Israel Opens Foreign Medical School Branch Amid Doctor Shortage

Eilat, Israel, is set to inaugurate a new campus for the University of Debrecen from Hungary on Wednesday, marking an unprecedented move to address Israel's growing physician shortage. The campus aims to increase the number of medical students trained within Israel, a critical step given that only 28% of new physicians licensed in 2024 were trained domestically. This initiative seeks to tackle the anticipated lack of doctors and the limitations in expanding existing Israeli medical schools.

The new Eilat campus offers an alternative admission pathway that does not rely on the Israeli psychometric entrance exam, a significant barrier for many aspiring Israeli medical students. Instead, applicants are tested directly on science subjects like biology and chemistry or physics. This differs from Israeli universities, such as Tel Aviv University, which require a minimum psychometric score of 700, followed by further selection stages.

Approximately 20 Israeli students have already begun their studies at the University of Debrecen in Hungary and are expected to transfer to the Eilat campus in February 2027, pending final licensing for the program in Israel. The six-year medical program's duration remains unchanged, but the new branch alters the admission process and location of study.

The establishment of the foreign branch highlights a paradox: Israel's need for more doctors and aspiring students' desire to study medicine domestically has led the country to partner with a foreign university. This situation raises questions about why sufficient domestic training capacity has not been developed over the years, despite government efforts to increase medical student numbers through various new pathways.

The Bank of Israel has warned that reforms restricting the licensing of foreign-trained doctors could reduce the number of new physicians by 400 to 600 annually, disproportionately affecting peripheral areas. The Eilat campus is seen as a potential solution to bolster the medical workforce, particularly in southern Israel, and retain more Israeli students within the country.