Professor Avi Rivkind, head of HMO’s Trauma Unit, has been named Israel’s first Academic Chair in Trauma Medicine. The creation of this Chair marks the elevation of Trauma Medicine to an academic specialty and establishes the excellence of HMO in meeting the challenges of this medical specialty.

“Much of modern medicine,” notes Prof. Rivkind, “addresses the tiniest offenders: viruses, bacteria, delinquent cells lurking inside the human body, sometimes for years. Trauma medicine is different: our patients fall from buildings, take bullets in the chest, crush their lungs and pelvises in motorcycle crashes, and bear the concussive damage of bomb blasts. Their lives are at stake from the moment of impact and the clock is ticking.”He explains: “If we are to establish new protocols and procedures for the world, then we need to provide the scientific basis for our work. The Karl Stoll Chair in Trauma Medicine has arrived exactly on time, just as we need to consolidate our findings and turn them into the material for new textbooks of trauma care for the next generation.”