In recent years, academic institutions in Israel have rushed to open medical schools. Over the past few months, the University of Haifa and the Weizmann Institute have announced that they will open schools, joining Ariel University, which opened a medical school in 2019, and Bar-Ilan University, which did so a few years earlier, in 2012. in Safed (Safad). Two other initiatives are awaiting approval from the Higher Education Council: the Reichmann University School of Medicine in collaboration with Maccabi Healthcare Services, and the International Medical School in Eilat.
Goal: 2,000 additional doctors per year
The reason why more and more medical schools are being established now is, first and foremost, the acute shortage of doctors in Israel. The number of doctors qualified from medical schools in Israel is the lowest among OECD countries.
For many years, the medical system has been able to overcome this fact thanks to immigrant doctors, mostly from former Soviet Union countries in the 1990s, and doctors who trained abroad.
However, the shortage is expected to worsen significantly in the coming years, both because many doctors are due to retire, and because the Yatsiv reforms (led by Professor Shaul Yatsiv) have limited the number of institutions abroad where medical students can obtain qualifications. Recognized in Israel, in an effort to maintain standards in the health system in Israel.
Unless there is a change in the training of medical students, in 2035 Israel will have only 2.9 doctors per thousand people, compared to the OECD average of 3.4.
Israel does not even aim to reach the OECD average. The goal is 3.1 doctors per thousand people, and to achieve this goal the country needs to add 2,000 doctors annually. Under Yatsev's reforms, at least 1,400 doctors must come from the Israeli system, which currently produces 1,000 to 1,100 doctors annually.
Later, there is an intention to increase the number of doctors training in the Israeli education and health systems, so that they do not have to travel abroad, even to institutions that meet the standards. Keeping students in Israel has another advantage, which is that it will reduce the number of students who lose their jobs abroad.
A survey conducted a month ago by the Medical Doctors Group headed by Dr. Moshe Cohen (which seeks to establish an international medical school in Eilat) showed that 59% of these doctors said they were considering working in Europe or the United States.
How many medical colleges does Israel need?
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How many medical schools are needed in Israel to train additional students? It depends who you ask. Existing institutions claim that they can absorb all the additional demand if only they are allowed to do so, and that no new medical schools are required at all.
The planned new medical schools are designed to accommodate 80 to 100 students per year each, meaning that if the existing schools are not expanded, there is scope to accommodate three to four new schools in the near future.
The Gamzu Commission, headed by Professor Ronnie Gamzu, Executive Director of Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, recommended in its recently published report that the capacity of existing medical schools should be expanded, and the establishment of one new school, or branches of existing schools, should be considered, with a focus on sites located in the periphery of the country. .
The report notes that the pre-clinical infrastructure (laboratories) in medical colleges is congested, so there is justification for establishing more medical colleges rather than burdening more students with the same infrastructure.
However, there are several obstacles to establishing additional medical schools, such as the NIS 75,000 annual support required per student in public medical schools, finding faculty for the medical school itself and space for clinical training in hospitals. There is a fear that new medical schools will deprive existing schools of their workforce and clinical areas. The new plan drawn up by the Gamzu Commission proposes to solve at least the last obstacle. He suggests that more clinical areas could be created by matching each hospital to one major medical school, adding teaching hours in the afternoon, expanding teaching groups, training in health trusts as well, and more. The report notes that this should not be an obstacle.
In addition to the general shortage of doctors, there is a specific shortage in some specialties and in remote communities. The national plan for the training of medical students will need to prioritize institutions that take these issues into account, and give incentives to students who choose certain specialties and specializations.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on June 19, 2024.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.
