EVMS professor receives international honor
Steven Warsof, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, has been named an honorary member of the Israeli Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology for his longstanding volunteer efforts at the Azoraeli School of Medicine of the Galilee at Bar Ilan University in Sfat, Israel.
The award was presented to Dr. Warsof by Dr. Eitan Lunnenfeld, President of the Israeli Ob-Gyn Society, Jan. 3, at the Israeli Ob-Gyn Annual meeting held in Tel Aviv.
Dr. Warsof has been teaching Israeli medical students on a voluntary basis since 2012, shortly after the opening of Israel’s fifth medical School in Sfat. Since that time, he has traveled there three or four times per year for one to two weeks of intensive teaching both at Ziv Hospital in Sfat as well as at Poria Hospital in nearby Tiberias. During these sessions, he leads a series of lectures and seminars on various topics in high-risk obstetrics and takes Israeli students on morning rounds. He was previously named “Teacher of the Year” in 2013-14 at Bar Ilan University School of Medicine.
“This has been one of the most rewarding professional and personal experiences in my career,” Dr. Warsof says. “Being able to combine my passion and love for obstetrics, Israel and my family there is very meaningful.”
Dr. Warsof was instrumental in initiating the Bar Ilan University-EVMS student exchange program. For the past five years, two or three Israeli medical students have come to EVMS, and two or three EVMS medical students have travelled to Sfat for a four-week fourth-year elective in advanced obstetrics.
The program has been fully funded by generous donors from the Tidewater Jewish Community. It has recently been extended for an additional five years, through 2023.