Avraham "Avi" Rivkind (born 1949) is an Israeli

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. He is head of the department of

general surgery General surgery is a surgical specialty that focuses on alimentary canal and abdominal contents including the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, pancreas, gallbladder, appendix and bile ducts, and often the thyroid ...

and the

trauma Trauma most often refers to: *Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source *Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic inju ...

unit of Hadassah Medical Center in

Ein Karem ar, عين كارم , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = Ein Karem IMG 0624.JPG , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Ein Karem , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_ ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Biography

Avraham Rivkind was born in 1949 and served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF) from 1967 to 1970. He completed his pre-medical studies at the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 1240 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and received his

doctorate in medicine A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

in 1980. Dr. Rivkind has been a pioneer in using cell phone and computer technology to provide important information about a patient to the medical personnel even before arrival at the hospital, saving vital time.

Medical career

Rivkind is the medical director of

United Hatzalah United Hatzalah ("united rescue" in Hebrew: איחוד הצלה) is an Israeli free, volunteer-based emergency medical services (EMS) organization throughout Israel with its headquarters based in Jerusalem. Its mission is to provide immediate med ...

, Israel's largest volunteer emergency response organization. He is also an advisor to the surgeon general of the IDF on

and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

. He was the personal physician of the

President of Israel The president of the State of Israel ( he, נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Nesi Medinat Yisra'el, or he, נְשִׂיא הַמְדִינָה, Nesi HaMedina, President of the State) is the head of state of Israel. The posi ...

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (; he, עֵזֶר וַיצְמָן ''Ezer Vaytsman''; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Ai ...

. He served a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

traumatology In medicine, traumatology (from Greek ''trauma'', meaning injury or wound) is the study of wounds and injuries caused by accidents or violence to a person, and the surgical therapy and repair of the damage. Traumatology is a branch of medicine. I ...

and critical care with the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He is also a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in trauma and

foregut The foregut is the anterior part of the alimentary canal, from the mouth to the duodenum at the entrance of the bile duct. Beyond the stomach, the foregut is attached to the abdominal walls by mesentery. The foregut arises from the endoderm, deve ...

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

. Rivkind is revered "for refusing to give up on the most hopeless patients, such as the soldier who was shot in the heart and pronounced dead on arrival and whom Rivkind revived." This soldier was Shimon Ohana, age 18, of the

Border Police A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In diff ...

. Early in 2015, Rachamim Yisraelov was driving the #10

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

bus when he saw Dr. Rivkind walking towards his car. Yisraelov stopped the bus (which was nowhere near a scheduled stop), ran towards the surgeon and embraced him warmly, proclaiming: "You saved my sister's life!" When the driver returned to his bus, he got a spontaneous round of applause from the passengers. Rivkind has said he would like to invite Ismail Haniyeh of

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

to Hadassah Hospital. "I would start by showing him a 14-year old Palestinian boy I operated on last week - and who was injured when a bomb he was working with blew up. I would ask Haniyeh, 'Look at this boy. Would you want your son to look like this?' And then I would show him the care this boy is getting here ... And I'll ask him, 'Isn't this a better way to live between us?' " In 2023 he was chosen to light a torch at the beacon lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl on the occasion of the 75th year of the State of Israel.https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/s1xvt9ym2

Published works

*"Awaiting the Wounded," ''Jewish World'', August 18, 2002

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivkind, Avraham Israeli surgeons University of Southern California faculty The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School alumni Living people 1949 births 20th-century Israeli physicians 21st-century Israeli physicians University of Siena alumni Physicians from Jerusalem