A doctor's office in Israel. File photo

For most pursuing a career in medicine, the long-haul investment in studying, training and preparing to become a physician is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Others have personal goals too, whether its to explore their Jewish backgrounds or spend time in a new location. Some choose to make the challenge a little more exciting by engaging in a new environment, being immersed in a different culture and picking up a new language.

The benefits of studying medicine in Israel are numerous, especially at the world-renowned Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Situated upon the Rambam Health Care Campus on the Haifa shores, Technion American Medical School(TeAMS) provides a top-notch medical education and extensive training at several of Israels best hospitals. At this prestigious medical school program, students get one-on-one time with leading faculty members, including two Nobel Prize winners and numerous researchers who have contributed to several medical breakthroughs and innovations. All students complete a thesis. Graduates can continue to residency programs in the U.S.

The acclaimed academic and research repertoire attracts top students, but the students who actually enroll in TeAMS bring an extra uniqueness to the program. They are attracted to the school for unique reasons, hoping to get a more well-rounded education that will make them more compassionate and focused doctors. Lets meet some of the students beginning their medical careers at TeAMS this October.

Balancing Judaism and Medicine

For many observant Jews, there is a dilemma of maintaining a certain lifestyle while seeking a high level of professional training.While Technion is not a religious institution, its location in Israel makes key issues like Shabbat, the Jewish holidays and kashrut much easier to address.

Josh Simons, an incoming student from Monsey, NY, said one of the things he liked most about TeAMS is the schedule. It fits around the High Holidays and works perfectly for an observant student, said Simons, who is starting medical school only one month after his release from a 14-month volunteer service in the Israel Defense Forces in the Netzach Yehuda battalion in the Kfir Brigade. Simons, who earned his bachelors degree in biology from Touro College in Jan. 2013, served as a machine gunner in a religious unit.

This is unparalleled for medical schools in general and even in Israel, described Chris Thomas, an incoming student from Syracuse, NY.Studying at TeAMS is both a good place to keep up my religious observance and learning, and a solution for staying in Israel long term.

Thomas chose medicine after shadowing and admiring his father, an emergency room physician in New York. Medicine seemed like the most selfless profession in the world, Thomas said, thoughtfully reflecting upon how he used to visit patients on Shabbat at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. This was a really profound experience seeing the way people grappled with the experience of sickness and what a challenge that is They meet the challenge and show incredible inner strength, bringing out faith and hope. But also at the hospital, I saw people devastated and crushed by illness. Overall, I was amazed at how much of a difference I could make by just visiting.

Medicine is a sacred profession; as a healer, I can fill the charge of implementing G-ds will in profound and meaningful ways, Thomas said. I am very happy to begin studying at Technion because Ive only heard positive things, that everyone is so friendly and it sounds like a very positive environment, he added.

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