The faculty is currently undergoing the process of opening a full medical science program, to which the Adelsons have pledged an additional $20m.
By SARAH GRUENMiriam and Sheldon Adelson 370(photo credit: Adi Cohen Tzedek)
American business magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, will donate $5 million to the School of Health Sciences at Ariel University, it was announced on Monday.Of the 14,000 students who attend the university, which is located in Judea and Samaria, 1,200 attend the School of Health Sciences; which includes schools of physiotherapy, speech pathology, nursing, nutrition and health systems management.The faculty is currently undergoing the ambitious process of opening a full medical science program, to which the Adelsons have pledged an additional $20m.This new medical program is in addition to the university’s premedical studies program, which it launched in 2013 as part of the national effort to reduce current and projected doctor shortages.The program only covers the first three years of medical school.“As a doctor myself, and as a person who is well acquainted with Israel’s superb medical services, I am aware of the great shortage of doctors in Israel,” said Miriam Adelson, an Israeli physician and director of the Adelson Clinic for Drug Abuse Treatment and Research.“Another school of medicine is both urgent and vital,” she continued. “Ariel University, which proved excellent scientific skills in a short period of time, is the right place for this important development.”The medical school plans to develop courses in occupational therapy, medical chemistry and emergency medicine that will incorporate clinical and practical skills with scientific, research-based ones.Plans for the school also include the establishment of a regional medical center designed to serve both the Arab and Jewish populations, a resource that Adelson said was of the utmost importance given recent events.
