Mandel Program for Medical Leadership for the Negev
The program aims to develop outstanding medical leaders who will shape the future of healthcare in the South and promote the overall well-being of the public. Program participants will form the Negev’s medical leadership, serving as inspirational role models and advancing new initiatives that benefit all communities in the region.
Program FormatOne day a week
DurationOne academic year
Life expectancy, health and physical and mental wellbeing are essential to quality of life. Residents of the Negev face significant disparities in all these areas compared to those living in the center of the country. These gaps are reflected in lower life expectancy, fewer and less accessible doctors, longer waiting times for health services and the limited availability and quality of paramedical services.
Reducing healthcare gaps between Israel’s southern periphery and its central region is therefore essential. The State is offering a training program for young doctors (Ilanot) and the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev has taken the task of guiding the trainers of this program in order to create inspirational role models for these early-career physicians who will become the Negev’s medical leadership.
The program targets senior medical professionals, primarily physicians, who embody personal integrity and professional excellence, are deeply committed to the Negev and its residents and who hold influential positions within the region's healthcare system. Fellows are selected for their roles in training, educating and influencing medical students, interns and early-career physicians. The cohort is designed to represent all regions of the Negev, as well as various hospitals, leading HMOs, community medicine practitioners and other health professions such as psychology, nursing and physiotherapy.
Course of Studies
The program delves into core values and their significance, exploring the human qualities that can be developed and strengthened. Fellows also study the Negev and its diverse populations, both Jewish and Arab, while examining the concept of change through the lens of policy studies and acquiring practical skills such as rhetoric and reflective writing.
To help fellows become effective in implementing change, the practical component of the program is structured around five key areas: identifying their “pain points” and recognizing them as challenges shared by many; clarifying the core values that guide their work; identifying sources of hope for leading change and building confidence in the feasibility of their aspirations; considering the relevance of proposed initiatives to the Negev and its communities; and finally, taking initial steps toward implementing these projects.
Impact in the Field
Fighting diabetes and obesity: One program graduate has established a unique forum that aims to significantly change nutrition habits and the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The multi-disciplinary forum brings public health experts and diabetes specialists together with professionals in education and local government, representing both Jewish and Arab communities.
Addressing consanguineous marriages and genetic birth defects: Another graduate, a family physician from the Bedouin community, works to raise awareness among the Bedouin population about the risks associated with consanguineous marriages and the importance of understanding genetic birth defects. His goal is to create a comprehensive genetic database to help prevent high risk marriages and to promote genetic testing before and during pregnancy as a standard practice. To achieve this, he has formed an action group comprising both men and women from the fields of education, medicine and social media.
Forum for directors of community clinics: A third graduate, the deputy director of the southern district of Clalit Health Services – which serves 80% of Negev residents – is establishing a voluntary forum for all clinic directors in the district. The forum will convene every two months to facilitate the sharing of information, resources and partnership skills, with an ongoing assessment measuring the forum’s impact on internal quality indicators.
About the Center
The Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev aims to improve quality of life in the Negev by cultivating strong social, educational and cultural leadership. The Center focuses on developing a powerful community of leaders grounded in vision, values and expertise, who will lead groundbreaking initiatives, out of their commitment to all the communities of the Negev and to strengthening the shared spaces of the region.