21 Public Health Graduates Ready to Make an Impact Worldwide

Twenty-one students from 11 countries graduated from the International Master of Public Health (IMPH) program at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, marking their resilience and commitment to excellence during a challenging year of war in Israel.

“Public health is more important than ever in building equitable and more resilient communities,” Dr. Elliot Berry, director of the program, told the graduates, who will return to countries including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to make an impact through research, teaching, policy, health interventions and leadership.

This year’s keynote speaker was Dr. Jordan Kyongo of Kenya, a 2009 graduate of the program and senior program officer for Global Partnerships & Grand Challenges at the Gates Foundation.

“Go out there and do tikkun olam,” he told the graduates. “Use the knowledge that you have to change the world. Do your best and make a difference, that’s how you change the world.”

Dr. Saar Hashavya, head of the Pediatric Emergency Department at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, spoke about the Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO)’s global outreach and his recent mission to Vanuatu.

“I hope your graduation is the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership with HMO,” he said.

Class representative Tankou Colman Tamboh of Cameroon reflected on the connections the students formed during the program.

“We have created something stronger than a network, we have created a bond of friendship, solidarity and gratitude,” he said. “May our knowledge become service, may our service become impact, and may our impact become hope.”

The ceremony also featured a lecture on medicine in the age of artificial intelligence by Dr. Dina Ben Yehuda, head of Hematology.