Shifra Shvarts

Shifra Shvarts (in Hebrew: שפרה שוורץ; born 1949) is an Israeli medical historian and professor at the Moshe Prywes Center for Medical Education, Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University . She is also Deputy Secretary General of the International Society for the History of Medicine . Her research focuses on the history and development of the Israeli health system.

Early life

Shifra Leider-Svarts was born in Tel Aviv. Her parents are Yehezkel Leider and Batya Ben Efraim. She grew up in Ashkelon and moved to Beersheba in 1962 .

Professional background

Shvarts earned her bachelor's degree in history and geography, her master's in history, and her doctorate in health science from Ben Gurion University in Beersheba . From 1993 to 1994 she studied health history and health management at the "School of Medicine and Dentistry" in Rochester (New York) . Since 1995 she has been a member of the scientific staff of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University. From 1996-1998 she held the position of General Secretary of the Israel Society for the History of Medicine. Between 2001 and 2004, Shvarts served as the head of the health management department at Ben Gurion University. She has been part of the management team since 2002 and is a board member of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research, the Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, of the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan . Since 2004 she has also been a research assistant at the Prywes Center for Medical Education. In 2011 she was appointed professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University. In addition, she works as a researcher at the “Gertner Institute”, focusing on the development of the Israeli health system.

In 2008 she was elected General Secretary of the International Society for the History of Medicine. Since 2014 she has acted as deputy managing director of the company and business editor of the medical magazine "Vesalium".

research

Shifra Shvarts is considered a pioneer in researching the development of Israeli health organizations. Her research into the development of the Doctors Employment Model and the National Health Insurance Act resulted in significant insights into the Israeli health system and was featured in the Amorai report, which looks at the work of doctors in Israel's health system.

Shvarts has written ten books to date, four as the sole author and six more in collaboration with other researchers. Her book, Kupat Holim, Histadrut, the Government (published by Ben Gurion Heritage Institute, 2000) won the Unicorn Prize for medical publications in Hebrew. In her books, Shvartz examines the political and organizational situation in Israel in the 1920s and 1930s. The political and economic actors of the time - namely the Israeli government, Kupot Holim (Israeli health insurance companies), Histadrut (Israeli trade union umbrella organization), the medical association , and the nurses' union, had a decisive influence on the development, and their influences are also the key to understanding of the current system.

For the past decade, Shvarts has focused on the history of x-ray / radiation therapy for tinea capitis (fungal attack on the scalp) in Israel and abroad, cf. Ringworm affair .

Works

The Workers' Health Fund in Eretz Israel. Volume 13 of Rochester studies in medical history. The University of Rochester Press, 2002. ISBN 978-1-58046-279-2
Health and Zionism: The Israeli Health Care System, 1948-1960. The University of Rochester Press, 2008, ISBN 978-1-58046-279-2

Web links

Commons : Shifra Shvarts - collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Shvarts, Shifra
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	שורץ-לידר, שפרה
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Israeli medical historian
DATE OF BIRTH	1949