EVMS Professor of Obstetrics, Dr. Steven Warsof, was made an honorary member of the Israeli Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology for his long-standing volunteer efforts at the Azoraeli School of Medicine of the Galilee at Bar Ilan University in Sfat Israel.
The award was presented to Warsof by Prof. Eitan Lunnenfeld, president of the Israeli Ob-Gyn Society on Tuesday, Jan. 3, at the Israeli Ob-Gyn Annual meeting in Tel Aviv.
Since 2012, shortly after the opening of Israel’s fifth medical school in Sfat, Warsof has taught Israeli medical students on a voluntary basis. He has travelled to Sfat three to four times per year for one to two weeks of intensive medical student teaching both at Ziv Hospital in Sfat, as well as at Poria Hospital in near-by Tiberias. During these sessions, he leads a series of lectures and seminars on various topics in High Risk Obstetrics, as well as takes Israeli students on morning rounds. Warsof was also awarded “Teacher of the Year” in 2013-14 at Bar Ilan University School of Medicine.
Warsof has also been instrumental in initiating the Bar Ilan Univ- EVMS student exchange program. For the past five years, two to three Israeli medical students have travelled to EVMS, and two to three EVMS medical students have travelled to Sfat for a four-week, fourth year elective in advanced obstetrics. This program has been fully funded by generous donors from the Tidewater Jewish community. The program was recently been extended in an international signing ceremony for an additional five years through 2023.
Warsof says that this task has been “one of the most rewarding professional and personal experiences of my career “—combining his love and passion for obstetrics, Israel, and his family in Israel.
Professor Inbar Ben Shacher, chairman of the Department of Ob-Gyn at Ziv Hospital, nominated Warsof for this award, which was endorsed by Professor Roni Maimon, chairman of the Ob-Gyn Society at Assaf HaRofeh Hospital in Tel Aviv, as well as the incoming president of the Israeli Ob-Gyn Society.
To learn more about his program, Dr. Warsof can be reached by email warsofsl@evms.edu.