Julia's Top Ten List for Finals, by blogger of the month Julia Rubin-Smith

As November blogger (and December blogger ninja) Ross Green mentioned in his last post, Caroline House is a place where many of us spend a lot of time, especially during exams. For the most part there is a routine to what goes on here, with few surprises (unlike the study room in the student center on the main campus, where a stray cat once climbed onto my laptop keyboard and started inadvertently typing a nonsensical email to my mother). Here are 10 things you can count on seeing here every day:

1) Security guards. Caroline house has security guards on duty around the clock. In fact, it seems that every 15 minutes there is a new one! This serves two purposes: one, keeps them alert. Two, when your dad comes to visit, and tries to marry you off to one of them, the embarrassment will be fleeting. (Hi Adie’s dad!) 

2) Israelis. For those of you who don’t know, Caroline House is the student center for the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences, which includes MSIH as well as the Israeli medical and health sciences students. Israelis who study in Caroline House can be counted on to be there between noon and 7pm, and to be speaking in their “outdoor” voices. The chatter is punctuated by a wide variety of jaunty cell phone ring tones, adding some much needed music to our days.

A typical study table layout. Please don't judge us -
we're very busy, and the Indian restaurant delivers!

3) Junior Israelis. A number of Israeli students tutor local children in math and English. The layout of Caroline house is conducive to tutoring small groups so they congregate here between the hours of 3 and 5pm. I’ll let you imagine what that does to the activity level in the study room.

4) Free dinners. After a few days of studying at Caroline, we noticed an unexplained influx of med students at 6:55pm every day. Turns out, the snack bar upstairs closes for the day at 7pm, at which point the friendly attendant gives away leftover sandwiches, pastries, and soup to beggars 

med students. A great way to save money, though not great for our waistlines!

5) Sweatpants. These are mandatory study accessories for MSIH students. Really, they’re the height of fashion. Some of us have even started sporting BGU sweatshirts, which really round out the outfit. 

6) Sleeping med students. Many of us spend the majority of our days here during exams. We all cope with this in different ways, from bringing our own kum kums (electric tea kettles) to taking cat naps on the couches (and in some cases on plastic chairs). You can also frequently find sleeping med students in the classrooms (during breaks, of course), but that’s a subject for another time.

7) Fantastic parking jobs. See picture. No need for further explanation, I think.

Why would you park there?

8) Sun patches. Now that it’s winter (though it was a balmy 76 degrees today), the sun sets around 4:30pm. I usually go outside for a “sun break” around 3, at which point there is generally one patch of sun on the grass to stand in. On weekends I have this sun patch gloriously to myself. On weekdays the sun patch is completely filled with Israeli students, all standing together and packed tightly as sardines. I don’t know how they do it, but not a single one is ever pushed off the patch and into the shade.

9) Mess. We are slobs. Period. But hey, at least we clean up after ourselves when we leave!

10) Chocolate. Someone ALWAYS brings chocolate. Honestly, I don’t know how we would get through exams without it. Sometimes, when it is not obvious where the chocolate is, an email will go out asking who brought it today. We’re never disappointed! -blogger of the month Julia Rubin-Smith

December 15, 2011, by November Blogger of the month Ross Green

Guess who is back! I guess I’ve had such an eventful last few weeks that I decided to write one more post and sum up what’s been going on in my life lately. As I’m sure you can guess, we are currently in the middle of exam time! At this point we only have two more left, which means that I leave for Spain a week from today! If I haven’t mentioned, Nicole Magpayo and I are spending our Winter/Hanukah/Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza/Hanukkah break in Spain, traveling to both Barcelona and Madrid. I have never been there before, but everything that I’ve heard makes this country sound really unique and fun so I can’t wait!

Lately, our entire class has been quite stressed out with exams. The Caroline House has a downstairs study area, which seems to be the place of interest for everyone to study (including the Israeli’s who spend most of their time there eating lunch, talking on the phone to someone who is apparently hard of hearing because they are always speaking as loud as possible, or updating their Facebook so that all of their friends know that they got up to take a bathroom break 5 minutes ago). It has been pretty nice otherwise though, because it’s a social, yet studious, environment for us to go to and help each other out.

A cool fountain near my apartment.

I have been spending most of my time studying at home in my apartment though. It’s a nice and quiet environment that I’ve made into my personal little library. I have a kumkum (electric water kettle) with lots of coffee and food right next to me in my kitchen so that I can spend the entire day studying without any distractions (sounds crappy, but it is finals time). Other than that, my days have been pretty simple… Wake up with some coffee and reading, make some food, study more, go for a run, and then study till I get too tired to keep my eyes open. My nightly runs have been pretty nice though. It’s been a way to take a break and clear my mind, while getting outside into the fresh air. Also, I’ve been preparing for my Spain trip (and life in general) by listening to Pimsleur to learn Spanish. It’s been pretty great, and I already think that I’m fluent in Spanish (not really, but I know how to say “Excuse me Miss, do you understand English?)! Pretty good, right?!

I must say also, that there has been a feeling in the air that I was not expecting in Medical School, but I really like. When I used to think about Medical School the image that came into my mind was living in a library, and everyone keeping their notes and study material to themselves so that they succeed above everyone else. I’ve also always heard the “horror story” about the one guy that rips pages out of library books, and gives people wrong information, to reduce the competition. The complete opposite atmosphere is felt here at MSIH! We have an online group where everyone shares helpful links, YouTube videos that they find that explain something really well, or any other study material so that everyone is able to do their best on exams! That really says a lot about the people here, and how everyone not only cares about numero uno, but the rest of their peers. On that note, good luck everyone! Let’s be THAT class, and ALL pass these next two exams!

Adam and David in their new
paratrooper uniforms

This Tuesday night (after our Cellular and Molecular Biology exam) we decided to take the night off to celebrate Nicole’s birthday. We all needed to blow off some steam after the marathon we had the couple of weeks prior, so why not celebrate! After having dinner and some drinks we all went out to the Einstein to dance and just let loose! It was a fairly early night (it’s still finals time) but to take the night off and enjoy some time with the rest of our classmates was exactly what I (and I’m sure everyone else) needed.

