Our first engagement was the 20th annual Israeli Medical Association (IMA) conference, where in between sumptuous dinners we listened to presentations on the main theme of “advanced technologies in medicine”. There were also words from Shimon Peres regarding efforts at collaboration in medical fields between Israelis and Palestinians, and a morning devoted to medical ethics.

Visits to various Israeli Hospitals and healthcare institutions took up much of our time over the 6 days of the trip, and provided some real insights. The trauma facilities in Hadassah hospital near Jerusalem were highly impressive, and a visit to the rehabilitation centre at the Tel-Hashomer hospital was particularly interesting. At this in- and out-patient centre, patients recovering from various medical conditions or injuries are helped back to health in a holistic manner which aims to integrate them smoothly back into society. For example, there is a special programme for those recovering from heart attacks, with a graded exercise programme and a gym that is used by both patients and staff.

On another visit, we travelled to a centre caring for mentally handicapped children and adults. Here a café scheme was running where members of the local community would sit with their handicapped neighbours. This programme of integration is something that I cannot imagine existing in the UK. I dearly hope that it one day will however as it seemed to bridge the stigma that often surrounds mental health issues.

Perhaps the most unusual experience of the trip was on our visit to the district hospital at Nahariya on the border with Lebanon. After a tour of the main hospital, we were shown the underground shelter area where in a seemingly tiny area ¾ of the ~700 beds can be relocated at need. This contingency plan was recently used in the conflict of 2006 when the hospital above ground was under rocket fire.

There was also time during the trip to visit the Weizmann Institute and the Technion Medical School in Haifa, where we were able to see at first hand some of the reseaech currently underway in Israel. At the Weizmann we heard about (and saw) research into the use of photodynamic therapy for the treatment of some cancers.

The timetable was fairly packed with all these visits as well as the conference schedule, but there was some time set aside to experience non-medical aspects of Israel. On one evening we were given a night-tour of Jerusalem by some Israeli medical students, culminating with a midnight snack of falafel in the old city.

In all, this trip was busy, hectic, exciting and enlightening. Seeing so many aspects of the healthcare system of any country is surely a fantastic thing for all medical students to do. The experience of Israel was a welcomed bonus.

Simon Etkind