Arthur I Eidelman, MD

Why are we honoring him today?

Michael Kaplan
Department of Neonatology
Shaare Zedek Medical Center,
Jerusalem.
 Arthur Eidelman: Life Review
• Early period: New York
• Aliyah
• Contribution to neonatology
– Shaare Zedek Medical Center
• Contribution to neonatology
– national
• Contribution to pediatrics
– national front
• Personal reflections
 Early Period: New York
• Born and grew up in New York
• BA Yeshiva College, Yeshiva University
• MD Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Yeshiva University, New York
• Pediatrics and Chief Residency, Yale-New Haven
Hospital
• Neonatology Fellowship Yale University School of
Medicine (Dr Louis Gluck)
• Boards in Pediatrics and Neonatal and Perinatal
Medicine
Hebrew Institute of Boro Park
Brooklyn New York 1951
Then…
 Arleen
Pilzer
and

Arthur
Eidelman
1960
…and now..Eidelman Family 2009
 Employment Prior to Aliyah

• Bronx Municipal Hospital Center

• New Rochelle Hospital, New York
• The Hospital of the Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, New York
Neonatology
Fellow
Yale
University
1965-7
 1978 – Oleh Chadash!!

•
 Contribution to Neonatology:
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
• Did not let trials and tribulations of Aliya hinder
him.
•

• Immediately started work at Shaare Zedek.

• Set up neonatal intensive care unit
• One of the first units in Israel
• Trained nurses and doctors
• Obtained State-of-the-Art neonatal equipment
Shaare Zedek Hospital
 Progress over 30 years
1978 2008
3000 deliveries 12,000 deliveries
10 beds 30 official beds,
in practice 40-45
2 neonatologists 5 neonatologists
1 resident 2 residents (!)
Night call shared 2 doctors dedicated to
with pediatrics neonatology
 Within Shaare Zedek
• Rapidly promoted to Medical Director
• Allowed him to learn administrative
aspects of Israeli medicine and Misrad
Habriut at close hand
• Stood him in good stead for subsequent
development of neonatology and
pediatrics in Israel.
Contribution to Neonatology in Israel

• Worked to establish Neonatology as an

independent sub-speciality
• “Grandfather” committee
Prof Reisner, Dr Brish, Dr Zelzer, Prof Eidelman
• 1988 Neonatology recognized as sub-speciality
• Specialization examination
• Approval of neonatal units for training purposes
• Separation of neonatal units from pediatrics
• Many units became independent departments
Recognition of a baby as an individual patient

• Babies were not individuals in Israeli

health services
– Same name as mother,
– same medical chart as mother,
– same discharge letter as mother

• Worked to establish baby as an individual

– Own ID number
– Own medical chart
– Own discharge letter
 Payment for Premature Babies

• Originally was no payment for premature

babies
• Prematures not recognized as a sick
individual
• Payment to hospital was identical for
healthy term newborn and sick premature
• Worked to obtain at least partial
remuneration for prematures
Payment chronicle not yet complete
• 2009
• One time payment of 120,000 shekels
• Each premature < 1750 gm birth weight
However:
• No difference between 1.6 kg healthy
baby and 500 gm desperately ill baby
• No payment for babies > 1750 gm, or for
sick term infants.
What does all this have to do with Pediatrics?
 Contribution to Pediatrics

• Played a major part in establishing neonatology

and neonatal units as separate and independent
units
• Neonatologists are no longer pediatricians with
an interest in newborns, but
• Physicians primarily interested in the care and
well-being of the newborn
• New status adds expertise and knowledge both
to patient care and resident training
New Horizons to Pediatric Training
• Pediatric resident rotating through neonatology
experiences patient care primarily directed at
neonate
• Encounters specially trained doctors
• Experts in neonatal care
• Resident realizes that newborn medicine is a
unique and independent sub-speciality
• Modern neonatology adds expertise, experience
and knowledge to our pediatric training
programs
 Some International Collaborations
• Helped put Israeli neonatology on the
international map
• Liason with Section on Perinatal Pediatrics of
the AAP
• Editorial board of Journal of Perinatology (official
mouthpiece of the Section)
• Co-editor of 2 editions of Clinics in Perinatology.
Major contribution of Israeli authors
• American Academy of Breast Feeding
Arthur Eidelman
the Man

• Excellent clinician
• Superb teacher
• Wide body of medical and general
knowledge
• Continuous updating of knowledge
• Combined clinical and administrative
duties
• Performed and encouraged clinical
research
2 Major Problems at Shaare Zedek
Unique population of Shaare Zedek

• Don’t fight with them, try to understand them

• Don’t impose your values on them, rather
cooperate with them
• Try to think like they do
• Overall result of this strategy:

Better patient care.

 Looking into the future
• Amazing insight of what was going to
transpire in the future
• Understanding of the way the world was
going
 ‫‪Primary Driving Force‬‬

‫• אם יקום והתהלך בחוץ על משענתו ונקה המכה רק‬

‫שבתו יתן ורפא ירפא‬
‫שמות כ"א י"ט‬

‫• רפא ירפא‪:‬‬
‫‪-‬ניתנה רשות לרופא לרפאות‬
‫תלמוד בבלי מסכת ברכות‬

‫‪ -‬נתנה התורה רשות לרופא לרפאות ומצווה היא ובכלל‬

‫פיקוח נפש הוא ואם מונע עצמו הרי זה שופך דמים‪.‬‬
‫שולחן ערוך‬