Doctors from Sheba Medical Center and Mayo Clinic Medical Center in Minnesota, US, recently convened in Israel. The March 2019 conference is the fifth time that these premier, world-renowned healthcare centers joined together to fortify and advance their cooperative ventures in research, technological innovation, and clinical practice. The focus of this meeting was to discuss the newest issues in the fields of cardiology and nephrology.
This was the largest conference between Sheba and Mayo Clinic to date. Dr. Paul Friedman, Director of the Mayo Clinic Heart Center, and twelve senior physicians from Mayo Clinic’s cardiology and nephrology departments participated in two days of lectures on innovative care in these respective fields. They were joined by over 200 cardiologists and nephrologists from all over Israel.
On the first day, Israel’s Deputy Minister of Health, Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, presented the opening remarks. On the roster for that day was also a lecture by Prof. Ehud Grossman, Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Sheba, and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Haifa.
Throughout the second day of the conference, the cardiology sessions included performing heart surgeries in the operating rooms, random interventions in the catheterization room, complex arrhythmia ablations, and several workshops for interns and specialists from across the country. One of the highlights of the cardiology workshops was a class on hemodynamics given by Dr. Rick Nishimura of the Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned leading cardiologist.
All of the cardiology procedures were carried out jointly by Sheba and Mayo Clinic specialists:
- Prof. Ehud Raanani, Director of the Cardiovascular Center at Sheba, and Dr. Leonid Sternik, Director of Sheba’s Department of Surgery, operated together with Dr. Hartzell Schaff, a cardiovascular surgeon at Mayo Clinic
- The catheterization team was headed by Prof. Victor Guetta and Prof. Amit Segev, from Sheba’s Cardiology Department, working together with Dr. Charanjit Rihal, the outgoing Director of the Cardiology Department at Mayo Clinic
- Dr. Roy Beinart, Director of the Davidai Arrhythmia Center at Sheba, performed complex arrhythmia treatments with Dr. Paul Friedman of the Mayo Clinic
At the same time, nephrologists from Mayo Clinic and Sheba met to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of complex clinical cases. An “Ask the Expert” panel was conducted, attended by senior physicians from both Mayo Clinic and Sheba’s Institute of Nephrology, under the guidance of Sheba’s Deputy Director, Dr. Pazit Beckerman.
Prof. Yitzhak Kreiss, Director of Sheba Medical Center, is the brainchild behind the collaboration with Mayo Clinic. This type of cooperative venture is a part of his strategic vision.
In the words of Prof. Ehud Raanani, Director of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, “This meeting constitutes another milestone in the extensive cooperation between the Sheba Heart Center and the Mayo Clinic Heart Center, which includes clinical activity, research activity, and cooperation in the field of innovation. I am proud of the fact that Mayo Clinic chose
the Sheba Heart Center as the main infrastructure for cooperation with cardiac medicine in Israel.”
The seminar grappled with the hottest issues facing the fields of cardiology and nephrology, respectively, and was widely regarded as significant and a huge success. At the end of the conference, both hospitals announced that they are dedicated to increasing their technological innovation, cooperation, and collaboration – inside and outside the operating room.
“…The professional interest aroused by the conference and the great attendance demonstrated that the grand total was greater than the sum of its parts. This organized cooperation between Sheba and Mayo Clinic highlights the potential of mutual contribution and development,” said Dr. Deganit Dinur, Director of the Nephrology Institute at Sheba.
