Professional development: a mixed methods study of Masters of Public Health alumni.

Introduction: We examined the perceptions of the Master of Public Health (MPH) degree graduates regarding their personal competencies, job performance and professional development using a mixed method, explanatory sequential design.

Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered questionnaire of the Haifa School of Public Health alumni who graduated between 2005 and 2022 was disseminated to 849 graduates between March and June 2022, from which 127 responded (response rate: 14.90%).

Improving contraceptive care for minors in Israel: practice, policy, and training gaps among OBGYNs.

Background: Sexually active adolescents sometimes seek contraceptives without parental consent, posing challenges due to minors' confidentiality and consent regulations. This is especially the case under the un-nuanced Israeli legal scheme regarding adolescents' care.

Methods: Israeli OBGYNs were contacted through mailing lists and social media groups and asked to fill an online questionnaire regarding their experience and protocols concerning prescription of contraceptives to minors.

Tobacco smoke incursion into private residences in Israel: a cross-sectional study examining public perceptions of private rights and support for governmental policies.

Background: Tobacco smoke incursion (TSI) into private residences is a widespread problem in many countries. We sought to assess the prevalence of self-reported TSI and public attitudes about TSI in Israel, a country with a relatively high smoking prevalence and high population density.

Methods: We conducted a random digit dial survey among residents in Israel (N = 285) in 2017, which examined the frequency, source, correlates of, and attitudes towards TSI and potential regulatory options.

[PRESCRIBING CONTRACEPTIVES TO MINORS WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT].

The Israeli Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law, denies minors the right to decide upon medical treatment, and regards medical treatment of minors, including contraception, without parental consent as an infringement of parental autonomy. Yet, adolescent girls occasionally ask doctors to prescribe them contraceptives, while refusing parental involvement. This article reviews the relevant legal situation, examines some comparative legal stances and refers to the ethical aspects that should be considered during contraceptive advice to minors, in light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Emerging lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the decisive competencies needed for the public health workforce: A qualitative study.

The global COVID-19 crisis exposed the critical need for a highly qualified public health workforce. This qualitative research aimed to examine public health workforce competencies needed to face COVID-19 challenges and identify the gaps between training programs and the competency demands of real-world disasters and pandemics. Through a sample of thirty-one participant qualitative interviews, we examined the perspectives of diverse stakeholders from lead public health organizations in Israel.

Lessons from Israel's COVID-19 Green Pass program.

As of the beginning of March 2021, Israeli law requires the presentation of a Green Pass as a precondition for entering certain businesses and public spheres. Entitlement for a Green Pass is granted to Israelis who have been vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, who have recovered from COVID-19, or who are participating in a clinical trial for vaccine development in Israel. The Green Pass is essential for retaining immune individuals' freedom of movement and for promoting the public interest in reopening the economic, educational, and cultural spheres of activity.

Ethics Review Boards for Research With Human Participants: Past, Present, and Future.

The debate around ethics review boards (IRBs) has assumed an increasingly central place in academic practice and discourse. In this article, we summarize a unique workshop (study-group) that convened at the University of Haifa, attended by 27 academics from around the globe, representing nine countries in four continents. The participants presented data and points of view, which served as the basis for an open, interdisciplinary discussion.

Digital recording and documentation of endoscopic procedures: physicians' practice and perspectives.

Background: In recent years, it has become increasingly prevalent internationally to record and archive digital recordings of endoscopic procedures. This emerging documentation tool raises weighty educational, ethical and legal issues - which are viewed as both deterrents and incentives to its adoption. We conducted a survey study aimed at evaluating the use of DRD in endoscopic procedures, to examine physicians' support of this practice and to map the considerations weighed by physicians when deciding whether or not to support a more extensive use of DRD.

Treatment of unaccompanied minors in primary care clinics - caregivers' practice and knowledge.

Background: By law, the provision of medical treatment to minors in the State of Israel is conditional upon the consent of their parents. In 2004, the Head of the Medical Administration Unit in the Ministry of Health issued Circular No. 4/2004 regarding the treatment of un-accompanied minors in primary care clinics.

Human rights in patient care and public health-a common ground.

Medical law and public health law have both served extensively as instruments of health protection and promotion-yet both are limited in their effect and scope and do not sufficiently cover nor supply a remedy to systematic, rather than anecdotal, mistreatments in the health care system. A possible solution to this deficiency may be found in the human rights in patient care legal approach. The concept of human rights in patient care is a reframing of international human rights law, as well as constitutional thought and tools, into a coherent approach aimed at the protection and furthering of both personal and communal health.

Digital Recording and Documentation of Endoscopic Procedures: Do Patients and Doctors Think Alike?

Conducting a survey study of a large number of patients and gastroenterologists aimed at identifying relevant predictors of interest in digital recording and documentation (DRD) of endoscopic procedures. Outpatients presenting to the endoscopy unit at our institution for an endoscopy examination were anonymously surveyed, regarding their views and opinions of a possible recording of the procedure. A parallel survey for gastroenterologists was conducted.

Tobacco policy in Israel: 1948-2014 and beyond.

Background: Tobacco is the only consumer product known to kill half of its users, and is a significant cause of death and disability to exposed nonsmokers. This presents a unique conundrum for modern democracies, which emphasize personal liberty, yet are obligated to protect citizens. In Israel, the death toll in 2014 from smoking is expected to reach 8000 deaths; nearly a fifth of the population smokes, and over two-thirds of the population are exposed to tobacco smoke.

No more "all or nothing": abandoning the Balance of Probability rule in cases of vague and subjective medical causation.

In March 2005, after several obiter rulings on this issue, the Supreme Court of Israel finally abandoned the "Balance of Probability" rule, finding it unjustifiable in situations of vague causation, and moved to use a statistical damages rule. According to this rule, when the cause of the damage cannot be proven for any vague medical (or any other scientific) reason, the plaintiff may meet his burden of proof by proving only a "significant" statistical probability, which may be lower than 50%, that the damage was caused by the defendant's negligent actions, although other external causes may be considered as likely or even more likely to be involved in the causation process. In cases when this burden of proof is met, the plaintiff would be compensated by a percentage of the total damage, equal to the percentage of the statistical probability proved.