‘A safe space for Jewish students’

Eighty years ago, after months of intensive research, analysis and interviews, a group of Jewish students at the University of Manitoba proved what had been suspected for years — the university’s faculty of medicine had a quota system in place that was restricting entry to Jewish applicants.

Once publicly revealed and condemned, that quota system was quickly revoked, and in the ensuing decades hundreds of Jewish students have passed through the halls of the medical college , graduated as physicians, pursued careers in an array of medical fields, and contributed significantly to the practice of medicine in Manitoba.

Graduates of the college include Dr. Arnold Naimark, who later served as the dean of the faculty of medicine and as U of M president and vice-chancellor, and Dr. Max Rady, an early 20th-century graduate, for whom the Winnipeg medical school is now named.

Thirty-year-old Tim Rozovsky was just a first-year student at the Max Rady College of Medicine last fall, when he determined that it was time for Jewish medical students to organize once again. He was aware that there already existed several student groups associated with the faculty, including a Christian one and a Muslim one, but to his knowledge there hadn’t been a viable Jewish group since the days of the quota.

“I noticed that there are medical student groups for many different ethnicities, religions and identities, but nothing for Jews,” he recalls.

That seemed to be a potentially ominous omission considering the local tensions arising from geopolitical events and the heightened on-campus polarization, animosity and harassment that was putting many Jewish students on edge.

“I started the Jewish Medical Students Association (JMSA) in the fall of 2025 for the purpose of uniting Jewish medical students and helping each other out in the face of the growing antisemitism that emerged following October 7, 2023,” Rozovsky candidly explains.

“The rise in antisemitism across the university campus and beyond has left Jewish students feeling isolated,” he adds. “Our group provides a safe space for Jewish students to connect with others to create a sense of belonging and advocate against antisemitism.”

In addition to creating a secure, supportive and enriching environment for those students, the group also engages with the broader medical and university community.

While Rozovsky is quick to admit that he personally has not experienced antisemitism on campus he knows of many Jewish students who have. He is also aware of disparaging comments that have been made about him, if not directly to him, because of his Israeli background.

Response to the JMSA’s formation was positive with most of the first year Jewish medical students, and many of those in the more advanced years of training, joining the group and attending the few events it has sponsored to date. Those events have included tutorial sessions with both hopeful medical school applicants and first year students preparing for clinical exams, a luncheon with the Christian Medical and Dental Students Association and a Hanukkah celebration with members of the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba, which has been especially supportive of the student group.

The Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba (JPAM) was founded in the spring of 2024 specifically to advocate for the inclusion and safety of Jewish physicians in the province. It is one of several Jewish physicians associations established in Canada since the fall of 2023 in response to the brazen rise in antisemitism in the country’s health centres, medical schools and academia.

“Over the past two years, JPAM has become an important voice for Jewish physicians and medical learners in Manitoba,” says Dr. David Hochman, a Winnipeg surgeon and president of JPAM.

“We have responded to incidents of antisemitism within our hospitals and our medical school, advocating for fair treatment, professional standards, and meaningful institutional responses to anti-Jewish hate. We have worked closely with healthcare and university leaders to ensure that concerns about antisemitism are recognized and addressed, while providing support to physicians and learners who have experienced discrimination or exclusion.”

The association’s aim, he continues, is not simply to respond when antisemitism occurs, but to help build a medical community where every physician and learner feels safe, respected, and able to contribute fully.

“Medical school is demanding under the best of circumstances,” Hochman elaborates.

“In today’s current climate, Jewish medical students are also navigating antisemitism, social isolation, or hostility related to their Jewish identity, and fear openly expressing an important part of who they are. A Jewish Medical Student Association provides far more than a network, as it creates a community where students can build lifelong friendships, support one another during the rigors of medical training, and celebrate their Jewish identity with pride.”

The association that Rozovsky started is not even a year old, but he is confident and excited that it has already begun providing all the benefits outlined above.

While Rozovsky is spending the summer deep in cardio-oncology research for his BSc Med program, he also is looking forward to continuing his medical school studies in the fall, facilitating more JMSA events and welcoming a new class of Jewish students to the association and to the wondrous world of medicine.

“Ultimately, students who feel supported and able to bring their whole selves to medicine become better colleagues, better physicians, and better advocates for their patients,” Hochman asserts.

And that, of course, benefits all Manitobans, regardless of their race, religion, background or politics.

swchisvin@gmail.com

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