September 16, 2009, Updated September 14, 2012

Dr Suheir Assady is the first female Arab physician to head a medical department in Israel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvhJAZlY030

Just a few months ago, Dr Suheir Assady was appointed to head the Nephrology Department at the Rambam Health Campus in Haifa http://www.rambam.org.il/Home+Page. As the first Arab woman in Israel to attain such a position, she is breaking the glass ceiling twice.

“When you are curious and you love what you are doing you succeed,” says the charismatic young doctor, adding “… it doesn’t matter if you have treated 100 patients already or a 1,000 – every patient is a new challenge. Either for diagnosis or treatment … the challenge is to do things properly and discover new things. I am a dreamer, so to make all my dreams come true – this is my challenge.”

At Rambam, the staff is completely integrated, with a representation of Arab physicians commensurate with the numbers in the population.

Assady comments: “At Rambam we can be very proud that 16 [women] hold very good positions … a lot of residents and doctors are women – 30% so I am in a good league.”

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