What has been a dream for years appears to be rapidly transforming into a reality, a medical school in northern Israel. According to Minister of Regional Development (Likud) Silvan Shalom, a medical school that will accommodate 70 students will open its doors in the Galil in 2011. According to an announcement released on Sunday by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, this vision will be actualized in 2011, with the campus situated near Ziff Hospital in Tzfas.

While the government approved the establishment of the medical school five years ago, Israel’s fifth, no one has really move the plan along. The credit for this must go to Shalom, who took the decision and decided to undertake the necessary efforts to actualize it.

Working with Bar Ilan University, the new medical school will be launched, with Shalom deciding time does not permit waiting for the construction of a permanent campus, making do with the buildings being modified to accommodate the first class in the vicinity of the hospital.

The project is indeed one that addresses national priorities as Israel today faces a critical shortage of physicians, addressing the growing Arab population that is overrunning the Galil region, and eventually, the Council of Higher Education is confident the medical school will provide the impetus for the next stage, a badly-needed university in the Galil.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)