The inaugural cohort of the Mandel Program for Medical Leadership for the Negev completed its studies in January 2025, marking an important milestone in addressing the southern region's healthcare challenges. Operated in partnership with the Ministry of Health, this unique program, directed by Israel Sorek, is cultivating a cadre of value-driven medical leaders who are both practitioners and educators, training the next generation of medical providers in the region.

Throughout their studies, 17 senior healthcare professionals deepened their understanding of the humanities, leadership, society, and health policy. Building on this theoretical foundation, they developed individual projects as part of the "practical component" of the program – groundbreaking initiatives designed to address critical healthcare challenges in Israel’s southern region.

The following are highlights of the projects presented by three of the concluding fellows at an event that took place on January 1, 2025:

Dr. Idit Liberty, an internal medicine specialist who directs the diabetes clinic at Soroka Medical Center and serves as deputy dean for student affairs at the faculty of health sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, established a multidisciplinary think tank to address diabetes and obesity, conditions particularly prevalent in the Negev.

"I've long understood that these diseases are theoretically preventable. At the same time, promoting effective action requires many toolkits, only a minority of which are medical," she explained. "It's difficult to accept that such a widespread and troubling phenomenon isn't being addressed at the comprehensive social, cultural, and educational level. In this process, medicine is one member of a team."

Dr. Liberty’s "Combined Forum" brings together healthcare professionals, representatives of local government, and educators to discuss various aspects of these conditions through the lenses of education, welfare, technology and more. The forum, which has been meeting since December 2024, aims to develop new approaches tailored to the needs of diverse Negev populations.

Kawther Hammud, a physiotherapist who directs Clalit Health Services' physiotherapy institute in Beer Sheva and advocates for women's health, has initiated a project to promote healthy sexuality in Bedouin society by making knowledge accessible and creating open, professional dialogue with women. Kawther sees this initiative as a springboard for improving women's quality of life and empowering them to effect change.

"Over the years, I've met countless women suffering from chronic pain, lack of knowledge, and helplessness," she said. "These encounters, and the pain I experienced together with the women, drove me to work for change. I understood that knowledge is power, and providing women with knowledge is the key to empowerment and healing. We aim to create real behavioral change."

Kawther works on multiple fronts: leading meetings with women's circles to advance knowledge about their bodies and sexuality; collecting and analyzing information about needs and difficulties in the field of sexuality among women in the community and therapists working in the field; creating partnerships with educational and health systems as a pathway to strengthen knowledge among care providers; and raising awareness and recruiting partners through digital platforms.

Dr. Ahmad Abu Assa, a specialist in family medicine who coordinates the family medicine residents of Clalit Health Services, envisions promoting awareness of genetic testing as part of family planning in Bedouin society.

"The challenge is not just building medical infrastructure but creating a norm of genetic testing before marriage as an integral part of preparing for it, which requires overcoming religious, cultural, social, and psychological barriers," he explains.

This multi-dimensional challenge involves creating awareness – both of disease risks and of prevention possibilities provided by technology – as a basis for social change. Dr. Abu Assa is establishing a public body of activists who will reach educational communities, social networks, and religious institutions to promote social awareness of the importance of genetic testing in a manner adapted to Bedouin culture.

Additional projects initiated by the fellows tackle another significant healthcare challenge in the Negev: the shortage of physicians in essential specialties. These initiatives propose using various models to address burnout among medical staff, taking steps to attract quality residents to the south, creating collaborative work environments among medical teams, and more.

Registration for Cohort 2 of the program, which will begin its studies in September 2025, will open in April. Graduates of the program will lead improvements in healthcare quality in the Negev based on theory and practice, serve as inspiration for one another and for additional colleagues in the Negev healthcare community, and advance new initiatives for the benefit of all Negev communities.