Since its inception, Steve has been the “beating coronary heart” of the corporate’s medical information and perception. GIDEON couldn’t be what it’s right this moment and will likely be tomorrow, with out him. Be a part of us on Reminiscence Lane as we rejoice Dr. Berger’s contribution to the medical neighborhood.
A Proficient Younger Physician
Steve was introduced up in New York and was destined to develop into both a lawyer or a physician. Fortunately for us, he fell in love with the latter subject. Dr. Berger graduated with a medical diploma from the New York Medical School in 1967 and accomplished his Inside Drugs coaching there because the youngest in his group, ending on the high of his class too!
After this, the Vietnam battle erupted, and together with many junior docs, Steve was conscripted into the US Navy. Regardless of not being well-traveled on the time, he took this in his stride and developed an curiosity in Infectious Illnesses – one thing that set him aside from his friends again in New York.
He was assigned to the Sixth Fleet, stationed within the Mediterranean, which finally took him to Israel. On the time, Dr. Berger explored his Jewish roots, and that is the place he finally made his dwelling.
LT Steve Berger, U.S. Navy
After emigrating, Steve discovered the love of his life – an achieved medical skilled in her personal proper and at the moment Israel’s main pediatric surgeon, in addition to the primary Yemenite to graduate medical faculty in Israel.
Whereas within the nation, the Yom Kippur battle broke out (1973). That is when this second picture was taken – subsequent to the Suez Canal…and on his birthday!
Dr. Steve Berger, Suez Canal
Double Licensed
The girl who captured Dr. Berger’s coronary heart in Israel was on her technique to prepare in the USA, and so Steve returned to proceed his schooling in New York.
That is the place he accomplished Infectious Illness fellowships at Montefiore Hospital-Einstein in New York, The New York V.A. Hospital, and the Tufts-New England Medical Middle. Right here, he started working with Dr. Louis Weinstein, “a number one pioneer within the new specialty of Infectious Illness.” Dr. Weinstein was Steve’s Guru and mentor and for all that adopted in his profession.
To complement and broaden his information base, Dr. Berger went on to coach in Scientific Microbiology, finally attaining Board Certification and Licensure in each Israel and the USA – within the fields of Inside Drugs, Infectious Illnesses, and Scientific Microbiology.
Throughout this era, Steve established scientific and educating applications on the New York Medical School and was granted the rank of Affiliate Professor. Dr. Berger then returned to Israel, the place he established the nation’s first automated Microbiology Laboratory on the central municipal hospital in Tel Aviv; and devoted countless vitality to educating and analysis as Affiliate Professor of Drugs and Microbiology at Tel Aviv College.
Discovering Bayes
In 1987, Dr. Berger was despatched to Brussels for superior coaching underneath the World Well being Group in Operational Strategies. A lot of this program concerned drawn-out discussions about organizing medical companies in primitive environments and hands-on expertise with sensible statistical strategies. In a single such session, Steve first got here conscious of Bayesian evaluation. Intrigued, he requested the presenter if anybody was utilizing the strategy in diagnosing illness. Apparently, the device was largely unknown within the subject of Drugs!
Upon returning to Israel, Dr. Berger started working Bayesian prognosis simulations however was compelled to battle with the boundaries of accessible laptop expertise. It was then he met Uri Blackman, the opposite half of the GIDEON workforce.
Bayes’ Theorem
The Delivery of GIDEON
Dr. Berger’s medical and scientific experience – mixed with Uri’s technical and enterprise acumen – gave life to the primary prototype of GIDEON. The very first hands-on take a look at concerned a “real-life” affected person with typhoid fever. A lot to Dr. Berger’s and Uri’s pleasure, GIDEON labored completely!
The following three years had been centered on gathering as a lot background knowledge as potential for the world’s most complete Infectious Illnesses database.
Within the early days, knowledge had been gathered and added to the system manually from “precise” books and journals. The Web has nonetheless not been developed. The primary model of GIDEON was marketed on floppy discs, mailed quarterly to subscribers (later to get replaced by Compact Discs, which included superior laptop programming functionality). GIDEON is up to date every day over the Web and incorporates data from dozens of digital sources worldwide.
The GIDEON database was later reverse-engineered by way of a system during which databases are “turned again” into books. As of 2020, 430 e-books (120,000 single-space pages) current your complete subject of Infectious Illnesses, with particular person titles devoted to each nation and each illness. An up to date version of all books is launched yearly.
A Heat Reception
The medical neighborhood instantly fell in love with GIDEON. A number of medical establishments and physicians have continued to subscribe to this system from its very first launch in 1993.
Dr. Berger remembers an occasion when one enthusiastic Texan shouted, “Wow, that is higher than intercourse!”’ at a medical conference after seeing an accurate prognosis seem on the pc display screen. Owing to a heat reception of the Prognosis module, the event of a brand new Microbiology module quickly adopted. For years, an rising base of customers have signed on from everywhere in the world – profiting from GIDEON’s distinctive information base, and instruments for analysis educating, prognosis, and pathogen identification.
Dr. Berger is most happy with GIDEON’s achievements when listening to from scientists and college students who’ve used the useful resource to gas new concepts or solidify tried and examined ideas.
Completed Life
All of the whereas, with GIDEON going from power to power, Steve and his spouse raised three kids and now take pleasure in 5 grandchildren whereas persevering with to pursue their medical careers.
Dr. Berger opened the primary Journey Drugs clinic in Israel and is at the moment the Director of Geographic Drugs on the Tel Aviv Medical Middle. He has printed 11 normal texts and 180 skilled papers (in English and Hebrew) – along with the a whole bunch of eBooks obtainable by way of GIDEON.
In his spare time, Steve enjoys classical music (Schubert and Bach specifically) and science fiction (something by Isaac Asimov). He additionally maintains an interactive database that catalogs the world’s largest “assortment” of illnesses and deaths amongst well-known folks – at the moment exceeding 23,000. Test it out at VIPatients – actually fascinating!
