Israel establishes two new medical schools

Israel is establishing two new medical schools at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot and at Haifa University, according to a report by Calcalist today (Tuesday).

Israel's Council for Higher Education has approved the creation of a medical school at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot and at Haifa University, with the aim of doing everything possible to deal with the increasing doctor shortage in Israel and force as few Israelis as possible to have to study medicine abroad.

As a consequence of this decision, every major university - Bar-Ilan, Hebrew U, Haifa U, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion, Weizmann, and the Technion - will have a medical school attached to them, except for the Open University.

One of the main goals of establishing a medical school at Haifa University, like the Bar-Ilan University medical school operating in Tzfat, is to provide medical students with enough financial and other support to want to stay in the north and help alleviate the doctoral shortage in that region.

According to Calcalist, the Herta and Paul Amir Medical School will be working together with the Clalit health fund and the Carmel Medical Center and will have 56 students per class, with the option of increasing it by 20% without need for further approval.

Professor Gur Alroey, President of Haifa University, said that "the more time passes since October 7, along with the unceasing attacks on the city of Haifa and the entire region of the north, the more the urgent need has been demonstrated for strengthening the medical system in Israel and how significant and important it is to establish, specifically in Haifa, another medical school."

Yoav Kisch, Education Minister and Chairman of the Council for Higher Education said that "the shortage of doctors is one of the critical challenges of the health system. For years, thousands of Israeli students were forced to study medicine abroad for lack of places for them to learn. Therefore, I advanced a policy that every academic institution which meets the Council for Higher Education's requirements can open a medical school."