A joint conference of the prestigious Mayo Clinic Medical Center in Minnesota, USA, and the Sheba Medical Center took place this week for the fourth time in Sheba.
In a two-day conference, senior cardiologists and experts from around the world took part in the event and registered a record participation of about 150 cardiologists and doctors from all over the country. This is the largest delegation from the Mayo Clinic that has ever visited Israel. It included a team of eight senior physicians from the center, including the departing director of the Mayo Clinic Cardiology Department, Dr. Rihal, the incoming director, Dr. Paul Friedman, and the Mayo Clinic Cardiovascular Research Director, Dr. Amir Lerman.
On the first day of the conference, which focused on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, gave short lectures on cardiovascular diseases and the most advanced topics in the world in this field. On the second day, joint operations were carried out in Sheba’s catheterization room, which included, inter alia, minimally invasive catheterization (catheterization) of obstructive diseases, angioplasty of cardiac muscle thickened by alcohol, and burning of complex arrhythmias in an artificial heart patient.
The cases in question are complex cases for which senior Mayo Clinic experts are highly experienced. In addition, joint visits were held in the hospital admissions departments, joint case discussions and joint activities in the Echo unit.
The initiators of the cooperation that goes on for a decade are Dr. Amir Lerman, an Israeli cardiologist who has been working for more than 30 years at the Mayo Clinic, and Prof. Michael Glikson. The visit was arranged with the assistance of the Director of the Heart, Chest and Vascular Surgery Center, Prof. Ehud Raanani, and the Director of the Cardiology Department, Prof. Amit Segev.
Prof. Raanani: “The overall cooperation between Sheba Medical Center and Mayo Clinic has been implemented thanks to the joint vision of Professor Glikson and Dr. Lerman in the last decade. The collaboration focuses on teaching, research, joint clinical activities, and innovation in cardiovascular medicine and relies on scientific curiosity, a strong desire to provide patients with the best medicine, and deep friendship between surgeons and cardiologists. I hope that in the next few years we will strengthen and develop our joint work. ”
Prof. Segev: “Over the years, many cardiologists and cardiac surgeons have specialized in the Mayo Clinic, and they have become the leading physicians in Israel in their field.” Today, more than ever, Sheba doctors at the Cardiovascular Center can consult with colleagues from the Mayo Clinic at any time. Excellence as a supreme value, provides comprehensive treatment and places the individual patient in the center and this is the model that Sheba Medical Center adopts and acts on. ”
Mayo Clinic is one of the leading medical centers in the world in general and in cardiology in particular. The cooperation between the two Sheba Medical Centers and the Mayo Clinic has been taking place in recent years and includes doctors from Sheba who are taking the Mayo Clinic to hold joint videoconferences, complex cases and methods of treatment and joint research. “It is not trivial that eight of Cardio’s senior cardiologists arrive in Israel for a medical conference, and this is an expression of the strategic cooperation between the two medical centers,” said cardiologist Dr. Elad Maor, who served as the conference coordinator.
“On the first day of the conference, we presented the results of joint research conducted between the two centers and published in important scientific magazines around the world, and I myself have undergone a study at the Mayo Clinic and this important collaboration enables Sheba to continue to be a leading medical center in the field”, says Dr. Maor.
At the end of the conference, the delegation met with the director of the Sheba Medical Center, Prof. Yitshak Kreiss, in order to expand cooperation between the medical centers in other medical fields, with emphasis on innovation, start-up companies, and remote medicine.
During the two days, the delegation visited Israel (for most of them it was their first visit to Israel), and they also had time to travel to Israel. At the end of the first day of the conference, they strolled through the streets of Jaffa and even tasted Israeli shakshuka. The members of the delegation who arrive from cold Minnesota in the north of the United States enjoyed the weather, the reception and the close cooperation with their colleagues in Israel.