Other than that, things have been pretty simple. On a side note outside of the MSIH bubble, my two best friends from home have started their basic training for the Israeli Paratroopers. I was worried that once they started the army I wouldn’t be able to see them anymore, but luckily their base is really close to Be’er Sheva, so even though they don’t spend all of their weekends off with me here, they still have been coming down to spend Saturday night at my apartment so that they can get up and go right to their base.

Ok, back to studying. This time I can say that this is my last post, so I hope you enjoyed reading a little into my life here in Be’er Sheva. I can say, I enjoyed writing, so I hope you enjoyed reading! - Ross Green

Winter...in Beer-Sheva? by blogger of the month Julia Rubin-Smith

A few intrepid MSIH-ers and their contraband cart.

Well, winter is officially here. I had been warned that Be’er-Sheva gets cold sometime around the end of November, but I was convinced that was not possible. I mean, I’m a New Englander! How cold can it possibly get?? The answer is…ok, not that cold. It’s still frequently in the 70s during the day, and probably doesn’t get lower than the mid-40s at night, but I’ve been so spoiled by four straight months of sun and blue skies that we might as well be in the depths of a Boston winter. A word of advice to next year’s entering class: don’t be cocky like me; bring more than two sweaters!

Just a small portion of the amazing
food at Friendsgiving 2011

Anyway, enough about the weather, though I could probably talk about it all day (see above re: I’m a New Englander). As Ross, last month’s blogger, mentioned, exams are here, which has turned many of us into sweatpants-wearing hermits. Luckily, we still know how to have a little fun! Last week, as most of you know, was American Thanksgiving. We had a microbiology exam (and a full day of classes) on the actual day, so we decided to hold a “Thanksgiving Day observed” dinner (aka Friendsgiving) on Friday. Four of our classmates generously hosted this dinner in their apartment, and everyone brought a dish or two to share. There were some challenges with the cooking (the turkey unexpectedly came with feathers, which required some serious plucking, many of the ovens don’t have actual temperature settings aside from “low” and “high,” and my elementary Hebrew led me to accidentally buy the wrong kind of flour for pie), but that just makes it more fun! We had a great turnout, including a few students from other years and various Israeli friends. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, so this dinner had some big shoes to fill: luckily, the food was amazing, the company was fantastic, and a good time was had by all. If you can’t celebrate Thanksgiving with your family, spending it with your MSIH second family ain’t half bad!

Oh, and one more little adventure to relate before I sign off for the week: the night before our big Thanksgiving dinner, a few of us headed over to the Big Plaza to buy some fixin’s. We ended up with far too much stuff to carry home, and somehow decided that instead of taking a cab, it would be a good idea to “borrow” a shopping cart and walk it home, homeless-person style. We got some odd looks as we carted our goods across B7 in a shopping cart, but it sure was fun! (Bonus: we used the cart the next day to truck all our cooked food to the party – it even came up the elevator with us!) If any Eden employees or law enforcement-types are reading this, I promise we are going to return the cart…- December blogger of the month, Julia Rubin-Smith

The Light at the End of the Tunnel (and a few spots along the way)…by blogger of the month Ross Green

Hello again! I’d first like to apologize for my lack of consistency in posting this month. Like I’m sure I’ve said a few dozen times before, finals are REALLY soon now! Last Thursday we completed our Bacteriology (I guess that’s what that quiz was…) quiz for the semester, and starting a week from today we have our other 5 exams! To add to the hectic feeling right now (‘tis the reason, right?!), we have group presentations in our Introduction to Global Health course this week, 2 Microbiology lab reports to complete, and Global Health module presentations to present as well! On a lighter note, there were also entertaining things that occurred this past week and a half as well, I promise!

About a week and a half ago 5 of my classmates and I decided to try something new on a Thursday night. We hopped in a couple of cabs, took the usual 22 shekel ride over to the BIG, and played some pool (or Snooker as they call it here in Israel). I must say, we had a great time! We had a few beers, played a few rounds, and basically just spent a few hours unwinding from the stressful week that we were finally able to put behind us! I’m not sure if it was because we were in Be’er Sheva, or Israel just has its own rules, but the balls we played with were much smaller than we were used to AND the table was much larger! It was crazy, but these new “obstacles” made it quite entertaining. To put it lightly, we were not professionals that night, and yes a few balls did fly off the table during our games. Overall it was a fun experience that we will definitely try again (and hopefully we’ll play better too).

Last Friday morning 4 of us traveled by bus to visit the children of Save a Child’s Heart. This foundation works to help children living in underdeveloped countries who are in need of heart surgery. Utilizing the services of fantastic cardiac surgeons here in Israel, these children and their mothers are flown in and given a place to sleep at this house just outside of Tel Aviv until their procedures are finished and they have fully recovered. When we visited last week there were only three children, all of which were there a couple months ago when I visited for my first time. The three of them were all from Angola, and were 5, 7, and 17 years old. It was a fairly quiet day, since it was raining just before we arrived, but mostly because the last time we visited there were close to ten children running around. This week’s visit revolved around a little piece of technology known as an iPhone. When we walked in and I saw that Erikson (the 5 year old that I spent a lot of time with the previous visit) was still here, I thought it would help him remember me if I showed him a picture of us that I took during our last visit. I pulled up the picture, smiled, and showed it to him… his face lit up! I was so happy and thought he was remembering all of our time spent last time playing soccer, making paper airplanes and playing music and dancing around the house. I was fooled, because from that exact moment on I realized that his face lit up because of my phone and not because I was there again (well, maybe slightly because of me too…)! He took it from my hands, we sat down at the couch, and two hours flew by with him not losing a second of iPhone playing time! I must say that it was pretty amazing watching him (and his friend Antonio, age 7) navigate perfectly on such a complex device. I could tell that this was NOT his first time using one, but it was pretty amazing watching him speed by from one picture to another, zoom in and out, and open up different games (Mom, I found a new technology tutor for you!). It ended up being a great time, mostly because he didn’t stop smiling until we attempted to leave (yes, with my phone… I don’t think he realized that), but when it comes down to it that’s exactly why we were there!

