Israel to train thousands of new ultra-Orthodox doctors

Facing a physician shortage, Israel eyes plan to train thousands of ultra-Orthodox doctors over the next five years.

By World Israel News Staff

A new national program is set to launch in the coming weeks to help ultra-Orthodox men and women enter medical and health care professions, as Israel faces a worsening physician shortage and growing gaps between the center of the country and the periphery.

The initiative aims to bring 2,000 members of the ultra-Orthodox community into medicine and treatment-related fields over the next five years.

It will be led by Prof. Yossi Mekori, a former dean of Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Medicine and former head of the Planning and Budgeting Committee of the Council for Higher Education.

The program is being advanced by the Kemach Foundation, which works to promote professional development in the ultra-Orthodox community, together with the Health Ministry, the Authority for the Socio-Economic Development of the Haredi Sector, the Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition Ministry, JDC and other partners.

A more limited program has already helped ultra-Orthodox students apply to Israel’s four-year medical school track, which is intended for students who already hold bachelor’s degrees. The expanded plan will now also support candidates seeking admission to the standard six-year medical school track.

The new framework will include preparatory studies, help completing matriculation exams, psychometric exam preparation, coaching for medical school interviews and support during medical studies. Existing preparatory programs operate separately for men and women, but medical studies at Israeli universities are conducted without gender separation.

Mekori said the first challenge is to expose more ultra-Orthodox students to the possibility of medical training early enough for them to meet admissions requirements.

“First and foremost, we want to raise awareness in the ultra-Orthodox community about training in medical professions, so that already during high school they can complete full matriculation exams,” Mekori said, according to a report by Yedioth Ahronoth.

“There are also high schools in the ultra-Orthodox community that teach toward full matriculation, and there are university preparatory programs that are considered a substitute for matriculation for those who do not have it. Matriculation is the first and fundamental stage in admission to medical schools.”

After that, candidates will receive help with the psychometric exam and personality assessments, followed by scholarships, academic mentoring and guidance from senior students or professional staff.

Mekori stressed that the program is not intended to create a lower admissions threshold for ultra-Orthodox candidates.

“There is no attempt here to lower the bar,” he said. “There will be no special conditions, only support to bring them to the required level. Getting into medical school is very difficult, and they will have to meet the accepted standard.”

Only a few dozen ultra-Orthodox students currently study medicine, and many potential candidates drop out before reaching the admissions stage. The Kemach Foundation said more Haredim have begun medical studies in recent years, but completion rates remain relatively low because of academic, financial and social barriers.

Mekori said he had met ultra-Orthodox women close to finishing their studies and described them as strong examples of the potential the program is meant to develop.

“We already have a few examples of ultra-Orthodox doctors who are building very successful careers in general hospitals,” he said. “I met ultra-Orthodox women nearing the end of their studies — brilliant students. It made clear to me how much potential exists. They understand that they will treat whoever needs treatment. One is going to become a gynecologist, another is considering neurology or psychiatry.”

He said the entry of more ultra-Orthodox students into medicine could mark a major social shift.

“This is the great revolution, and I see it as a historic matter,” Mekori said. “Medical studies take place without separation, like for all medical students, based on the understanding that you do not choose your patients. In Maimonides’ physician’s oath, it is written that you treat anyone who needs your help. A crack has already opened, and it must be widened — to bring those who want it into the scientific world, with a profession more sacred than any other.”

Mekori pointed to the American ultra-Orthodox community as an example of how religious life and advanced medical training can coexist.

“For years I trained in the US, and there, an ultra-Orthodox American studies core curriculum subjects, engages in research and medicine, and at night goes to yeshiva,” he said. “I have Haredi colleagues who are success stories at the clinical and research levels — and that is what we want to reach.”

He said he was frustrated by political opposition to core curriculum studies in ultra-Orthodox education.

“I have no doubt that the ultra-Orthodox community is a community with abilities and potential, and those abilities must be directed and helped to be realized,” Mekori said. “I see this as a Zionist, Israeli and social act of the utmost importance. When I hear Knesset members saying there is no need for core curriculum studies — including secular ones — it makes me extraordinarily angry. There is an opportunity here to expose the ultra-Orthodox population to the scientific world and to the medical profession.”

Not all participants will necessarily be directed toward medical school. Some may be steered toward the emerging role of physician assistant, a profession Israel’s health system is seeking to develop.

“In the US, this is a very sought-after profession — master’s degree training with broad authority and close work with doctors in hospitals,” Mekori said. “We will direct some of the students in that direction.”

The initiative comes as Israel struggles with a chronic shortage of doctors. According to a 2023 comparison with OECD countries, Israel had 3.5 active physicians per 1,000 people, below the OECD average of 3.9.

The shortage is sharper outside the center of the country. Between 2021 and 2023, Haifa had 5.5 physicians per 1,000 people, Tel Aviv had 5 and the Central District had 4.2. By contrast, the southern district had 2.7, the northern district had 3.2 and Jerusalem had 3.4.

Health officials are also concerned that the Yatziv reform, which disqualified some foreign medical schools that did not meet Health Ministry standards, will worsen shortages. The effect is expected to be felt especially in peripheral areas, where many doctors were trained at institutions now disqualified under the reform.

Kemach Foundation CEO Moti Felldstein said Israel needs to look more seriously at ultra-Orthodox human capital as part of the answer to the doctor shortage.

“Israel ranks very low compared with OECD countries in the number of students trained in medicine, and precisely because of this, we believe increased effort should be focused on ultra-Orthodox human capital, some of which had previously been directed to high-tech, which has eroded in recent years,” Felldstein said.

doctorsIsraeli doctorsUltra-Orthodox