To mark Jewish Culture Month, the JMA invites you to a virtual meeting on Monday 18 May, 18:30–19:30. Professor Rivka Tuval-Mashiach Chair of the NATAL (Israel Trauma and Resilience Centre) Steering Group, Vice President for International Affairs at Bar-Ilan University, and Professor of Psychology, will lead a discussion on post-traumatic growth, exploring resilience, recovery, and growth after trauma.
Register here.
Wednesday 2nd July 2025
Time: 19:30 (UK) / 21:30 (Israel)
Dr Weissman will tell us how Rambam was transformed dramatically under his direction in June 2025 in order to continue to deliver state of the art care
Dr Avi Weissman is Deputy Director and a senior anaesthesiologist at Rambam Health Care Campus. He was previously the Director of Anaesthesia of Rambam’s Ambulatory Surgery Centre. Dr. Weissman was appointed Medical Deputy Director of Rambam Health Care Centre 2017, and since 2022 he has served as CEO of Rambam.
Dr Weissman is a Technion medical graduate who specialised in Anaesthesiology at the New York Long Island Jewish Hospital and at UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles, California. He has been the Senior Anaesthesiologist at Rambam since 1997. He directed the Post Anaesthesia Care Unit and subsequently anaesthesia in the Ambulatory Surgery Centre; and he established the Acute Pain Service, where many new and innovative protocols and modalities of acute pain care were introduced. He also completed a residency in medical management, receiving a Master’s degree in Health Care Management at Haifa University.
In May 2024 Dr Avi Weissman explained how Rambam Hospital had converted a parking garage into an underground hospital fortified against chemical weapons. This project, which he described as an answer to an untenable situation, was brought to full alert after the 7th October Hamas terror attack. In June 2025 the underground hospital played a major role during the war with Iran.
Please pre-register here.
The Role of Medicine During the Holocaust and its Contemporary Relevance: Countering Antisemitism in Medicine
Tuesday 28th January 2025 – 19:30 GMT (11:30 PT and 14:30 EST)
Dr Wald will give us a historical overview, threading narratives of her teaching to German and US medical students with her narrative as a daughter of a Holocaust survivor. She will then discuss how this relates to the “echoes” of the Holocaust today.
Dr Hedy Wald
Dr Hedy Wald is a renowned international educator and speaker: a Gold Humanism Foundation Harvard Macy Scholar; a Dean’s Teaching Awardee; a Fulbright Specialist Scholar (medical education), Ben Gurion University, Israel; and Scholar-in-Residence, ISGAP (Oxford, UK). She lectures on reflective writing to enhance professional identity, resilience, and wellbeing; and researches and speaks on Medicine and the Holocaust (UN Holocaust Outreach Programme panelist: “Ethics, Justice, and the Holocaust”).
Dr Wald’s cancer caregiver experience (including for National Cancer Policy Forum, National Academies of Medicine, Washington DC) describes a family perspective. Creative writing and commentary has appeared in Wall Street Journal and New York Times. X (Twitter) (“@hedy_wald “Mind/Body/Spirit of MedEd” ) citation is “medical educator to follow”; and #WomeninMedicine Day” citation is “woman who lifts others up,” and “voice of conscience and compassion”.
Register here.
Grappling with antisemitism in medicine has become an international issue. We have been fortunate to have been able to communicate with Canadian colleagues who face similar problems to those which we have encountered in the UK. Jerry Teitel and Ted Rosenberg have agreed to give us an update webinar to tell us about their experiences, and where they feel we all are at the start of 2025.
Speakers:
Jerry Teitel MD, FRCPC, Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto, is a haematologist, whose academic and clinical work focuses on haemophilia and related bleeding disorders. He has led several inter-denominational trips to Israel (before 7/10/23) and is currently working on developing a formal academic collaboration between the University of Toronto Division of Haematology and haematology programmes at Israeli universities.
Ted Rosenberg MD MSc FRCPC is a primary care geriatrician who does house calls for frail elderly people, with specialty training in public health. He started a unique model of care described in JAGS and BMJ open see: www.hometeammedical.ca. He resigned from the University of British Columbia in Jan 2024 because of their refusal to acknowledge blatant antisemitism in the faculty or recognize the word antisemitism in their DEI program. He has met with political leaders and testified before Parliament. He is on the board for Doctors Against Racism and Antisemitism and has a Blog on TOI.