This last weekend was Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I am unable to write about the amazing dinner that my class put together Friday night (maybe next month’s blogger can begin with this), but I spent the weekend in Jerusalem and had my own amazing experience. For my first year of college I lived here in Israel on a program called Nativ. This program brings American students in their first year of undergraduate studies to Israel to study and volunteer. Every year on Thanksgiving they have a big dinner and invite all of the old participants of the program who are in Israel to join. Along with myself there were 7 other people from my year alone that attended this reunion dinner! The rest of them have either made Aliyah (moved to Israel) and joined the Israeli Army, or are studying here for graduate studies. Along with the 8 of us, there are few more people from my class that were unable to attend but are also here in Israel! It’s pretty amazing how many of us ended up back her for one reason or another, and it was great seeing all of them again, some for the first time since we parted ways 4 years ago! It was a nice experience to celebrate an American holiday in the middle of Jerusalem, but if any of you have been there (if you haven’t please go!) you would know that it’s not such a big surprise, since more people speak English on the streets than Hebrew! The rest of the weekend was spent with two of my best friends who started the army just a few days ago. We had a nice and relaxing time together, and traveled back to Be’er Sheva before they hopped on a bus and headed to their base.

Now, it’s crunch time! I hope you enjoyed reading my entries to this blog, and that they gave you a little light into what goes on here in the life of a first year medical student in Be’er Sheva! Thanks for reading! - blogger of the month Ross Green

So… I’m a doctor now, right?! By blogger of the month, Ross Green

November 16, 2011

Hello again! I’m glad to see that my not-so-entertaining blog last week didn’t scare you away from reading my next entries! I’ll try to be more exciting, I promise!

This morning, for our second time this month, we traveled in groups of five to clinics around the city. In our Clinical and Global Medicine course we have been learning about patient interviews, mostly including pediatric patients and their parents. These clinical visits have been a great way for us to put this learning into action! Especially since ped’s is an interest of mine, being able to talk and interact with them has been a lot of fun!

Last week, our group visited the טיפת חלב clinic. In English this literally translates into “Ross’ Clinic”… just kidding… it translates into “Drop of Milk”. When we arrived we were greeted by a member of the first graduating class of our school, Dr. Eric Haas. We were first briefed on the types of patients that we would most likely be seeing. These clinics consist of well patient visits of expecting mothers and newly born infants, in order to do routine checkups and ensure that everything is going well. We were only able to speak with two mothers, but they were both very easy to speak with (partially because they spoke great English… always a plus!) and willing to answer all of the questions that we had. They both had really cute little babies, both luckily healthy for the most part. I was named the head of our group because of my level of Hebrew, but luckily I dodged the bullet (no, there were no more rockets if that’s what you were thinking) and was able to stick to just English this time.

This morning we combined with one other group and visited the Soroka Pediatrics Department. First of all, it was nice because we didn’t start till 9, so I was able to sleep in an extra hour! Sleep here is worth more than gold, or falafel (which are both legitimate forms of currency here), so I took advantage of every extra minute I got! Since we were in the hospital we wore our white Soroka physician’s coats and medical student ID badge, which really made us look and feel like doctors (at least in my eyes). Being the only Hebrew speaker I interviewed a shy little 4 year old girl and her father, who didn’t speak English. It actually went really well too! It’s surprising how much more of a language you know than you think, but I definitely impressed myself (yes, I am currently patting myself on the back and typing this sentence with one hand) and was able to have a great conversation with them! The little girl was very shy, but she told me that she didn’t like the color green so I think that was really why she didn’t want to talk to me very much! The rest of the morning went really well, and I believe that I got a lot out of what we did that will hopefully help me in the future!

Oh, one more thing! This doesn’t relate so much to MSIH but since it’s my blog no one can stop me from writing about my personal life! Two of my best friends made Aliyah (moved to Israel) and have been going through the process of preparing for their army service. This includes “tryouts” for any of the combat units. As of a couple of days ago they were BOTH accepted into צנחנים (Paratroopers) which is a very historically prestigious unit here in Israel! It has been really nice moving so far away from home but still having two of my closest friends nearby! Granted, once they join the army it’ll be very difficult to see them, but I’m really proud of them and wish them the best of luck! STAY SAFE!- blogger of the month Ross Green

November 8, 2011, by blogger of the month Ross Green

Note Soroka Medical Center in
the background

Shalom everyone! My name is Ross Green and I am the class of 2015’s blogger of the month. I apologize that I’m starting this so late into the month, but I think that this delay alone can explain to all of my readers out there what is going on here at MSIH right now… exam prep! For us first-years mid-terms are just around the corner, and it is very apparent. With less than four weeks until our first exam, the dreaded medical library has transformed into a social gathering, everyone is there (while at the same time it’s still a dreaded place)! Let’s be honest though… I’m sure you’re not reading this to hear about exams, those come with the territory of Medical School, even in Israel unfortunately.

On a more exciting note, the Israeli Ben Gurion students have finally arrived and started their studies. It’s pretty crazy how this city transforms into a completely different place when all of the students are here. Don’t get me wrong, I have truly grown to like Be’er Sheva (no, I’m not just saying that), but now that the main spoken language is no longer Russian and the average age has dropped by 30 years, I feel much more at home and enjoy meeting new people around the city each day!

For the first week of school, the student association of the university put together many different events around the city. Even though a few events were rescheduled due to a “rain day” (let’s just say the rockets are back), they were a lot of fun! The most entertaining of them so far was a street party held just across the street from Soroka Hospital. Along with a large bar and local food/attractions, the Israeli rock band HaYehudim performed a free concert which attracted thousands of students (it seemed like the entire student body was there). Personally, I didn’t arrive to the concert until near the end (there’s the exam studying again… sorry) but for the two hours or so that I was there I really got to witness the vast diversity of the student population here; From long haired dread-locks, to T-shirts with VERY random English sayings on them, everyone seems to have a place here at BGU! What I really thought was funny (and reminded me that I was in Israel) was that as soon as HaYehudim left the stage, the rock concert converted into a street-wide disco! Seriously… A DJ got on stage and everyone went from bobbing their heads to going crazy and dancing! Pretty amazing to see, and a lot of fun to be in!

