Rick Hodes

Richard Michael Hodes (born May 30, 1953) is an American physician specializing in cancer, heart disease, and spinal conditions. Since the 1980s he has worked in Ethiopia and has adopted a number of children from the country. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He first went to Ethiopia as a relief worker during the 1984 famine. He returned to Ethiopia on a Fulbright Fellowship to teach internal medicine.

Career In 1990, Hodes was hired by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a humanitarian group, as the medical advisor for the country. His original position was to care for 25,000 potential immigrants to Israel. In 1991, he was an active contributor during Operation Solomon, helping the Ethiopian Jews airlifted to Israel.

In 2002, Hodes adopted two Ethiopian children, so they could receive treatment in the U.S. for spinal tuberculosis (Pott's disease).

The American College of Physicians has awarded him "Mastership", and the Rosenthal Award for creative practice of medicine. Hodes' work in Ethiopia was the subject of an HBO documentary, Making the Crooked Straight, and a Marilyn Berger book, This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes.

Personal life Hodes is a baal teshuva, a secular Jew who has embraced Orthodox Judaism.