A few weeks ago we had a lecture entitled 'Doctors in the Negev' Very fascinating and inspirational. The first man that spoke was one of the first Bedouin doctors in Israel. He related his life story..the village he came from only had a primary school, but he was selected to go to a catholic high school in Nazareth. He studied there and then applied to study medicine at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Because his high school wasn't very high caliber, he started studying biology instead and was accepted into medical school later on. He was working in the hospital in Jerusalem during the Six-Day War, when many Arab doctors chose to leave, fearing for their own safety. He later moved back south to Soroka hospital in Be'er Sheva, where his family was worried about him during the Yom Kippur War. They weren't so much afraid of him working in the hospital but rather of what might happen to him on the street, so they accompanied him everyday to the hospital entrance to make sure he got in safely. He said he has rarely experienced any rascism in the hospital setting, though when patients ask what his background is, thinking he is a Yemenite or Persian Jew, he tells them he will tell them after the check-up. He also was one of the first Bedouin doctors to work in his own community where there were strict taboos on men interacting with women. They still exist today of course, though maybe not quite as strongly as when he was first practicing. He related how when he would go to a clinic in a Bedouin village, women would come to see him, but would not let him near them. A breakthrough was made when one elderly woman finally let him take her blood pressure. It was great to meet a doctor like this who helps to break the stereotypes of Bedouins that still exist today.

The second doctor who spoke was a young Ethiopian man who had come to Israel when he was 18 years old. During high school he was selected to study medicine in Addis Ababa on the basis of a national exam. He studied there for several years, but when civil broke out in Ethiopia, he chose to leave for Israel where most of his family already was. As he spoke English, he worked as a translator in Jerusalem for Ethiopian patients and their doctors. During this time he studied towards the university entrance exams. He was accepted to medical school in Be'er Sheva (the Israeli program..not the one I'm in!) and after his studies did 5 years of military service as a doctor. Now he is the head of all the military medical service in the south of Israel.

After these two, the typical Israeli doctor who grew up on a kibbutz and fought in the Yom Kippur war didn't seem so exciting! But it is great to see how all these people from such different backgrounds work together towards a common goal of coexistence and community health.