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History of Medicine museum, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University  It is quite remarkable what a medical student can learn simply by walking through the corridors of the BGU-MSIH medical school campus. There, a wealth of medical historical knowledge has been built into the very walls of its interior spaces. Thus, it is really an effortless undertaking for any medical student with a curiosity to understand the origins of their profession to simply walk and read through these exhibits. A total of an hour or two spent perusing them is sufficient to attain the beginnings of a well-rounded medical historical education from ancient times to the modern era. It was with this intention that I purposefully took to these corridors one day to see what I could find, and what follows here is an account of my findings. The ancient Egyptians practiced a form of medicine in keeping with their mythology, incorporating various rituals surrounding their deities into their treatments. There...

The shuk in Beer-sheva Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered why I moved to a foreign country, a strange sensation struck my psyche. Was it elation, bliss, or gladness? Lamentation, grief, or sadness? None of these it was, though for them many an instance gave just cause; Instead the passion rubbed the middle, defied assurance, like a riddle. My heart had gathered all peaks and vales under its tent, at long last found contentment. This describes my recent progression through a set of phases people often experience after moving to an unfamiliar and less comfortable place than wherever it was they came from. Although the individual durations of each vary, it is said that one progresses through four phases in total: 1) the honeymoon phase, 2) the resistance phase, 3) the understanding phase, 4) the assimilation phase. The honeymoon  period occurs when you first begin living in your new environs. The differences in culture and surroundings are still novel and intriguing. Every ...

Second-year medical student Nicole Magpayo (seen second from right) couldn't resist sending us this post, to give prospective students a glimpse of second year. She writes "As we get back into our normal daily routine of classes, 2nd year MSIH students continue with medical Hebrew classes. This week we were taught Cardiology physical exams and performed them on each other!"

There are few feelings quite as nice in the life of a student as the feeling of completing a round of semester-end final exams. When these are finally over, as they are now for our class of 2016, it is like a colossal weight that is lifted off the shoulders. This new-found freedom does not set in instantaneously after stepping out of the examination room, however. The pain lingers for about a day afterwards, like the residual aches a trekker feels in his thighs upon setting down his burden to rest by the campfire after traversing a high mountain pass. Then, after that day has passed, ever so gently the new freedom sinks into the soul as softly as a butterfly alighting on an outstretched palm. The world seems fresh and new, full of color and potential. Fresh air is breathed by lungs that have known little else but stagnant, indoor, dusty Beer-Sheva air for the previous several weeks of reviewing. Once again the senses are reawakened, and the singing of birds and smells of the earth are ...