Table 3.
Key features of medical education in the five Israeli medical schools
| Jerusalem | Tel Aviv | Haifa | Beer Sheva | Safed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| When established | 1949 | 1964 | 1970 | 1974 | 2011 |
| Types of programs | 6 year with 4 patterns (regular, Military Medicine, research oriented, community oriented) | 6 year 4 year Foreign students |
6 year Foreign students |
6 year Foreign students |
3 year 4 year |
| Admissions processa | MMI (in house) | MMI (MSR) | MMI (in house under MSR supervision) | Computerized screening and interview | MMI (MSR) |
| Type of curriculumb | Traditional until Oct-2016, when a reform was launched | Originally traditional, later reformed | Originally traditional, later reformed | Originally innovative, further reformed in a number of cycles | Innovative from the school’s establishment |
| Faculty development | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teaching Methods: - Number of small group/self-directed courses - Lecture-based courses - Team-based learning |
At least 1 Yes Not yet |
At least 1 Yes Not yet |
At least 1 Yes Not yet |
At least 2 Yes Yes |
At least 3 Yes Yes |
| Physical infrastructure | Adequate (but more small group space needed) | Adequate (but more small group space needed) | Limited | Adequate | Limited |
| Humanities requirement | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Methods for student assessment | Traditional – predominantly MCQ | Mixed – MCQ+ OSCE + other | Mixed – MCQ along with innovative modalities | Mixed, with extensive use of OSCE | Mixed |
| Weight of teaching performance in promotion decisions | Minimal,except in a teacher track (5 % of promotions) | minimal | minimal | substantial | minimal |
| Service learning | Required | Required | Elective | Elective | Required |
| Recently added courses | Humanities | Professionalism emphasis, longitudinal strands | Literature and medicine, genomics and medicine, entrepreneurship and medical technologies | Interprofessional education (IPE) and some of the humanities courses. | The school is new, so full curriculum is new. ETGAR course – transition between hospital and community \care. |
| Prizes & awards for teaching | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Medical education unit | Center | Department | Unit | Center | Distributed |
| Future plans | Adding tracts, Significant community exposure increase | Physician self-care, gender medicine, and enhanced assessment of professionalism | Increase in the staff of the medical education unit | Simulation center, strategic plan to redesign the curriculum | Expand interprofessional education and increase the use of simulation. |
aMultiple Mini Interviews (MMI) is an admission method based on multiple short observed simulated interactions and interviews [18]. The Israeli version was initially developed in the national simulation center (MSR) and subsequently adopted for in house production by two of the schools (one, Haifa, does an identical version to MSR)
bA traditional curriculum is one that has a disciplinary, teacher and lecture basis. An innovative curriculum is one that is integrative, with a student and small group/ self-directed learning basis