Israel to hold first "medical clown" conference

A unique Israeli project of Dream Doctors announced Monday to hold the first-ever conference next month to discuss how to integrate professional medical clowning into the country's health care system. More than 250 practitioners -- 100 of them from abroad -- will take part in the conference, on Dream Doctors project's 10th anniversary, at a kibbutz (collective community) outside Jerusalem on Oct. 23, project manager Daniel Shriqui told Xinhua. "The conference is aimed at integrating professional medical treatment and therapeutic clowning," Shriqui said, adding that "we want to open a discussion on how to turn medical clowning into a recognized, professionalized activity." "We're going to open a think tank about this issue during the conference, as well as present our organization's achievements," the manager added. Dream Doctors project is the world's only therapeutic clowning project that has enabled medical clowns to be accepted as a part of the medical team in hospitals, Shriqui said. "In Israel the medical clown is a worker, not a guest, and receives a salary," according to Shriqui. He further pointed out that "we believe that other countries should take the same approach because of the proven benefits this therapy has on the patients, especially on children." In other countries like Canada and Britain, medical clowns also receive a salary, but they are not an official part of the health care system. Israel was a pioneer in the field after Dream Doctors project created the first BA program in Clowning Therapy at Haifa University in 2006. The organization is currently working towards expanding the program into an MA degree. "We want this first conference to be a stepping stone that will establish a professional community with the help of medical professionals," Shriqui said.