(JNS) Israel’s Ariel University on Wednesday evening celebrated the first class of graduates from its Adelson School of Medicine, which opened its doors in 2019.
Fifty-three students were awarded the degree of “Doctor of Medicine.”
University spokesman Mark Lewis told JNS: “This is not only a milestone for Ariel University but a proud moment for the State of Israel.” The graduation of the school’s first class is a testament to the “resilience, determination and dedication of our students and faculty,” he added.
Witnessing the growth of the program has been “incredibly rewarding,” he said, adding that it would have a “profound and lasting” impact on the country’s healthcare system as a whole, particularly in underserved areas.
“We look forward to seeing these talented graduates make a difference in hospitals and communities across the country,” he said.
He noted as well that 40 of the 53 graduates, or 75%, are women.
“This achievement reflects the growing representation of women in STEM [Science, technology, engineering and mathematics] and medicine, with each of these doctors excelling through years of rigorous study and dedication,” he said.
Key attendees and speakers at the ceremony included Israel’s President Issac Herzog along with philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson, herself a practicing physician, specializing in drug addiction treatment. Dr. Adelson and her late husband Sheldon G. Adelson were the key benefactors in founding the medical school, which bears their family name.
The Adelson School of Medicine currently enrolls around 350 students, offering a specialized program designed for individuals who have already earned a bachelor’s degree.
President Herzog said at the ceremony that, “It is very moving for me to be here, alongside the first graduating class at the Adelson school of medicine, here in Ariel in Samaria.”
Herzog noted that the class was graduating during extremely trying times for the State of Israel.
“Congratulations, doctors! … You are receiving your diplomas during a very emotional and difficult situation which our country faces … I know that over the past few months many of you have treated those wounded in the current war … I can tell you, we have heard from the ill, the wounded, the families of those hurt, and when they talk about their doctors, they refer to you as ‘angels,’” he said.
“We’ve heard the stories from the battlefield. There are so many fighters whose lives were saved thanks to our excellent doctors, who even under fire and risking their own lives, took action to save the lives of others. There are no other doctors or medical staff like this anywhere else in the entire world,” he added.
Herzog also presented a posthumous diploma to the family of Dr. Maj. Moshe Leiter, who was killed in action in the northern Gaza Strip last November. His mother and brother attended the ceremony to receive the degree on his behalf.
Leiter, a 39-year-old father of six from Kibbutz Ein Tzurim was killed along with three other IDF reservists while inspecting a booby-trapped tunnel entrance in the Gaza Strip’s Beit Hanoun area.
During her remarks, Dr. Adelson shared with the audience some of the many challenges of launching a new medical school in Israel, especially one located in Judea and Samaria.
She thanked key figures who played a role in making the school a reality, including former government minister Natan Sharansky, who was in attendance, former Israeli premier Naftali Bennett, who was education minister at the time, and the late Yigal Cohen-Orgad, one of the university’s founders and long-time chancellors, who Adelson said was the driving force behind the school’s establishment.
Addressing the graduates, she said: “This year’s ceremony is permeated with pain. You are transforming into doctors in the middle of a war, which is the country’s second longest, aside from the War of Independence. That war birthed the Jewish state. And what will this war birth? What will be the new reality Israelis can expect once, please God, the battle will finally end? I don’t have the answers, but I do have hope.”
The new doctors will face many challenges in treating those wounded during the war, both those with physical injuries and those suffering “in their souls,” she said. Just as importantly, she added, “the Israeli public will need your smiles. When they see the smiles on your faces, they will know that everything is OK. In the end, we will all be OK.”
Adelson concluded by telling the graduates, “I have faith in you. The entire nation has faith in you as well, because every one of you has a special and unique role to ensure that indeed—Am Yisrael Chai! [the nation of Israel lives].”
Professor Ehud Grossman, president of Ariel University, said, “This emotional ceremony is more than just an academic or medical milestone; it is the realization of a vision that combines medicine, Zionism and innovation.
“We are proud to nurture graduates who will strengthen healthcare in Israel, especially in a year when the doctors of our nation have demonstrated unparalleled dedication, determination and ground-breaking professionalism in treating battlefield injuries and complex traumas.”
The school’s establishment “is another step in the university’s remarkable growth over the past few years. Anyone who comes here with preconceived notions changes their mind once they see what has been built on campus,” he said.
Professor Shai Ashkenazi, dean of the Adelson School of Medicine, told the graduates, “You are joining the wonderful profession of medicine, which is truly a calling. It uniquely combines advanced science with giving, helping others and saving lives. Remember to treat your patients with humility, a warm gaze, compassion and words of encouragement. Light up their lives and guide them wisely and sensitively toward recovery.”
