When doctors at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem say that they are “clowning around,” they’re not joking! Medical clowns, also known as “dream doctors,” actually have become a valuable weapon in the doctors’ arsenal of ways to help sick children.
When the Milwaukee Chapter of Hadassah and Milwaukee Hadassah Associates honor four Milwaukee-area physicians for their service to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, the guest speaker will be a medical clown who has worked all over the world in this relatively new field.
David Barashi will discuss “The Global Impact of Hadassah’s Medical Clown Program.” Barashi has been a clown at Hadassah Medical Center since 2003.
The event will be held at 7 p.m., on Monday, Jan. 31, at the Four Points Sheraton North, 8900 N. Kildeer Ct., in Brown Deer.
Barashi earned an undergraduate degree in nursing and theater arts from the University of Haifa. In addition to medical clowning, he also writes, directs, produces, acts and works as artistic director on various plays and projects.
Barashi helps physicians relate to acutely and chronically ill children and their parents, and he often is able to use laughter to help children endure painful and stressful medical procedures.
He has volunteered in Hadassah’s outreach in India, with AIDS-stricken orphans in Ethiopia, with tsunami survivors in Southeast Asia, with civilians in northern Israel during the war with Lebanon, and most recently in earthquake-stricken Haiti.
Barashi has been a medical clown for seven years and was a street clown for 15 years before that.
“It’s all about finding connections between people, being sensitive to them and thus allowing them to attach and open themselves emotionally,” he said.
While “clown care” has existed for decades as a way to help ill children, the field has been formalized and is now considered an invaluable asset in pediatrics.
Israel has become a global leader in the field. The University of Haifa now offers a bachelor’s degree in medical clowning. The field combines nursing, psychology, physical therapy and the history of medicine together with juggling and improvisational comedy.
The program, funded by the Israeli-based Magi Foundation entirely from private donations, has placed 70 clowning specialists in 17 hospitals in hospitals and clinics all across Israel.
The Milwaukee physicians being honored are Jordan Fink, Paul Jacobs, Ralph Schapira, and Steve Werlin.
In 1981, Fink spent six weeks in Israel working with Hadassah Medical Center’s physicians and staff to establish the allergy unit. That unit has been diagnosing and treating patients with allergic disease since that time.
Jacobs was a visiting professor at Hadassah in 1971, working as a rotating physician for joint diseases. In 1974, he returned to the medical center to help as a staff physician while most of the Israeli medical staff were serving in the military. He received the Hadassah Medal for his efforts.
Schapira is a professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and vice chair of the college’s Department of Medicine. During the summer of 2007, he studied Israel’s disaster preparation and response system at Hadassah Medical Center. He has applied that knowledge in Milwaukee as a member of the Department of Veterans Affairs Emergency Management Council. He also works with the Medical College’s Department of Emergency Medicine on issues related to disaster preparedness.
Werlin is a professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and he served as the first pediatric gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital and at the Medical College. In Israel, he conducted research at Hadassah Medical Center on gastrointestinal problems in patients with cystic fibrosis.
The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are requested by Wednesday, Jan. 26. To RSVP, contact Milwaukee Chapter of Hadassah, 414-332-4800 or milwaukeehadassah@sbcglobal.net.
Marilyn Ruby is former Chronicle assistant editor and currently literature teacher and senior administrative assistant at the Milwaukee Jewish Day School.
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