Well, I guess that’s all for now. I’ve never blogged before so I hope this is what you were hoping for. I wish that there was a lot more going on right now, but unfortunately school has really seemed to take over right now! Next time hopefully more will have occurred and I’ll be more exciting to read! OH, before I go, there is one more very exciting event that occurred within our class this week. For those of you that haven’t heard, we had a not so fortunate event occur a couple months ago when our own Nicole Magpayo (MAG-pie-oh) was struck by a car by a not-so 

responsible Israeli driver. Just this week though, she finally gave her crutches back and is walking again! It was like watching a new child learn how to walk again, but I’m very glad that her healing process went so well. Here is a little flash-back to the not-so-mobile days. - blogger of the month, Ross Green

Diwali!, by blogger of the month Ariella Krones

I will have three New Years this year!  First was Rosh Hashanah, last will be January 1, and today we celebrated Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.  Though (I think) the 5-day festival is over, Saturday night worked the best for a low-key celebration.  And, because we have a pool and a substantial outdoor space, we were asked to host the celebration.  This holiday is about a lot of things, and is celebrated in many different ways.  As one of the stories was told to me, a prince was exiled from his city for many years, and when he returned, the city lit up with lights in celebration.   Hence, we light candles, preferably floating in water, and eat sweets.  These things I can do!

A tradition that one of our classmates keeps is to say a prayer or wish as she lights a candle.  So as we sat around the pool and watched our tinfoil boats of tea lights move, we each said something that we were thankful for.  I realized, listening to my classmates (from 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd year) how much each of us appreciates both this education and each other.   We had finished long days and yet we took the time to sit, listen to and learn from one another.  After we had each spoken, Maya led us in an ‘ohm.’  I hope that every week can begin with a group affirmation of the sound of the earth beginning.  - (thanks to Andrew for the pictures of the lights!)  October blogger of the month, Ariella Krones

Some travelling, physically and mentally, by blogger of the month Ariella Krones

It’s the beginning of the end of our last long break in our first semester of med school.  Whew.  In celebration and badly in need of a break from studying, I took a nap in the hammock outside.  [background: by some stroke of luck, I ended up living in an apartment with a lovely yard and lovely neighbors who own a hammock].  It is finally getting chilly here, which for some reason made the half hour so enjoyable.  Maybe Be’ersheva is finally starting to feel like a home?

Many students at MSIH travel for the sukkot break.  I went with a few friends to Crete.  We were not really sure what to expect, but none of us had been before and we all wanted some change of scenery.  We got that, in many ways, including a day and half of rain.  While we did not get to do as much hiking and exploring as we would have liked, I loved it.  We went for a walk in the pouring rain along the old Venetian harbor, marveling at how the waves that splashed up from the Mediterranean Sea onto our feet looked dark, sharp and altogether cartoonish. 

The old Venetian harbor in Crete on a less-wet day.

When our feet started to squish, we ducked into what looked like an old mosque- domed, but with no turret, and with Arabic artwork outside and in.  There was a small art exhibit inside.  After looking around for a bit at the range of pieces this one artist had made, we went back outside, into the rain.  We then saw another exhibition, and so, with questions about the beautiful leaning buildings and the art space/mosque on the harbor, went in.  After puzzling vocally over the translated explanations of the slice of Cretan history, a very nice man helped us out, explaining that, until about WWI, Crete had been governed by a series of empires including the Venetians and the Ottomans.  Crete is still a fantastically beautiful island, and for the rest of the trip it was fun to work out when the buildings we saw might have been built, and why. 

Lots of cats in Be'ersheva.  Lots of cats in Crete.  Somehow,
the cats in Crete seem to be many times more healthy
and friendly than the cats in Be'ersheva.  Odd.

As you may have surmised by my initial story of napping instead of studying, settling back into class after such a break is a process.  Part of that process, for me, is refocusing on exactly why I am where I am (in medical school).   I have spent some time reading about the new malaria vaccine that has been shown to reduce malarial infections in children by half.  This is very exciting.  The efforts to eradicate malaria have gone through many different phases in the past.  Researchers have attempted to refine mechanisms to remove the parasite from humans, remove the parasite from the vector, most often mosquitoes, and remove the vector from the environment.  The most recent push has been to use bed nets to protect people from the mosquito vectors.   A vaccine in combination with other protective measures could truly change the face of malaria treatment. 

While any advance toward a vaccine for malaria, or a parasitic disease for that matter, is a good one, there are a lot of questions raised.  First in my mind concerns the fact that this is a parasitic disease.  Even if the vaccine worked 100% of the time on all strains of bacteria, would that be enough, or would the parasite be able to live in the vector?  There are also questions of resistance.  Will the parasite evolve beyond the reach of the vaccine, and will immunogenicity wear off?  (Time to start studying immunology)  Most pressing to someone in my position as a medical student, how would we practically integrate a vaccine with less than 100% success rate into primary care settings, along with other methods of prevention, treatment and education, especially when the places that are hardest hit by malaria are often the places with very little primary care?   - blogger of the month Ariella Krones

Some articles to read about malaria:  Follow the links inside the articles to learn more.

Experimental Malaria Vaccine Slashes Infection Risk By Half http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/10/18/141460067/experimental-malaria-vaccine-slashes-infection-risk-by-half?sc=fb&cc=fp)

Assessing Strategy and Equity in the Elimination of Malaria: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000312

Wanderings, by Ariella Krones, October blogger of the month

So I promised pictures at the end of my last post.  But alas, I have none.  Just stories.  And proof that, yes, in fact, everything except Soroka Hospiial shuts down for Yom Kippur.

