Donna Gal, May Weinberg, and Shelly Cohn in Israel.
Exchange program between Eastern Virginia Medical School and Bar-Ilan University Medical School
Providing high quality community healthcare services to patients at risk both in America and northern Israel is among the major learning insights of medical students participating in an exchange program between Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) in Norfolk, Va., and the Bar-Ilan University Medical School (BIUMS) in Safed, Israel.
Steven Warsof, MD, EVMS professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, helped bridge the relationship between the two schools. Since the Israeli school opened in 2011, Warsof has taught on numerous occasions at BIUMS.
In an interview with Jewish News in 2015, Warsof noted, “Teaching in Safed combines my three passions—getting closer to my family in Israel, teaching obstetrics, and helping Israel in the best way I know how.”
“With partnerships such as this, the future looks bright for these two institutions,” says Warsof.
The three Israeli medical students, due to arrive in Tidewater soon. say they are excited to participate in the exchange to learn and to compare healthcare systems.
May Weinberg
I come from Haifa, Israel.
I have studied in the Czech Republic for three years and I am now completing my final years of medical school in Israel. The opportunity to study in both countries comes with many advantages. Being able to compare medical systems, to see how healthcare providers from different backgrounds work in their own way and experiencing different people and cultures, has revealed many different perspectives to me. I believe that being exposed to different cultures and systems will help me become a better caregiver and doctor.
Through this exchange program, I am looking forward to learning and expanding my knowledge even more. I am eager to see how U.S. physicians work in a place so far and different from my own.
Donna Gal
Originally from Jerusalem, I am currently living in Nahariya, in northern Israel.
I started my studies in the University of Pavia, Italy and later transferred to graduate in my home country, Israel, at Biums in the Galilee.
I chose to apply to the EVMS exchange program in Norfolk in order to experience the medical life in the U.S. and to deepen my studies in the field of OB-GYN.
I am looking forward to my time in Virginia very much.
Shelly Cohn
I’m from Kochav Yair, and a fifth-year medical student in Biums. I chose to participate in the EVMS exchange because I’m very interested in OB-GYN, as well as seeing different health care systems around the world.
Terri Denison