Reichman University will establish first private medical school in Israel

According to data from the Health Ministry from February 2021, Israel has a record number of physicians who have been trained outside the country's borders.

 Reichman University (photo credit: Dana Siman-tov)
Reichman University
(photo credit: Dana Siman-tov)

The Reichman University, formerly the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, will establish the first private medical school in Israel, to be named after Dina Recanati.

The growing shortage of doctors puts the field of medicine in Israel in real danger and requires a quick response. In recent years, the proportion of medical graduates who study abroad stands at 60% of all recipients of medical licenses in Israel.

According to data from the Health Ministry, from February 2021, Israel has a record number of physicians who have been trained outside the country's borders.

"We are announcing a journey today, a journey that will not take too long," said Prof. Uriel Reichman, founding president of the university.

"In the end, a medical school named after Dina Recanati will be established here, which will be one of the most world-leading and innovative schools of its kind. The school will work in cooperation with all medical institutions in the country and with the Health Ministry so that we can bring back Israelis who are forced to run to other countries and study in foreign institutions," he said.

"We'll do it here at home," Reichman said. "We will solve the problem of medical studies in the country as we solved the problem of jurists at the time. Oudi, I can not thank you enough on my behalf, on behalf of this university and on behalf of the people who will be studying medicine here, for the huge move you have made here today."

“I am excited to announce the establishment of a medical school of the next century with the most advanced learning environment. My mother passed away 10 months ago and I thought that if there was a school and dormitories here in my father and brother's name, it would be appropriate to have my mother's name as well," said Reichman University Chancellor Oudi Recanati.

The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya was founded in 1994 to train the State of Israel's future leaders. In August 2021, the Council for Higher Education recognized the IDC as a university. Its General Assembly decided in 2020 to change the institution's name to better reflect the vision of Reichman, who retired last year.

The institution, built from the beginning in the model of elite universities, is not funded by the government's higher education budgeting system, but is run as a public benefit company whose expenses are fully funded from tuition and donations. Its current president is Prof. Rafi Melnick.