Weizmann Institute to open medical school amid doctor shortage

The Weizmann Institute in Rehovot has announced the establishment of a new medical program that will train students to delve deeper into research fields. The Sheba Medical Center and Ichilov hospitals will train students in the clinical study stages. This will be Israel's seventh medical school.

For years, the Health Ministry has attempted to increase the number of medical students in Israel. Today, medical studies are held at the universities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ben-Gurion in Be'er Sheva, the Technion in Haifa, Bar-Ilan in Safed, and Ariel in the West Bank. 

The Council for Higher Education has begun inspection procedures for the approval of the opening of studies at Reichman University in Herzliya and the Weizmann Institute, which has now announced that it will open its doors next year.

The School of Medicine at the Weizmann Institute will train 40 Israeli students per year with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, who upon completion of their training will receive a double degree: MD (Doctor of Medicine) and PhD (Doctor of Research). 

Those accepted into the program will be integrated into research activities at the Weizmann Institute and will undergo clinical training at the Sheba Medical Center (the first hospital to join the program and assist in its design and construction), and the Ichilov Hospital. Additional hospitals of Clalit Health Services will train students as well.

The program will open two possible career paths for its graduates, or a combination of both. The first is set to focus on basic research with a deeper understanding of clinical needs and how current medical knowledge can advance groundbreaking projects. The other path will focus on medical practice. The studies will provide training in the fields of medicine and basic research in the natural and exact sciences with an emphasis on data science and artificial intelligence.

Studies at Weizmann's medical school to begin October 2025 

Enrollment in the program is expected at the end of 2024 in preparation for the start of studies in October 2025. A donation of NIS 400 million by the Gutwirth Foundation helped establish the school and the curriculum. The foundation has been operating for about fifty years and supports science, health, culture, and academic projects in Israel.

"We are training generations of outstanding scientists who lead academic and applied research in Israel and around the world," said Prof. Alon Chen, president of the Weizmann Institute of Science. "The training of physician-researchers in Israel is expected to embody the mission of the institute in the most complete way. The program will help the doctors of the future bring to the hospitals the latest and most innovative knowledge in the biomedical field, based on Israeli research at the forefront of science and medicine, and influence the lives of countless people in Israel and around the world."

"The new curriculum, under the auspices of the Weizmann Institute of Science, will ensure a first-class level of academic research in Israel and in the world," said Prof. Yitzhak Suari of the Gutwirth Foundation. "Establishing the new medical school for physician-researchers will attract the best minds in the State of Israel and improve the future of its citizens Israel. The vision of those involved in the work instills in all of us the confidence that the new venture will take root, branch out into new fields, and grow the future generation of medicine in Israel," he added.