“Médecins Sans Frontières: Medical Humanitarian Activism and the Tension Between Principle and Pragmatism”

Dr. Bertha Fuchsman-Small

Dr. Bertha Fuchsman-Small will deliver the 2017 Dr. Saul Green Memorial Lecture, entitled, “Médecins Sans Frontières: Medical Humanitarian Activism and the Tension Between Principle and Pragmatism” in Alumni Hall on November 2, 2017 at 7pm. In her lecture, Dr. Fuchsman-Small will discuss how Médecins Sans Frontières uses its declared principles and evolving sense of its institutional role to address issues such as: when and where to intervene and to pull out; when to speak out and to whom; and how to balance integrity with cultural flexibility.

This lecture is presented in co-operation with the Shaar Shalom Synagogue.

About Dr. Bertha Fuchsman-Small

Dr. Bertha Fuchsman-Small obtained a BA in History from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rochester. She is currently a family physician as well as an assistant professor with McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Fuchsman-Small has spent much of her career in Montreal offering support to ethnically diverse populations, many of whom are new Canadians. She also worked in northern communities of Ontario and Quebec, namely in the Cree community of Waskaganish and in the James Bay area, as well as in rural Queensland, Australia. Dr. Fuchsman-Small—physician, humanitarian, and activist—spent fifteen months in the Democratic Republic of Congo with Médecins Sans Frontières.

About Dr. Saul Green

Dr. Saul Green, was a graduate of Dalhousie University’s Medical School. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Canada as well as the American College of Surgeons. A founding member of the Shaar Shalom Synagogue, Dr. Green cared deeply about the relationship between Judaism, medicine, and humanitarianism.

Shaar Shalom Synagogue is a conservative congregation providing egalitarian religious services, and educational and cultural programs that enhance Judaism for its individuals, its families and its community. Shaar Shalom is committed to learning, fellowship and community.