The Pediatric Community Medicine Unit of Sheba Medical Center is responsible for developing and coordinating the activities of the Division of Pediatrics within the community. In order to fulfill our role as a center for child health, the medical staff provides both primary and consultative services in community pediatric centers. Furthermore, these centers provide a framework for the education of pediatric residents as well as for the continuing medical education of primary pediatricians in the community.
Community health services in Israel are provided predominantly by the four health funds. In addition, local authorities and the Ministry of Health coordinate preventative services. The community medicine activities of the pediatric division have thus been developed in coordination with the primary health care providers.
The Community Pediatric Unit is involved in four main spheres of activity:
The Giora Primary Pediatric Health Center
The Giora Pediatric Center is a community clinic of the Sherut Briut Clalit Health Fund, situated in the adjacent town of Or Yehuda. Approximately 5000 children are treated in this center, receiving a full range of primary care and preventative health services.
The Scientific Council of the Israel Medical Association has recognized the center for pediatric specialization. All pediatric residents undergo a six-month rotation in the clinic, both providing care and receiving training in the field of primary care and community pediatrics from the staff of senior pediatricians. A senior pediatrician from the hospital is integrated into this program and is responsible for the activities of the residents, as well as coordinating patient care between the hospital departments and the community services.
Physicians from the hospital in various specialties including Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Pulmonology, Endocrinology, Allergy and Pediatric Surgery Undertake Clinics in the center on a regular basis, thus providing a consultative service for the community pediatricians, as well as an educational experience for our pediatric residents.
Community Urgent Care Centers
The Pediatric Division is responsible for the management and medical service of two community Urgent Care Centers for the Maccabi Health Care Services. These centers, situated in Ramat Hasharon and Petach Tikva, provide a Pediatric Emergency and Consultative Service throughout the year including weekends and festivals from 8am to 11pm daily. The activities of the centers are integrated into the program of the Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and the department's senior staff provides care in both the hospital's emergency room and in the community centers.
Over 40,000 children are treated annually in the two centers. In addition to acute emergency care, the facilities provide consultative services for the primary pediatricians and day admissions, enabling a wide range of investigations and treatments, such as Inhalations, Intravenous Therapies and dynamic endocrinological tests.
Primary Care Pediatric Clinics
The Pediatric Division operates Primary Care Pediatric Clinics for the Meuchedet Health Fund in Bnei Brak and in Elad and for the Maccabi Health Care Services in Or Yehuda. Senior pediatricians are thus able to pursue a career in primary pediatrics as well as continuing as attending physicians in the hospital's academic environment.
The Pediatric Rehabilitation Department provides a consultative and advisory service for children with disabilities in special kindergartens and classes on behalf of the Ministry of Health and our senior neurologists undertake consultative clinics in community child development centers.
Preventative Services - Family Health Clinics
The Pediatric Division provides medical service to 13 well baby clinics under the auspices of the local government health authority. These clinics are responsible for preventative health services, including routine examination and developmental assessment of infants, immunizations, and the routine physical examination of school children. Both staff pediatricians and pediatric residents undertake the weekly clinics. In addition to providing service to the community, these clinics expose pediatric residents to the important fields of preventative and developmental pediatrics.
Pediatric Education
One of the main goals of the community pediatric services of the Division of Pediatrics is to provide a framework for the medical education of pediatric residents and for the continuing education of community-based primary pediatricians.
The Giora Pediatric Center is fully integrated into our Pediatric Residency Program and all residents undertake a 6-month rotation in the clinic. The residents receive instruction in aspects of primary and community pediatrics and continuity care, as well as attending consultations by senior pediatric specialists. The community urgent care centers have also been recognized for pediatric resident rotations and in the coming year, senior residents will spend part of their training in pediatric emergency medicine in these facilities.
Our involvement in continuing medical education is based on a number of different models. At present, we undertake three monthly meetings with primary pediatricians in the community. The format of the meetings vary, and include frontal lectures, updates on topics of interest and interactive case discussions, where the physicians are encouraged to present complex clinical problems for discussion with our senior pediatric consultants.
| Unit at a Glance |
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Director - Prof. Brian Reichman
Prof. Brian Reichman was born in South Africa in 1947 and completed his M.D. studies in Rhodesia (1970). He immigrated to Israel in 1972 and completed his medical studies in Rehovot. In 1979, he subsequently undertook a fellowship program in Neonatal Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. From 1982 to 1994 he was the director of the Department of Neonatology.
From 1995 to 1998, Prof. Reichman undertook the position of Deputy Medical Director of the Maccabi Health Fund, Sharon District, and in 1998 returned to the Sheba Medical Center as director of the Community Pediatric Unit, with the responsibility for the coordination, development and integration of community pediatric services into the activities of the Division of Pediatrics.
Prof. Reichman is a senior investigator in the Women and Children’s Health Research Unit of the Gertner Institute for Health Policy and Epidemiology Research, Sheba Medical Center, and serves as Clinical Director of the Israel National Very Low Birth Weight Infant database. Prof. Reichman is a senior lecturer in the Department of Pediatrics of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, and his current fields of research include Perinatal and Neonatal Epidemiology, and growth and neurodevelopmental outcome of premature infants. |
| E-mail - Brian.Reichman@sheba.health.gov.il |
| Tel - 972-3-530-2895 | |
