2007 Prize Laureate
Dr. Amitai Ziv
MSR:Israel Center for Medical Simulation, Founder + Director
“Pirkei Avot states, ‘He in whom learning from mistakes overrides wisdom, his wisdom will endure.’ This is the inspiring core of why I developed MSR: to encourage errors in a safe environment, so that healthcare professionals can provide exceptional patient care.”
Professor Amitai Ziv, M.D., M.H.A. is a pioneering force in medical education who is transforming healthcare training worldwide through simulation-based learning. As Founder and Director of the Israel Center for Medical Simulation (MSR) and Deputy Director of Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer, he has revolutionized how healthcare professionals prepare for clinical challenges by creating immersive simulated medical environments that enhance clinical competence, communication skills, and patient safety. Inspired by his training as a combat pilot in the Israeli Air Force, Ziv has trained more than 200,000 healthcare professionals across 60 national programs, helping medical centers and universities on six continents integrate simulation-based training into their curricula. His work has fundamentally changed the patient-safety culture in healthcare, reducing medical errors and saving countless lives through innovative training methods that allow professionals to learn from realistic scenarios without risking patient harm.
Professor Ziv's impact extends far beyond the classroom through numerous humanitarian initiatives, including training programs for the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, domestic abuse diagnosis and management, and end-of-life care communication. His exceptional contributions have earned him prestigious recognition including the Charles Bronfman Prize in 2007, selection as an Ashoka Fellow in 2011, and the Presidential Citation Award from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare in 2015. A Clinical Professor at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Medical School and Adjunct Associate Professor at both Mayo Clinic and Case Western Reserve University, Ziv has served as a consultant for international medical assessment programs and on World Health Organization expert working groups on patient safety. He holds an M.D. from Hebrew University's Hadassah Medical Center, completed his fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and earned a master's degree in Health Administration from Tel Aviv University.
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