Erev Yom Kippur we went for a walk.  It was beautiful.  The evening had started by going to dinner at another classmate’s apartment, and then walking over to a synagogue we had heard was good.  It wasn’t my style, so I went outside and ended up doing a little meditation of my own.   When the service finished up, we went our separate ways until it got a bit later.   Around 10pm, we made our way to Rager Street, the three lane highway that runs straight down the middle of Be’ersheva.  We live right near the emergency entrance to the hospital, so when we started out there were cars and ambulances going in and out, infrequently but enough to notice.  As we wandered further down Rager, though there were fewer and fewer cars and more and more people, on foot, bikes or other form of wheel.  We cartwheeled in the middle of the south bound lane and took pictures as we went to pick up some more friends. 

I was feeling pretty quiet, just enjoying the people and the cool air (very cool for the negev), but it was definitely the most festive I have ever been on Yom Kippur.  There were small groups of kids on bikes, finally safe from the cars that usually pay little attention to them, as well as families walking their dogs.  I have talked to other friends about what they did that evening, and it seems the mood around the city was pretty consistent.  Some people went biking themselves, and said that they were probably the oldest people on wheels.  Some neighborhoods were much busier than others, with entire families out playing, while others were pretty empty.

A few of us had planned to have a breakfast at the end of the holiday (for those who don’t know, there is traditionally a fast on Yom Kippur for 25 hours, with a break the fast at the end).  We invited people who we knew were fasting, and mentioned it casually to others.  However, with all that was going on, I neglected to follow up with many people.  The following is an example of one of my favorite things about MSIH so far.  I’m not sure if it’s because the program is so small or because it attracts a certain kind of incredibly self-sufficient person, but the dinner turned out to be lovely, as people called or stopped by of their own intiative with a dish to contribute. 

As demonstrated, the MSIH student body is a more collaborative group than I have ever been part of.    The group of us, for the most part, is in class together for 6-8 hours a day, and then are also each other’s main resource for social events and learning about Be’ersheva.  There is a stream of emails and phone calls asking for and offering support that looks something like this:

Is anyone cabbing to the airport on Thursday?  I have a flight in the evening around 7. 

Organized a yoga class every Tuesday and wanted to get a count of people interested…

I have a car for the day!  Four seats available for a good shopping trip if anyone needs.

There is a concern for your classmates’ well-being and success, a conscious effort on the part of individuals to make the collective experience here a good one.  With that said, we are all on our separate ways (more or less) for Sukkot vacation.  Ten days, and how many countries?  After spending some time in the empty streets of Be’ersheva I’m excited to wander around Crete for a bit! - blogger of the month Ariella Krones

The beginning of fall: mostly Rosh Hashanah by blogger of the month Ariella Krones

My first Rosh Hashanah in Israel has come and gone!    It was a great weekend, and a much appreciated break.   Rosh Hashanah, for those who don’t know, is the Jewish New Year.  As Adie translated so adeptly, it literally means head, rosh, of the year, hashanah.  2 interesting things about Israel from this weekend:

1.      1.   This is the New Year here.  January 1 is a work day; Rosh Hashanah is the time for huge meals and big outdoor music festivals (next year…)

2.      2.   Never believe anyone who tells you that absolutely everything is shut down for the holidays.  I found this was only mostly true, and as a result, I am still wondering what Yom Kippur here will be like. 

Puppy dog eyes!  I’ve been missing having a
dog since I left home a
few years ago.  This feeling was mitigated
slightly by going to the
parks in Manhattan and petting any dogs that
wandered my way.  The number of stray dogs
in Be’er Sheva
makes this a less wise solution, but Nomi here
is more than enough.  My cousins took her in
off the street maybe a year and half ago, and she
 is the most lovable, devoted dog.  She also has
 an odd thing for licking people, which
can be a surprise,
 but having your feet licked is as good excuse
as any to take a study break.

For the holiday at home, we usually go to synagogue and then see family either in Washington D.C. or Frederick, MD, where I am from.  It’s always a really nice two days, and important in the Jewish scheme of things, but understated.  Here, as I said, there is a much more festive atmosphere.  I was pretty eager to take a break from Be’er Sheva, so as soon as class was over Tuesday afternoon,   I jumped on the train to Tel Aviv to spend the long weekend (we had Wednesday and Thursday off) with some distant cousins.  My cousin and I cooked all day Wednesday, making quinoa, gazpacho, chicken, tofu and honey cake… many of my favorite things.  There were some friends over Wednesday night for a more formal dinner, and Thursday was all family.   My cousins have a great three-generation compound family, only some of whom I had met, and needless to say, it was a lot of fun.   

I had hoped to be able to see Tashlich in Tel Aviv.  Tashlich is a tradition where people will throw bread in a flowing river or ocean to symbolize their sins for the year being taken away.  Don’t ask me more about it, I really don’t know any more!  Once again, in D.C. it’s a pretty quiet thing, and it’s really just nice to go walk in Rock Creek Park with family.  In Tel Aviv, though, on the Mediterranean?!  That would be pretty cool.  Anyway, I ended up napping after a huge afternoon meal, and going for a walk later that night in HaYarkon Park.  While I did not see anyone throwing bread crumbs, I saw maybe the highest concentration of young families EVER.  It was like a carnival.  So!  Not everything shuts down, and things are definitely not quiet.

CAPTION: Since I’m not really a big picture taker (I got a smartphone here so that I didn’t have to also remember to bring a camera around all the time), here is a screenshot of HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv!  There is a brand new walkway along the river and at the port that is so nice and filled with people during the holiday.   I had fun dodging bikes and small children; there are lanes for pedestrians and cyclists, though in true Israeli fashion, the lanes are all just a suggestion!

