Quite a few patients come to visit Dr. Leah Levy and Dr. Sarah Farrow, but neither of them speculates which way they both went until they became doctors in Israel.
Please get to know: Dr. Leah Levy, an ultra-Orthodox who immigrated to Israel from France in 2018, and also serves as chair of the French-speaking doctors' organization in Israel.
She specializes in family medicine and palliative medicine at the clinic of the United HMO in Bnei Brak.
"We chose to immigrate because every Jew in France receives a Zionist education that explains the importance of immigrating to the Holy Land," says Leah, a mother of five.
I always wanted to go up. "Dr. Leah Levy, Photo: Private album
Prior to immigrating to Israel, the family lived in a luxury neighborhood in Paris.
Upon arrival in Israel, they settled in Bnei Brak.
"I was in the first closure after the fourth birth," Leah recalls. "A dedicated corona clinic was opened in the city, and I worked long hours because of the high morbidity rates. I fell in love with Bnei Brak. It was amazing to discover its beauty.
She testifies that she always knew that at some point she would immigrate to Israel with her family, "but it was accompanied by concerns - until representatives from the United Health Insurance Fund and the Jewish Agency told us about the plan. We did not hesitate too much, and set a deadline for immigration."
She is now calling on more doctors to do the same.
"Doctors from France bring great value to medicine in the country, and the program brings satisfaction to both the doctor and the community."
The one who will probably agree with Leah is Dr. Sarah Farrow, who also immigrated from France, and today works as a family physician at the United Health Insurance Clinic in Ashdod. She was born and raised in Marseille, and connected to the spirit and atmosphere in Israel at the age of 20.
When she finished her medical studies, she decided to take part in an international program of MDA and doctors from France to study emergency medicine. In 2016, at the age of 29, she decided to immigrate to Israel - alone. "I did a lot of thinking and realized my future in Israel," she says.
"My future is here."
Dr. Sarah Farrow, Photo: Private album
In Israel, she learned of the doctors' recruitment plan from France, and she decided to try to get accepted.
A few years later she met her husband, and a year ago their eldest daughter was born.
"Immigrating to Israel is the best decision I have made," she smiles, "at first I experienced many difficulties, but time has done its thing, and today I welcome the opportunity given to me."
Leah and Sarah participated in the "Medicine in Aliyah" program, which is promoted by the Human Resources Division at Meuhedet, in collaboration with the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Absorption and Aliyah.
Since 2017, 21 doctors have immigrated to Israel as part of the program.
The Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Pnina Temano-Sheta, said that she had worked to approve in the government decisions that remove barriers for new immigrants in the process of obtaining a medical license in Israel, and increase the number of staffing standards for them.
According to her, the ministry she heads "will work for the immigrants, with an emphasis on finding employment solutions that will make it easier for them to integrate into society."
"Although the human body is the same all over the world, the culture of medicine varies from country to country," added Prof. Anthony Heiman, director of the Department of Family Medicine at Meuhedet.
The chairman of the World Zionist Organization and the acting chairman of the Jewish Agency, Yaakov Hagoel, welcomed the program and said that "it is exciting to see Jews who have chosen to leave behind language, culture, studies and work - and join the vast mosaic of the Zionist idea."
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