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June 16, 2000/13 Sivan I 5760, Vol. 52, No.41
Jewish doctor writes of impressive heritage
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
Zachary Rubin |
What does a busy medical student do on a free afternoon? Hole up in the library.
That's what Zachary Aaron Rubin did while researching a paper on Jewish medical history.
The study, "Between Ishmael and Edom: The Synthesis and Dissemination of Classical Medicine by Jewish Physicians of Medieval Spain," won Rubin the William B. Bean Student Research Award from the American Osler Society, a national history of medicine society for physicians and clinicians.
Rubin, a recent graduate of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, traveled to Bethesda, Md., May 18 to present his research to some 200 society members and to receive the award, one of two granted by the society this year. He is the first U of A medical student to apply for the award.
Rubin, a Valley native, is a graduate of Phoenix Country Day School, and of Tufts University, Medford, Mass., where he majored in history with a specialization in Southeastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire.
Encouraged by a medical college dean, he submitted his research proposal to the society a year ago. He says a second-year medical school elective in medical history had inspired him to pursue the project.
"I started to look at who the Ottoman physicians were (and) they were all Spanish - and lots of Jews. It piqued my interest," says the newly minted physician.
Rubin did the majority of his research at the library of the New York Academy of Medicine while completing a rotation in the city as part of his medical training earlier this year.
"I spent my afternoons at the library looking up articles," he explains, lauding the extensive resources available there.
He wrote the paper after returning to Arizona. Dr. John Peirce, director of education at Good Samaritan Hospital, served as his editor.
The paper provides a capsulated history of medieval medicine, focusing on 10th and 11th century Spain. It traces the development of the "Spanish school," its classical roots transmitted by Muslim practitioners to Jewish physicians in Spain and the singular contribution by those Jewish practitioners to the healing arts. It also provides an incisive look at the role of Jewish physicians in the Muslim and Christian courts in Spain, and how they employed their medical knowledge and skill to gain power and influence with the prevailing rulers.
"Jewish physicians were notable in both the Muslim and Christian courts in Spain," says Rubin, citing as an example 10th century physician Hasdai ibn Shaprut, who served in the court of Abd al-Rahman III in Cordoba. Hasdai established a reputation not only as a physician but also as a scholar and translator.
Jewish fortunes, buffeted by the shifts of power from Muslim to Christian and back again, from the initial Moorish invasion of Spain in 711 to the final expulsion of the Jews by Catholic monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, were determined by the whims of the prevailing rulers. Yet by virtue of their abilities, Spanish Jewish physicians ingratiated themselves with Muslim caliphs, Christian kings and royal courts. Accorded positions of influence commensurate with their abilities, many were able not only to elevate their own personal status but also to impact positively the political and cultural destiny of their people.
"The Jewish physicians used medicine as an entr‚e to power," says Rubin. They attained a status unparalleled in other European nations of the time, excelling in every academic discipline, and particularly in the medical arts.
One of the most renowned Jewish physicians of the period is Moses Maimonides (1135-1204), Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, who is known in rabbinical literature as Ramban. Considered one of the most illustrious figures in the post-talmudic era, he is revered as a rabbinic authority, codifier, philosopher and royal physician.
Rubin says the research project reinforced the value of studying medical history. "It's as important as the study of medicine itself," he says, noting that doctors are not infallible and that history provides necessary perspective and context.
He laments the limited opportunity for studying medical history in the rigorous four-year medical school curriculum. The first two years of study are devoted to basic sciences, the second two to clinical rotations.
Rubin, whose father is a physician, says he knew that he wanted to go to medical school for a long time. He chose the area of internal medicine because of its breadth.
Rubin and his wife of three years, Molly, are en route to New York where he will begin a four-year internship and residency program at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
Molly Rubin, who received a master's degree in religious studies from Arizona State University in May, will continue her studies at the Drisha Institute in New York.
Rubin says the Osler project opened his eyes to the uniqueness of the Jewish medical tradition.
"It helped me as a physician put into perspective how important medicine has been to the Jewish people in other societies," he says, terming Jewish accomplishments in the medical field "pretty impressive."
And it reaffirms his commitment, he says.
"I feel pride in being part of that tradition."
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