Till next time.  I promise to have more stories of classmates, and more pictures, this time of Be’er Sheva! - blogger of the month Ariella Krones

Some words are worth more… by blogger of the month Chris Brown

Some words are worth more in life, like the phrase “I love you.”, or “I promise to…”. Last Thursday night we had the opportunity to make a promise to ourselves and our future patients with words that were worth a bit more. Thursday night we took the physician’s oath, a modern version of the Hippocratic Oath. It was a very meaningful experience and offered a moment to reflect on the seriousness of what it is we are beginning. The oath will help guide us to be physicians that patients both need and deserve. 

Students awaiting the start of the Physician's Oath ceremony

The ceremony

The ceremony was very nice; we had several guest speakers, each of which has played a central role in the development of the school and the program. We were even fortunate enough to have Dr. Lynne Quittell, head of the admissions for the program and pediatric pulmonologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, give a speech. The whole event was webcast for families back home. The speeches were very nice and centered on how we are at the beginning of a long journey, but a very important one. During the middle of our Physician’s Oath ceremony there was also a performance by a classical guitarist, which added a bit to the formality of the situation.

Part of the ceremony included a speech from Avi, the last blogger of the month. He introduced our class’ code of ethics, an additional pledge to compliment the Physician’s Oath taken earlier.  Part of Avi’s speech really brought perspective to the night and that how when undertaking the role of a physician it will be a matter of life and death. Ultimately we will become physicians and the information and skills that we are learning right now will eventually be used to improve the quality of life of others and in some cases save lives. To approach our education from this point of view can prove to be a rather stressful and daunting task, but in the end this is why we chose this path. And really who doesn’t need a little stress and a few grey hairs… it’ll make you look distinguished.  The ceremony continued with the reading of our code of ethics by several classmates and then with a nice buffet dinner outside in the courtyard of the Deichmann building.

Class skits

As part of the Physician’s Oath ceremony, each class puts on a skit or video after the dinner. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. We have many talented and creative people in this program. The quality of each skit was amazing and really touched on life here in medical school in Be’er Sheva. I’m not really sure whose skit was the funniest; they all had a different feel to them. I was given the opportunity to be an introvert in the first year class’ sketch, which really gave me the chance to let the inner introvert out. Well I guess “Letting the inner introvert out” is kind of a repetitive term used to describe an action that introverts wouldn’t normally partake in, but there are varying levels introverts, and I definitely up there(the fact that I’m having this conversation in my head right now probably says something about me or why I was cast the part. I wonder how this will impact my life here, I guess we’ll see. Well it was definitely good times.  Alright now I’m just getting off topic and why am I still writing this down? I need to stop.  Alright back to the blog…).

Dr. Clarfield and upperclassmen playing music after the
Physician's Oath ceremony.

Live music

After the skits were finished, we all had the opportunity to go outside and listen and dance to live music provided by fellow upperclassmen and one of the directors of our school Dr. Clarfield. It was great to see the head of our program here in Be’er Sheva celebrating with us and displaying a part of him many of us do not get the opportunity to see.

The after party

You would think that after a very long week that we would all be exhausted and call it a night, but no; exhausted, we pushed through and went out to an unusual discotheque The Draft. What’s special about The Draft, well by night it is a popular dance club, but by day it’s a fitness gym. Which makes sense, do things to improve your body and health during the day then balance it out with drinking and dancing in a smoke filled atmosphere at night, well maybe not too much sense, well maybe not at all, but it seems to be working as a business model so what can I say.

Looking back at the night

The Physician’s Oath ceremony was a moment for which I and, I hope, my classmates will take to heart and serve as something that we can use to reflect on as we develop into physicians. The oath can serve as a moment to mark the formal beginning of a journey in which we will always strive to do our best, remembering that only our best will make the most difference. I feel extremely fortunate to be in this program and with my fellow classmates.

Additional Highlights to the Week…

Transportation (Sort of)

On a less serious note I got a new bike, which is going to be great, though the brakes leave a little bit to be desired, so I haven’t been really able to ride it very often or very quickly for that matter. It will be a useful addition to getting to and from study sessions.

My new bike, or new to me. You may note wire jetting
of the handles (that's supposed to be attached to the
brakes, which are absent at the moment.

Communicating with Friends and Family

Technology is amazing, this past week I was also able to speak with the family I lived with while serving in the Peace Corps and friends via Skype in Senegal. It was amazing to be able to reconnect with them even though it was brief. It was great getting to see their faces, though they said I got fat, which is nice I guess, one of the many cultural differences…

My host Mom and brother with a good friend in my old hut
talking to me via Skype.

Last blog entry: Thanks for letting me share

One thing I learned while living in Africa was hope and being here, surrounded by so many people working towards helping others, I cannot help but be filled with even more hope. We all move forward towards a common goal of making the lives of others better. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share a bit about my life here for the past month.  - blogger of the month Chris Brown

Here is a picture of a painting I've been working on over the past
couple of weeks in my spare time.

Making the most out of a day, by blogger of the month Chris Brown

Which one of these items does not belong?

A typical day…

The alarm on my phone goes off its 5:30 in the morning. I roll over to smack the phone, fumbling for the off button to avoid waking my roommates. I roll back over, pulling the cover over my head in disbelief that it is already time to get up. I finally manage to pull myself out of bed at 5:45 to go make some coffee and breakfast. Around 6 o’clock I study for about 50 minutes, and then get in some exercise and yoga for about half an hour. Then it’s time to make some more coffee, an essential step before actually going to class, take a shower and get ready for school. By 8:00 I’m out the door and on my way to the first class of the day. The subject of the first class of the day varies but lasts until 10:00 and then we get the opportunity for a short coffee break. At 10:15 we’re back to class until 12:00 when we get an hour and fifteen minutes for lunch, which usually entails cafeteria food or a sack lunch. At 1:15 it’s back to two more classes till 5:00 pm. On the way back home I pass by the store to pick up some food for dinner and lunch tomorrow, not forgetting to pass by one of the many fruit and vegetable stands to pick up some fresh fruit. After arriving home I place my things in my room and go to the kitchen to start dinner. While making dinner I check and respond to email. Shortly after dinner, at around 7 o’clock, I make some more coffee, I start studying again till about 9:30 or so, or until I need a break and either go running or read the newspaper to attempt to keep up on current affairs. At about 10:30 it’s back to some more studying and or reading health related articles. I finally crash around 12:00-12:30, dreaming about the next busy day. A cycle that I will repeat many times in the coming year, surely only to contribute to my coffee addiction.

