BGU | MY PATH, Haim Doron, MD

In the end, we absorbed 13 groups through this program -- some 250 young physicians from South America. The first group arrived in Israel in 1956, in the middle of the Sinai Campaign. Since a large ‘Central Hospital of the Negev’ in Beer Sheva still didn’t exist, we absorbed the lot at Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot. 17 One pair of doctors grabbed their suitcases and headed for Lod to fly straight back to Argentina, but the rest stayed. In the end, out of these 250 doctors, over 90 percent remained in Israel for good, even though they were not required to under the terms of the program. They came with their families and enjoyed comfortable lodgings during their Hebrew ulpan period. Hadassah Gershoni and Sara Betz 18 were outstanding teachers who taught the immigrant doctors and their families Hebrew in a three-month long ulpan in Beer Sheva. After their ulpan, they underwent a period of orientation studies held at the newly-established Central Hospital of the Negev (today, Soroka Medical Center) to introduce the doctors to health services in Israel. I conducted the courses in medical terminology in Hebrew and the introductory course to the health system for a number of the groups, perhaps all of them. I set about assisting these immigrant doctors adjust far beyond my institutional roles -- smoothing their path and extending a hand on a personal level -- from obtaining heating for their apartments in the winter to extending our friendship and sharing our “street smarts.” Our house in Beer Sheva was always open to help absorb immigrants. According to the plan, they committed to devoting one year of service in a development region or village. Afterwards, they could choose between assistance in finding a suitable place of employment elsewhere or continuing to work in these underserved areas. The majority of the doctors remained in the Negev beyond their one-year commitment. No small number were family physicians. A portion of the doctors came to occupy senior positions in the health system including becoming department heads. At Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem, in Jerusalem, and at the hospital in Beer Sheva there were ENT, gynecology, and geriatrics department heads who were graduates of the program. There were two takeaways from the program: First of all, it created a model for absorbing immigrant doctors from other countries. I recall that Prof. Shimon Glick, 19 dean of the medical school in Beer Sheva, approached me and requested that I provide him with all the details of the program so he could use its tenets for bringing doctors from other countries on aliyah . Secondly, the program served as tremendous momentum for aliyah of Jews as a whole from Latin America, particularly the aliyah of Jews from South America to kibbutzim in the Negev district (and subsequently, the aliyah of the parents of the kibbutz members). Furthermore, the success of the program led to a rise in the number of doctors who made aliyah on an individual basis. The program was an expression of my personal linking of the good of the health system and aliyah . But this tie was not limited to a one-time endeavor; it was also expressed in my dealings with aliyah issues in other capacities that I filled later, for instance, when I chaired the committee that handled absorption of doctors from the Soviet Union during waves of immigration to Israel from Russia. This topic remained central in my thoughts and a core personal passion throughout my life. 17 The idea that this small Hadassah hospital was inadequate was not discussed; nor was the idea discussed that there would be a large IDF-run hospital there next. 18 Sara Batz (1923-2010) was born in Yavniel in Mandate Palestine and arrived in Beer Sheva in 1952 to serve as the city’s first Hebrew teacher. She held a Master's degree in education and was principal of the Achva Elementary School in Beer Sheva. She was one of the initiators behind establishment of the Alef Mekif High School, a comprehensive academic and technical high school. In 1957, she opened and managed for 20 years the first academic Hebrew ulpan in the country designed for professionals in need of a working knowledge of vocabulary relevant to their profession, not just the ability to navigate and communicate in one’s daily affairs. She authored many textbooks, primarily for ulpanim , and for years engaged in assisting new immigrants in the Negev. She was also the first woman elected to the city council where she represented the ruling Mapai party . 19 Prof. Shimon Glick (1932- ) was born in New York, studied medicine in the United States, including specialization in endocrinology, and he immigrated to Israel in 1974 following the opening of a faculty of medicine at Ben Gurion University (BGU). He served as head of internal medicine at Soroka Medical Center. Among the founders of BGU’s faculty of medicine, he was the dean of that faculty between 1986 - 1990. Subsequently, he headed the Center for Medical Education in the Negev and the Center for Medical Ethics, two entities that occupy a central place in the professional education process of medical students at BGU.

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