Page 27 - Kol Bogrei Habonim - January 19

“CASES AND CRISES”* – A SYNOPSIS
DR CYRIL SHERER
“I
s he listening to me? Does he hear
me?”
How often do these words come into
the minds of patients? They are
seldom spoken out loud. Today’s patient, caught
in a mass of data, graphs and (sometimes
unnecessary tests) may not always get the
answer he/she came for. He wants to be asked
how he feels, but does he get the chance? Was
the system ever different?
Despite 70 years in practice Dr. Sherer, taught in
medical school and hospitals never to get too
close to patients, does not remember such a time.
Even in easy-going New Zealand, doctor-patient
relationships were correct; any personal
discussion would be regarded as an invasion of
privacy (it has probably changed by now, but
certainly prevailed in the 1950’s).
Immigrating to Israel in 1961, Dr. Sherer finds a
different situation. Faced with many different
ethnic groups, each having their own
interpretations of what a consultation should be,
a patient often says nothing. (What does his
silence mean? It would vary between groups)
Dr. Sherer finds himself more involved with
people than ever before.
Temperamentally unsuited for the controlled
system inherent in organized practice he does
what is regarded as impossible, he begins a
private practice unconnected to any institution:
based on availability, taking as much time as
necessary to evaluate masses of previous results.
He succeeds and is soon taking care of Israelis
frustrated by the “system,” foreign diplomats
and their families, international journalists, UN
personnel etc. He builds a practice and before
long becomes a dominant figure in tourist
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medicine. Here yet another approach is required.
Tourists are anxious, understandably, so; they
wonder whether the doctor will speak their
language, (he does), will he overcharge them (he
does not). His technique of reaching out to
people is simple. Before starting a consultation
with a tourist, he asks where they are from.
Widely travelled in America and Europe he can
almost always find a connection with their home
town or state, a university, a hospital, a
prominent personality, a rabbi. When this is
done he watches the tourist unwind, gaining
confidence, especially when Sherer is willing
(time differences permitting) to call their home
doctor and consult together.
A new vista opens for him, the person behind the
disease. “People are more interesting than
bacteria.” In Jerusalem, a city of so many
peoples, his life and work become more
fascinating than ever. However, “there is a time
for everything,” it says in Ecclesiastes, and the
time comes for him to retire, looking back on a
colourful life involved with fascinating people
and their stories.
This is not an autobiography. It is about cases
and people in four different countries. In the
course of 70 years, medicine changes, and Dr.
Sherer also changes; he becomes a more mature
physician as he understands his patients’
feelings. He engages with them in greater depth,
with greater satisfaction. Dr. Sherer is not the
central figure; he appears in a marginal role.
*"Cases and Crises" is available from Amazon
or from the Publisher Chaim Mazo, POB 36084
Jerusalem 91360, or azopublishers@gmail.com.
Bookshops will order it.