The Medical Corps International Course took place at the Corps’ training base in Tzrifin and reached its close this week.  The course was three weeks long, and amongst its participants were Medical Corps officers from numerous countries including India, Britain, China, the United States of America, Germany, Holland, and Estonia.

Numerous officers of the IDF Medical Corps joined the group during the course, including doctors, dentists, officers of the Medical Planning Branch, and a psychiatrist.  The group experienced a series of lectures on military medical procedures, the IDF, Israel, and the various threats that the country confronts everyday.  Amongst the lecturers were former Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General (res.) Moshe Ya’alon, Deputy Surgeon General, Brigadier General Nachman Ash, Head of Mental Health Deparment, Colonel Gadi Lubin, and Homefront Command Medical Commander, Colonel Yaron Bar Dayan.  “We were very successful in bringing fifteen great representatives to Israel and the IDF,” said the commander of the course, Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Tarif Beadar.

The course’s cadets were taken on tours of different areas in Israel including Sderot, where the group was trained to go into a secure area during the Code Red alert that warns of impending rocket attacks.  The group listened to explanations by Magen David Adom and the Police Force on coping with the constant barrage of Qassam rockets hitting the city.  “It was the most striking message about what is going on in Sderot,” said Colonel Dr. Tarif Beader.  “The course exposed the foreign officers to Israel’s reality, the threats that we deal with, and the medical developments of the IDF.  It was part of a series of activities that will continue in the future.”