Scienceשפרה שורץ

Shifrah Shvarts

Shifra Shvarts is an Israeli medical historian and professor emerita at Ben-Gurion University who studies the history of health services in Israel.

born 1949History of Israel's health systemResearch on ringworm radiation treatmentStudy of compulsory health insurance law

Occupation: medical historian, historian
Education: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Shifrah Shvarts was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv

Shifra Shvarts was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv to Yeheskel Leider and Batia Ben Ephraim. She grew up in Ashkelon and later moved to Beer Sheva.

She earned a bachelor's degree in history and geography, a master's degree in history and a PhD in health sciences, all at Ben-Gurion University. In 1993 and 1994 she did postdoctoral studies at the University of Rochester medical school in New York State.

She joined the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University in 1995. She chaired the Israel Society for the History of Medicine from 1996 to 1998 and headed the Department of Health System Management from 2001 to 2004. From 2006 to 2017 she was a researcher at the Gertner Institute at Sheba Medical Center.

Her research covers the growth of Israel's health system, the salaried physician model and the 1994 compulsory health insurance law. She also studied the radiation treatment of ringworm in Israel and abroad. She wrote 4 books, and her book on Kupat Holim, the Histadrut and the government won the Einhorn Prize.

Milestones in Shifrah Shvarts's life

1949
Born in Tel Aviv.
1993
Began postdoctoral studies at the University of Rochester.
1995
Joined the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University.
1996
Became chair of the Israel Society for the History of Medicine.
2000
Published a book that won the Einhorn Prize.
2001
Became head of the Department of Health System Management.
2002
Joined the management of the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research.
2008
Was elected deputy director-general of the International Society for the History of Medicine.
2014
Became coordinator of the editorial board of the journal Vesalius.