Building bridges of understanding through continuing education and professional development of Arabs and Israelis.

In this article, we present an educational approach uniquely linked to humanitarian and peace-building goals in conflicted regions of the world. We examine the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program and its lead program, the Middle East Association for Managing Hearing Loss, as a case study. Under a Canadian umbrella, continuing medical education and continuous professional development are used to gather academics from regions in conflict for mutually beneficial professional activities. Larger scale international prospects for educational programming, extending beyond the health sector, are ways of addressing the primary determinants of health and creating social capital.