Sagee Tal strolls along the beachfront to meet me at a little seaside café next to his apartment in Haifa, Israel. Having left his suits and ties back in the States, he has embraced the Israeli workplace uniform of jeans and T-shirts. It is a windy weekday and despite being in the midst of exams, Tal takes some time out from revision to reflect on the past year and a half as an American medical student studying at the Technion in Israel.
The son of Alex and Orna Tal, Sagee Tal was born in Houston and at an early age moved to Kansas City, growing up in the Jewish community and attending Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy.
“My Mom taught Hebrew at HBHA and I have fond memories of the JCC. It felt like my second home.” recalled Tal.
Tal’s father is an endocrinologist and it was his career that brought the family to the heart of America. Dr. Alex Tal worked at the Truman Medical center and UMKC for many years prior to moving to Pittsburgh, Pa., where they currently reside.
“My Dad grew up on one of the first kibbutzim in Israel, Degania Bet on the banks of the Sea of Galilee,” Tal explained. “He was the son of Russian immigrants and he was raised on the kibbutz by his aunt while his mother chose to live in a larger city.”
Eventually Tal’s father, too, left the kibbutz for the city, this time to Tel Aviv to study medicine. Here he qualified as a doctor, met Sagee’s mother and, following his army service during the Yom Kippur war, they moved to America in pursuit of the American dream.
“My dad always wanted me to be a doctor,” explained Tal. “My sister had succumbed to parental persuasion to follow his lead in medicine but I was more resistant.”
Tal moved to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and studied economics.
“Medicine was always at the back of my mind so I took the medical pre-req courses, just in case.”
Tal graduated, began a career in economics but again, medicine beckoned, and he studied for the MCAT (medical entrance) exams, just in case.
Realizing that he was not cut out for the business world, medicine yet again beckoned, and this time Tal realized that indeed medicine was the career for him. Concurrently, as Tal confirmed to his father that he would be following the family tradition and pursuing a career in medicine, his paternal grandmother took ill in Israel. Tal’s father rushed to her bedside in Rambam hospital in Haifa and during his visit happened to hear a gaggle of eager medical students speaking English with their mentor.
So impressed with the depth of their knowledge and positive approach to their medical education, Dr. Alex Tal made enquiries as to where these medical students were training. Upon discovering that they were studying at an American medical school program based in the Technion, and with his son’s future medical career at the forefront of his mind, he researched the program before returning to America.
“My Dad was really enthusiastic about the Technion American Medical School program (TeAMS). I had the required grades and while I had planned to apply for medical school the following year, on a whim I decided to send in an application. The TeAMS program has a rolling application scheme so I applied on the off chance that I would be able to interview in the summer vacation,” said Tal. “Almost immediately I received a reply informing me that I could be considered for entry that year [2011], if I flew out to Israel straightaway to interview as there would be no more U.S.-based interviews.”
Tal took a week to weigh his options; he consulted his parents, friends and other medical school students.
“I had always wanted to spend time in Israel and I knew of the Technion’s excellent reputation. Upon hearing such positive feedback from TeAMS students, I decided to take the chance and fly (to Israel) the following week for interviews.”
At the end of June 2011 Tal arrived in Haifa, impressed the Technion’s admissions team, and was accepted to the program.
On Oct. 4, 2011, Tal arrived in Israel to begin his medical studies, two days after leaving his job in economics, and he hasn’t looked back since.
“I don’t think I could be having a better experience. The studies are interesting, it is taught well, and being in Israel on the beach is wonderful,” Tal exudes. “I love Bat Galim [in Haifa], it’s extremely relaxed and I live close to other students, in a beachfront apartment, just a few minutes’ walk from the medical school.”
While first-year classes were more ‘science-y,’ Tal says that this year, his second year, is directly related to the clinical medicine that he is beginning to practice.
“Some of my classes take place in Rambam hospital, with real patients, practicing the clinical skills previously learnt theoretically.”
Israel’s informal culture allows medical school students to access top doctors from day one.
“We see what residents see in the states. Everything is much more relaxed here so you can go up to any doctor and ask to shadow them. Not only that, but when you are shadowing them they often involve you in their medical procedures.”
While medical school is undoubtedly an incredibly demanding experience, Tal says that he manages to find time to socialize with local students, spend Shabbat meals with the local community and enjoy the best of what Israel has to offer.
“The Israeli lifestyle is great, people are friendly, more family orientated, less competitive and I even find the Israeli chutzpah endearing!”
Tal’s classmates come from across the United States and Canada. From Quebec to New York, from Ohio to California, all with one goal in common: to be the next generation of American doctors (with a little bit of Israeli chutzpah picked up along the way.)
Anna Harwood writes about Israeli innovation, science and culture. She moved to Israel from London two years ago.