To strengthen the hospitals: the medical programs for students from abroad will be closed - Israelis will study in their place

The MLA and the OT decided to freeze the registration of American students to universities, which should help with the problem of the severe shortage of doctors in Israel.

The decision will allow about 130 additional Israeli students to study medicine as early as next October.

"The right thing for the students and a strategic need for the entire health system"

Uri Sela

04/08/2022

Thursday, August 4, 2022, 4:32 p.m. Updated: 7:49 p.m.

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On video: the demonstration of the medical students to show solidarity with the interns' struggle (Walla system!)

The Minister of Education and the Chairman of the Legislative Assembly, Yifat Shasha Biton, and the Chairman of the Planning and Budgeting Committee, Prof. Yossi Makori, announced today (Thursday) that they have decided to freeze the registration for study programs for students from abroad, and in their place allow approximately 130 additional Israeli students to study medicine in Israel starting in October 2023.

This is a step that may have a significant impact on the field of medicine in Israel, which has been experiencing a long-standing shortage of doctors in various fields.

Already in the coming school year, the number of medical students is expected to increase by about 70 students, and the number of students who will begin their studies is expected to be about 965.

The decision to close the programs for students from abroad and open the places for Israeli students is even more critical in view of the reform decided by the Ministry of Health, which cancels the recognition of medical studies from several countries, mainly in Eastern Europe, where a high concentration of Israeli students study. Following this move, the number of licenses that will be given to doctors is expected to decrease significantly starting in 2025. Accepting Israeli students instead of students from abroad will make it possible to deal with the shortage of doctors in the health system in Israel.

The decision was designed to deal with the shortage of doctors in Israel.

Doctors in an operating room (Photo: ShutterStock)

"Increasing the number of places for Israeli students in the medical professions is an important move that will increase the number of doctors in Israel in the future," said the Chairman of the Medical Council and Minister of Education Dr. Yifat Shasha Biton. Our aim is to significantly increase the number of medical students.

" "Instead of students who study here and leave abroad upon graduation, we will receive an addition of male and female doctors to the healthcare system who studied medicine in Israel," said Prof. Yossi Makori, chairman of the Medical Academy.

This is a significant step taken by the Medical Council in order to reduce the gap between Israel's future medical needs and the ability of the higher education system to train male and female doctors."

More in Walla!

In about a decade there will not be enough doctors to treat the citizens of the State of Israel

To the full article

Faculty of Medicine building, Tel Aviv University (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Currently, there are three international medical programs operating in Israel under which students from abroad, mainly from the USA, come to study medicine in Israel.

The programs are held at Tel Aviv University, the Technion and Ben Gurion University.

These are four-year programs, in which the vast majority of students return to their countries upon graduation.

"The manpower shortage in the health care system is a national problem that has been neglected for years, and today most medical students study abroad," said Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz following the decision. "These places are needed for Israeli students, instead of foreign students who are not expected to work one day in the health care the Israeli one.

In the coming years, we are adding hundreds of study places for medical students and thousands of places for nursing.

This is the right thing for the students and it is an essential strategic need for the entire health system."

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