Click here to view a recording of the session.
Thursday 12th December | 8pm
Tista Chakravarty-Gannon | Head of Operations Outreach, General Medical Council
This meeting will be an opportunity for a two-way conversation to explore the GMC’s work on fitness to practise and how they respond to antisemitism.
Tista will give a short presentation to cover the GMC’s work before moving to a discussion and feedback session.
In order to facilitate this, please when you register remember to send us your questions so that we can put them to her.
Click here to register.
The Jewish Medical Association is excited to collaborate with JAMI (now part of Jewish Care) on a comedy evening with Dr Benji Waterhouse on 1st December.
Aimed at Jewish doctors and healthcare professionals this event provides a good opportunity to meet each other and includes Kosher fish and chips supper.
Further details and booking can be accessed here.
More information about Dr Waterhouse: see an interview from the BMJ which can be accessed here.
Thursday 6th June 2024 | 8pm
Speaker: Lord Turnberg
We are honoured that Lord Turnberg, one of the leading British physicians of our times (and a Patron of the Jewish Medical Association) will be joining us to talk about his latest book “Patients First: How to Save the NHS”, published 20th May 2024.
Leslie Turnberg was President of the Royal College of Physicians; head of the Public Health Laboratory Service; a founder of the Academy of Medical Sciences; and for over 20 years has spoken in the House of Lords on health issues and the NHS. In his latest concise, accessible and focused book, he explains how the caring services must evolve, with a patient-centred model taking centre stage. He outlines how he feels that in 2024 the important aim must be to bring the disillusioned workforce back into satisfying and contented employment.
In addition, Leslie makes outstanding contributions to debates in the Lords about “Middle East issues”, supports Jewish healthcare professionals, and promotes links between the medical communities in the UK and Israel.
Copies of Lord Turnberg’s book will be available for sale at the webinar for £10; if you are going to be attending online you will be able to order them.
Option to join in person, or online.
In person: At South Hampstead Synagogue, Eton Rd, NW3 4AY
Pre-lecture reception: 7:15-8:00pm
Online: Lecture will commence at 8:00pm
(Please indicate your choice when you register)
Special online webinar to mark Yom Hazikaron (Remembrance Day) and Yom Ha’atzmaut (Independence Day)
Thursday 9th May 2024 at 8:00pm
Speaker: Mr Elliot Sorene
Eliot is a British Israeli Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon, veteran of the Lebanon security zone conflict and reserve service in Gaza. He was a trauma surgeon during the second Intifada. He is the father of Ariel Sorene, who survived the Nova massacre in 07/10/23.
Probably many of you will have read his moving articles, and heard his talks, particularly his London Jewish News opinion piece which concluded: “Hamas has accompanied me my whole adult life and has now entered my son’s life. I hope that my grandchildren will never know of this evil. This story, however, is not about me and my son, who are alive. It is about Marnie Kimelman, Dominique Hass, and Jake Marlowe, whose faces will never leave my mind. As I have continued with my life and career, married, built a home, and raised a family, and as I age, they remain the same, forever young and frozen in time forever”.
To watch a recording of the event click here.
Speaker: Dr Charlotte Benjamin
(Chief Medical Officer, NHS North West London, and GP Partner at St George’s Medical Centre, Hendon)
Dr Charlotte Benjamin graduated from University College London Medical School in 1997. She has been in General Practice in North West London since 2002. In addition to her patient contact work, she plays a key role in medical leadership and management. As Chief Medical Officer she brings the clinical voice to the ICB Executive.
Dr Benjamin is responsible for weekly coordination of chief medical, nursing, and operating officers in order to optimise urgent and emergency care performance across North West London. Her role includes enabling endorsement of clinical pathways and support of the clinical reference groups via the clinical leadership community. Her approach, as Senior Responsible Officer for London wide primary care deliberation, aims to foster the role of patients in deliberative engagement in healthcare.
In her lecture, Dr Benjamin focused on the doctor-patient partnership: how to maximise patient activation to optimise patient health wellbeing outcomes. The aim of patient engagement is to improve quality of services. To achieve this, it requires both quantitative and qualitative feedback. Dr Benjamin will also discuss her work on “re-imagining mental health”; and in understanding communities who are more hesitant to engage with healthcare, as manifested during her Covid-19 vaccine work.
The recording can be accessed here.
