA). In March a supplement to the Lancet was published which made extensive claims about public health problems for which Israel was blamed. This appeared in the same week as an article in the BMJ which attacked the “Jewish lobby” for events which took place in 2004, with a companion piece harking back to the early 1980s; and at the same time as the Lancet Editor addressed a meeting in Oxford where he made wide ranging allegations. The Board of Deputies took the view that the BMJ article was antisemitic and inappropriate. Clearly all this material had been planned well before the recent Gaza conflict. Thus these events impacted not only the JMA(UK) charitable aim “to provide linkage to Israeli health institutions” but also the way we provide “a public forum for the discussion of Jewish issues in medicine and healthcare in the United Kingdom”.

David R Katz