Elite of The Elite

 

For hundreds of years, medical students became hospital interns, passed tests, received approval from senior physicians, graduated – with some studying specialties as residents at home and going on to fellowships abroad – and were thrown into the clinical “pond” and told to swim on their own.

Today, with medicine becoming so complicated and the need for many physicians to conduct in-depth research on diseases, this is not enough. They need a great deal of guidance from the best teachers – even for a decade after they get their MDs and are allowed to treat patients.

All major medical centers in this country and abroad have begun to establish programs to provide guidance to their interns and even residents to improve the quality of treatment and research and to compete with other hospitals, given the shortage of doctors here and elsewhere.

Management knows that to succeed, they must invest large sums and a commitment from leading physicians to provide intensive guidance over long periods.

A year and nine months ago, management at the Hadassah Medical Organization noted that Prof. Arie Ben-Yehuda, director of the Internal Medicine C department, had reached retirement age.

They begged him to continue in another position – at the newly established Hadassah Elite Residency and Training Center for the 107 residents accepted for learning a specialty at the hospital each year and those who have already been studying in the previous three years. He agreed, and the chairmanship fit him perfectly.

“We have taken upon ourselves the mission of making learning innovative and experiential and turning Hadassah’s residency programs into the best in Israel,” said Ben-Yehuda. “The center accompanies young doctors from their internship entry until they become leading specialists at Hadassah, working closely with department heads and fostering a spirit of innovation and action.

“A leading medical center is always a reflection of the quality of its human resources, and therefore we see residents as a valuable asset and believe that investing in them today will bear fruit in the future, both for the Hadassah Medical Organization and for the entire Israeli healthcare system.”

He now works with Dr. Shiri Tenenbaum, Elite’s director and an oncologist who joined Hadassah only three years ago.

“We provide comprehensive support, including a generous research grant, professional mentorship, and personalized guidance for each resident,” explained Tenenbaum, who is deputy director of Hadassah-University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem and head of the residency and learning directorate at the hospital.