2017 was another great year for the Dream Doctors Project!

The Dream Doctors had another incredible year in 2017 and we hope you've enjoyed reading our highlights every month. We're going to be announcing some exciting news next month so keep an eye out for the January newsletter!

And you can still make a donation to the Dream Doctors Project today and deduct it from your 2017 taxes! It's fast and easy to donate online.

We thank you all for being part of our family and wish you a Happy New Year!

The Clownbulance goes to the Knesset

Dream Doctors Smadar Harpak and Penny Hanuka granted a very special wish in the Clownbulance, taking 16-year-old Tali to meet Member of Knesset Stav Shaffir and see the Israeli Parliament in action! This initiative transports children and teens with life-threatening diseases to a joyful event of their choice. They are accompanied by the Dream Doctors therapeutic medical clowns with whom they have bonded during their treatment.

University Lectures on Medical Clowning

At the Israeli Association for Infant Mental Health's Conference on the "Emotional Wellbeing of Hospitalized Infants" at the Academic College of Tel Aviv, Dream Doctor Shoshi Ofir presented "Clowning Seriously", a behind-the-scenes look at professional medical clowning within the hospital framework and case studies from the field.

At the second International Conference "Child Maltreatment in Context", hosted by Hebrew University, the Haruv Institute and Myers-JDC Brookdale, Shoshi spoke along with Dr. Nessia Lang-Franco, her colleague at Poriya Hospital. During a session on intervention programs, they explained how medical clowns can reduce situational anxiety during invasive examinations of children who have been sexually abused.

Unexpected Israel

In her blog, "Unexpected Israel", Ruth Corman offers a nice and concise history of clowning, medical clowning and the Dream Doctors Project. She also shares her experience shadowing Dream Doctor David "Dush" Barashi at Hadassah Hospital!

Visit to Greece

Dream Doctor Avital Dvory was invited by the Israeli Embassy in Greece to bring the joy and healing of medical clowning to Athens and Ioannina, as the cities were preparing for the holidays. In just three days Avital visited three hospitals and three homes for the elderly, demonstrating her work as a Dream Doctor. She also created a performace in one of the hospitals. And in one of the elderly homes, she met with phyiscal therapists who helped her create a unique program using the patients' exercises, adding a therapeutic element to the interactive activity she gave there. Everywhere she traveled, people were excited about the Dream Doctors' work and grateful to have Avital there!

"A Different Sort of Sedation"

In the 4th chapter of her blog, Dream Doctor Nehama Perel shares a sweet story from her colleague at Hadassah Hospital, Dream Doctor Maya Ben David. Because of Maya's compassionate and skillful interventions, a young girl who was anxious and afraid to have surgery, became empowered and entered the operating room on her own terms, feeling relaxed and ready.

Visitors to Galilee Medical Center

When the Galilee Medical Center welcomed a group from China they brought in Dream Doctor Adam Bezalel to explain the work of the medical clown team. We agree with our partners at the hospital that "smilng and laugher can be the best type of therapy!"

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