Dr. Raphael “Ray” Melmed is not a conventional physician. He is less interested in illness and more interested in persons suffering from disease, particularly those who are
long-suffering and somehow get “stuck” in the medical system, often with no clear physiological explanation for their ailments. According to his own definition, Ray Melmed is a psycho-physiologist, one who sees pain and suffering in terms that are essentially different from both the language of medical biology and the perspective of psychiatry.
A graduate of the Cape Town University Medical School, Melmed’s professional training spans fields ranging from General and Internal Medicine to Gastroenterology and Liver Disease. But his major academic interest over the last three decades has been in bridging the traditional mind-body distinction and integrating the two in medical education and practice.
Ray was born in South Africa to a fervently Zionist, Revisionist and religiously observant family. The Melmeds moved to Rhodesia when Ray was six years old and he received what was, in his terms, a British colonial education. In 1967, he left his studies in London to volunteer in Israel during the Six-Day War, and in 1972, shortly before the Yom Kippur War, fulfilled his dream of making aliyah to Jerusalem. There he assumed a position at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Kerem. His first task was to cover for those colleagues who were drafted into the Israel Defense Forces. Later, he became Head of the Unit of Behavioral Medicine in Internal Medicine, and occupied the Israel Wecksler Chair of Medical Education. 
Throughout his career Ray Melmed has taken a keen interest in the narratives of chronically dissatisfied patients, in an effort to identify underlying commonalities and better manage such cases. This has led to a therapeutic approach that focuses on cognitive behavior, on coping mechanisms and on the ways in which patients living with chronic disease can regain control over their lives and manage the stress associated with prolonged illness.
One such patient, whose life was totally out of control and taken over by her asthmatic condition, was hospitalized 36 times and given massive doses of steroids, before a program of guided imagery and deep relaxation provided her with the means of returning to an improved functional state and sense of control.
On a morning in 1980, during routine hospital ward rounds, Dr. Melmed’s interest was sparked by a 56 year old Kurdish patient named Miriam, whose case history reflected what, for anyone, would be considered some unusually stressful life events. The ensuing relationship with Miriam, and the descriptive narrative that she provided, gave rise, some 20 years later, after her death, to a unique book entitled A Small Blue Sky: The Story of Miriam of Zarqa. In it, Ray Melmed offers a story of unrelenting courage, determination and exceptional resilience which enabled one woman to overcome obstacles that might have seemed insurmountable for others.
The inspiring story is available in E-book form from Amazon and other major distributors.
Today, as he enjoys retirement in his home, amidst the serenity and landscape of
Kfar Bin Nun with his wife Janice, Ray continues his pursuit of a deeper understanding of human behavior through the study of brain activity and evolution in non-humans.