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Medical expo in France helps hundreds of European doctors emigrate to Israel

MedEx aims to encourage 2,000 doctors to emigrate to Israel in the next five years. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A MedEx conference in Paris brought together 450 Jewish doctors and dentists from France and Belgium to assist them in emigrating to Israel.

Amid a growing shortage of doctors in Israel and rising antisemitism in France and other European countries, assistance with aliyah, or emigration to Israel, for medical professionals arrives at a reasonable time.

Nefesh B’Nefesh sponsored the MedEx event with Israel’s Ministry of Immigration and Absorption and the Ministry of Health.

Israeli representatives from hospitals and medical facilities traveled to Paris to meet with medical professionals who often need extra assistance with the aliyah process, especially in converting their licenses and developing proficient Hebrew skills needed to practice medicine in Israel.

MedEx is expecting hundreds of European doctors to make aliyah in the near future, with the target of 2,000 emigrating in the next five years.

The Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Ofir Sofer, said, “The immigration of doctors to the State of Israel, particularly the Galilee and the Negev, will greatly strengthen the Israeli health system.”

Sofer said the MedEx Paris conference is a continuation of a similar expo in New York, which attracted 1,500 participants from the medical field.

In addition, a similar medical fair was held in London, the first held in the UK capital in 5 years.

The Israeli Minister of Health, Uriel Bosso, commented that the conferences will address the need to increase the number of doctors in Israel while encouraging aliyah.

Bosso added, “Shoring up the health system with high-quality Jewish professionals from Europe is an appropriately Zionist and forward-looking strategy.”

He added, “The office under my leadership will work to simplify bureaucratic procedures and speed up the process of receiving and integrating doctors who emigrate.”

Currently, the number of doctors in Israel per 1,000 people is only 3.4 compared to the OECD average of 3.7.