Reflecting on the hospital’s well-established reputation for excellence in the field of Pediatric Education within a medical center framework, Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center hosted an academic conference in conjunction with Israel’s Ministry of Education. The day-long seminar was geared towards educators working in hospitals around the country with the goal of further strengthening the “in-hospital” schools that have become more and more prevalent in major medical institutions. New research and methodologies served as the focus of presentations by a variety of medical and education experts.

At Shaare Zedek, the Lincoln David Abraham Educational Institute has gained a stellar reputation for excellence by providing pediatric patients with a supportive learning environment while hospitalized. The Institute’s future development has become an integral design element of the new Wilf Children’s Hospital where its size and scope will even be further expanded. A dedicated staff of teachers, young women performing their national service and hospital volunteers, make the Institute a shining example of the type of dedicated, compassionate care that is Shaare Zedek’s hallmark.

Professor Francis Mimmouni, Director of the Department of Pediatrics at Shaare Zedek opened the conference by inviting the guests to come back in a couple of years when the new Wilf Children’s Hospital will be open “and this new facility will serve as a great pride for all Jerusalemites.”
 

Professor Mimmouni’s comments focused on the integrality of education in the healing process and the critical role that teachers play for their patients. “You as teachers are not simply educators in the classical sense of the word,” he said. “Rather you are caregivers who offer very important contributions to what we as physicians are able to do.”

Dr. Ruth Pen, who supervises the in-hospital schools for the Ministry of Education echoed those sentiments when she said, “The connection between the teachers and the medical staff is inseparable and perhaps the most important part of what you as educators do is that you allow these children to remain children despite the pain and sickness which one would think might define their lives.”

Each year the Lincoln David Abraham Institute helps hundreds of children keep up with their studies while hospitalized at Shaare Zedek. As an institute that is fully recognized and accredited by the Ministry of Education, the school is able to offer tests, assign homework and projects and the staff remains in regular contact with the patient’s teachers outside of the hospital. Addressing the collection of hospital pediatric educators from facilities all over Israel, Professor Mimmouni thanked them saying, “Your work can take a child from a world of pain and confusion that he or she struggles to understand and returns the patient to one of childhood wonder and even normalcy. There are few better ways to give a young boy or girl the hope that they will soon get better.”

Reflecting on the hospital’s well-established reputation for excellence in the field of Pediatric Education within a medical center framework, Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center hosted an academic conference in conjunction with Israel’s Ministry of Education. The day-long seminar was geared towards educators working in hospitals around the country with the goal of further strengthening the “in-hospital” schools that have become more and more prevalent in major medical institutions. New research and methodologies served as the focus of presentations by a variety of medical and education experts.

At Shaare Zedek, the Lincoln David Abraham Educational Institute has gained a stellar reputation for excellence by providing pediatric patients with a supportive learning environment while hospitalized. The Institute’s future development has become an integral design element of the new Wilf Children’s Hospital where its size and scope will even be further expanded. A dedicated staff of teachers, young women performing their national service and hospital volunteers, make the Institute a shining example of the type of dedicated, compassionate care that is Shaare Zedek’s hallmark.

Professor Francis Mimmouni, Director of the Department of Pediatrics at Shaare Zedek opened the conference by inviting the guests to come back in a couple of years when the new Wilf Children’s Hospital will be open “and this new facility will serve as a great pride for all Jerusalemites.”
 

Professor Mimmouni’s comments focused on the integrality of education in the healing process and the critical role that teachers play for their patients. “You as teachers are not simply educators in the classical sense of the word,” he said. “Rather you are caregivers who offer very important contributions to what we as physicians are able to do.”

Dr. Ruth Pen, who supervises the in-hospital schools for the Ministry of Education echoed those sentiments when she said, “The connection between the teachers and the medical staff is inseparable and perhaps the most important part of what you as educators do is that you allow these children to remain children despite the pain and sickness which one would think might define their lives.”

Each year the Lincoln David Abraham Institute helps hundreds of children keep up with their studies while hospitalized at Shaare Zedek. As an institute that is fully recognized and accredited by the Ministry of Education, the school is able to offer tests, assign homework and projects and the staff remains in regular contact with the patient’s teachers outside of the hospital. Addressing the collection of hospital pediatric educators from facilities all over Israel, Professor Mimmouni thanked them saying, “Your work can take a child from a world of pain and confusion that he or she struggles to understand and returns the patient to one of childhood wonder and even normalcy. There are few better ways to give a young boy or girl the hope that they will soon get better.”