Wine tasting in Be'er Sheva

Some highlights of the past week:

Wine Tasting in Beer Sheva (aka Wine Sheva)

                Walking into the event with fancy cars at the entrance, a jazz band playing in the background and wine glasses clinking, I was walking into an atmosphere of Be’er Sheva I had not yet experienced or expected to find here. The event was similar to something you would likely find in Napa Valley. Students from each of the first three years of medical school were there, which provided a good opportunity to get to know each other, exchanging information and advice about school and life in Be’er Sheva. There were close to 30 different wineries all offering samples, along with cheeses and hot dogs. Things here are always so close to life back in the US, then there is something a little different to remind you that you’re not home, in this case hot dogs at a wine festival.

Histology Lab

                We finally got to do an activity where I really felt like I was in medical school. The combination of the microscopes, the white coats and the histological jargon, it really hit me, I’m in medical school now.  It was a fun lab; we got to look at different cell types in different tissues of the body. It really made the information we had been going over in lecture more concrete and applicable. It was also great that we had two TAs and the professor there to answer questions about the slides and help identify cell types, it was a great learning environment.

Finding the student store at the university

    Don’t judge me, but you wouldn’t believe the size of white board I bought. It’s going to be great for going over biochemical pathways… Although I had seen the store from afar I had never actually set foot into it till last week, only to find pens, pencils and highlighters galore! It’s a one stop shop for all your studying needs and then some, for instance home decorations, underwear, socks and scented candles. Why would they need to sell underwear at the student store? Not really sure, but I know when I’m buying pens and pencils, and I’m trying to remember what else I need to buy, oh yeah underwear, and it’s right there, how convenient…

Favorite conversation of the week

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“I’m looking at the anus”

“Ooh, can I see it next?”

An ordinary day in medical school in the histology lab.

-blogger of the month, Chris Brown

Random highlights from the past week, by blogger of the month Chris Brown

Sunset in Be-er Sheva

Bartering in the Old City

                Earlier in the week I got the opportunity to go to the old city to do both a little bit of exploring and to look for a bike to make getting around a little easier. The beginning of the day started out slowly with coffee and a nice conversation with one of my roommates, after which we decided to go look for bikes in the old city. Upon navigating the public transit system we ended up a little ways from our destination and fortunately stumbled upon the shook, the large open air market. Seeing all the booths filled with fresh fruit, vegetables, honey, meat, fish, and almost anything else you could think of was amazing. The sweet smell of mangos and apples combined with the earthy smell of nuts provided a pleasant background to the busy hubbub of people carrying out their daily errands and customers haggling with vendors trying to get a better price.

                After going through the shook, we ventured out into the old city in search of the bike shop, only to be sidetracked into having a rather large and delicious lunch of kebabs and vegetables with an assortment of enjoyable sauces and of course, the always wonderful hummus. After all the moving of the previous week, a large meal was definitely appreciated.

                Pushing through the inescapable food coma, we set out in search of the bike shop, only to find it had closed early. We ended up going through a market street where I got to practice my bartering skills in order to buy some sheets for my bed.  It turned out to be not so bad, from my prior experience of bartering in Senegal, though I started out too high with my counter offer and we all too quickly agreed on a price. I walked away a bit dissatisfied but I learned that you should never counter with something you’re not willing to pay and if it’s worth that much to you, you’ve made a good purchase. Soon after passing through the street market we started our way back home. Unfortunately we hadn’t achieved our goal to which we had set out but it was a meaningful and memorable trip nonetheless.

Chicken rings and Biochemistry.

Chicken Rings and Biochemistry

                Biochemistry can be fun but with chicken rings, it’s euphoric… The amount of information that we are going over is impressive. Study groups have proved to be an important tool in deepening our understanding of material and have given us an opportunity to apply the material used in class with sample questions. Usually during study groups, a break is taken and this involves some sort of food, and sometimes that food is chicken rings. You might ask “What exactly is a chicken ring?”, “How do they get the chicken in the shape of a ring?”, “Why would you want chicken in the shape of a ring?”, “Who started this?”, or “Can that really be healthy?” Rather than asking such questions, I choose to focus on the fact that they are oddly delicious. So, while we are learning about affinity and kinetics of enzymes in relation to competitive and noncompetitive inhibition, we can stuff our faces with pureed chicken formed into the shapes of rings. What could be better?

Ol' Trusty

Whole class coming to help a friend

                Earlier in the week, a person in our class unfortunately became part of an elite club; few people have the opportunity to join, “People who have been hit by a car”. The important thing is that she is okay and surrounded by a caring group of people that are there to help her through this process and make sure that she is not going through this alone. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about going through medical school and being away from friends and family, she now has to deal with health issues and possibly legal issues as well. She has a long road ahead of her but it will be accompanied by friends there to support her.  Looking at the bright side of this situation, it allowed her to gain a very useful insight that few people, especially doctors, have the opportunity to experience; being able to be a patient and undergo the stress and fear of being sick or hurt. Her ability to relate and empathize to future patients in such circumstances will far outweigh that of most health care workers. Additionally on the lighter side of being hurt, we were able to wheel her around in what must have been the oldest wheelchair in all of Be’er Sheva, something that looked straight out of a WWI hospital ward on Thursday when she came back to classes (see picture). She kept a good outlook and sense humor about the situation. Having so many people in the class come to her aid makes me proud to be part of this class and really demonstrates the quality of the people in this program.

Meeting up with other RPCVs

                During the past week I got the opportunity to meet up with a few Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) for a dinner to share stories and experiences from our service and our current lives in Be’er Sheva. It was really nice getting the opportunity to see how similar a lot of our experiences were, even though we all had served in many different areas of the world, plus we got to eat delicious enchiladas. It is nice to be part of a community so quickly after moving here, though we didn’t get to talk about gastrointestinal issues, a common topic amongst Peace Corps Volunteers, but hopefully next time.

                After another successful week here, with the many surreal aspects that have transpired, I look forward to the coming week and  many more surreal moments that make up life here in Be’er Sheva. Alright, well, off to some more studying and hopefully taking a break to finish fixing the washer. - blogger of the month Chris Brown

Finally settling in, by September blogger of the month Chris Brown

One of the many trips of carrying belongings from one apartment
to another in 97 degree heat, I am so very,
very tired of moving. I really hope this apartment works out.

So after a successful first week of real classes it’s on to moving day. A day where hopefully I’ll be able to settle in a bit and really feel at home, an event that has been a long time coming after having spent  a little over two years living in a hut in rural West Africa.

My name is Chris Brown, no not the singer Chris Brown, and I get the opportunity to share a little bit about life here in Be’er Sheva and experiences in the MSIH program. A little about myself; I grew up near Seattle Washington, and graduated from the University of Washington, then after a brief break, about three years, working as a phlebotomist, doing construction, and  teaching French on a volunteer basis, I went back to school to get my Masters in Teaching at Seattle Pacific University. I worked as a high school science teacher (mostly chemistry, with a little physics and biology thrown in to keep things interesting) for about 3 ½ years before deciding, though albeit an extremely honorable and important profession,  I found it to not be an ideal fit for me. It was a great opportunity and experience, one that I will always treasure for the rest of my life. Hopefully helping people learn about health and prevention will allow me to exercise the skills that I learned while teaching on a daily basis and I hope to also one day integrate teaching into my medical career at some point in a more formal fashion. After leaving teaching I left to serve in the Peace Corps as a health volunteer in Senegal, West Africa. I finished Peace Corps about 3 months ago and now I am on to my next adventure, medical school in Israel. As a side note I am also the oldest student in our class at 33 years old despite Avi’s generous 21^st birthday wish in the August blog entry or the bar mitzvah card from the whole class for my birthday last month, stating that I’ve finally became a man, at least now I have it in writing.   

          

One of many beautiful flowering trees
around Be’er Sheva.

Despite the rather “rockety” start to being here in Be’er Sheva, things are going rather smoothly. The school did their best to give us the most up to date information and even changed our classes to a more secure location, including having class in a bomb shelter for a short time, always up for new experiences... Granted some things have not gone as well as they might have gone in the US, the staff is doing well, despite what must be for them and their families a very nervous and stressful time, they still were able to deal with concerns that many of us were feeling.

The raging river in Be’er Sheva,
has a bit of silt in it at this time of year.
It’s the gray thing in the middle…

As conversations within the first year class transition from talking about what we’ve done before medical school, to getting cell phones, to furnishing apartments, to now talking more about classes and the impending deluge of information that is beginning to swarm around us. It feels good to be here, working towards something great. Professors and upperclassmen have been extremely welcoming and one week into the education, granted I was a teacher and am critical how the subject matter is taught, has been going well and I am looking forward to the next week. Well that’s it for now.  I need to go study for Immunology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Molecular and Cell Biology, Histology, Hebrew, Global Health, and Biostatistics, that’s a lot of classes…

Interesting fact about life in Be’er Sheva: If you don’t like/want or need a piece of furniture you can simply take it outside and place it on a corner or the side of the street (preferably near a garbage or recycling bin) and it’s gone within 30 minutes to a couple of hours, off to be part of another person’s life. - blogger of the month, Chris Brown

Thus commences the first week of the rest of our lives…by Avi Kopstick, August blogger of the month

Summer orientation is over. We passed our Emergency Medicine exam. We moved into what will potentially be our new homes for the next four years. We met, shook hands with, and shared a few drinks with the classes above us… Now what?

(Disclaimer: For those of you who have come to know and, I’m sure, love my humorous writing style/musings over the past month, I will be sorry to disappoint. Whereas my previous posts mainly functioned to report on the lived-experiences here at MSIH and in Beer Sheba, I decided instead to shift my focus for this last entry. If you want to know more about what Beer Sheva is like, I invite you to come visit – I hear tickets are pretty cheap this time of war ;). Or you can just return to this blog next week, where I am sure one of my classmates will be continuing with some first-rate blogging on our first-year here at MSIH.)

… Now what? It’s a scary thought, but become first-rate doctors, I’m assuming. It’s what we’ve always wanted to do. It’s what we all gave up so much to come here to do.

Before attending MSIH, one of my classmates worked as a nuclear chemist. After nearly a decade of building her career, she sold her apartment, found new parents for her beloved pet, and boarded a plane to Israel to study medicine. Another classmate of mine taught science in high school. First in, first out to go be a doctor. We said goodbye to family, friends, those we loved, those we were learning to love, all to pursue something completely different from what we have ever know. Some of us left high paying jobs, in pharmaceutical companies for example. I myself was well on my way to becoming one of the top Starbucks baristas/karaoke hosts in Toronto.

And for what? For this experiment we call medical school. Who knows what will be in four years from now? Of course, we will learn an incredible, incredible amount. We will pass, become doctors, etc. But when we go back to the places we came from, will it be the same? Will we be the same? What will the economic situation be at that time? We’ve taken out huge loans and lines of credit and forsaken the next for years of employment. Will we be able to easily pay back all that we’ve borrowed? One of my classmates will be required to enlist when he returns to his country of citizenship. How will he be able to repay his loans? And even if our transition back is an easy one, will being a doctor really be everything that we’ve always dreamed of?

This post is dedicated to my classmates, my peers, my new friends. These are the sacred sacrifices we’ve made. This is the forbidden dance we now follow with the unknown. May our next four years here at MSIH be meaningful, productive, challenging, engaging, enjoyable, and worth everything we’ve given up. May our dreams be attained and our goals actualized. May we become the doctors we’ve always wanted to be and help the people we’ve always wanted to help. I look forward to spending the next four years with you on this adventure we call medical school.  - blogger of the month, Avi Kopstick