Medicine faculty at Tel Aviv university decided: the number of students will increase significantly

The Faculty of Medicine in Tel Aviv has decided that the number of students there is going to increase significantly, and it is expected to undergo a major change in the curriculum and adapt it to the current era.
In a letter sent this week by the management of the faculty to all its members, it announced the expected revolution in medical studies in Tel Aviv: 320 medical students per year within three years - instead of the 225 who started the first year this year - and a change in the entire curriculum.

Part of the increase was made possible thanks to the cancellation of the American program for medical studies in Tel Aviv and the evacuation of study places for Israeli students.
The changes in the curriculum will include, among other things, a reduction of face-to-face lessons in the classroom, a significant reduction in study hours in the first years, a focus on self-learning and learning that is based on skills at the expense of memorizing material, the promotion of practical clinical studies already in the early years of study, and more.
In addition, there will be a change in the courses of study: from next year, most of the medical students in Tel Aviv will study within the framework of a four-year program designed for those with a bachelor's degree, and only a third will study in the traditional six-year program.
Several factors led to the formulation of the plan that the faculty worked on for more than six months: first, the expected shortage of male and female doctors in the coming years and the government's pressure on the medical faculties to increase the number of medical students. Tel Aviv is affiliated to a large number of universities and has significant growth potential. The second factor - and perhaps the decisive one - is the American accreditation test that has been done for medical faculties in Israel in recent years. The Americans announced that only graduates of medical schools who meet the criteria of the WFME (World Federation for Medical Education) organization will be able to integrate into the American healthcare system in studies, internships or work.
The change is led by Prof. Keren Avraham, the dean of the faculty - who was elected to the position in September 2022 and was the first woman to fill it since the establishment of the faculty in 1964 - in collaboration with the head of the medical school, Prof. Ido Wolf, and the faculty management. "We realized that we must be a few steps ahead in terms of training for doctors - both to reach the necessary numbers of graduates, but also to increase in terms of quality and adapt the faculty to changes in society, changes in the student community and changes in the world of medicine in the areas of innovation, technology and artificial intelligence," says Avraham. "The accreditation also left us no choice, which is good, because these are changes that must be made."
For the purpose of planning, work teams were established that held heated discussions in recent months - it is not easy to change world order in one of the most conservative professions in the world. The discussions also included the involvement of the medical students who submitted their own requests and comments. "Every major change creates resistance," says Wolff, head of the medical school, "and we had to make significant changes such as changing the scope of teaching in various fields, as well as the teaching method.
"It is clear to us that Generation Z has lost the ability to sit in class and listen to lectures all day and this requires a fundamental change in the teaching method: much more home study of materials and content that we will prepare for them in advance, and on the other hand, in the other part, to provide content for which it is worth coming to the university - case discussions, Practices, laboratories. When they come, they want to know that they have real value."
One of the big changes is the shift of the center of gravity to the four-year program for bachelor's degree graduates: Israel is perhaps the only country in the world where both tracks exist at the same time (the six-year "European" track and the four-year "American" track). "We are already adding 60 students to the four-year program next year, also with the understanding that the state needs to produce doctors faster," says Avraham. In the school year that will open in October, more students will start the four-year program than last: 170 students, compared to 125 in the six-year program.
This change requires the faculty to match the two programs and to create an identity in content and training between the four-year program and years two through five of the six-year track. "This requires a profound change in years 1 and 6 of the six-year program," the faculty wrote in its announcement. In the first year, introductory subjects and medical education will be taught, and the students will also be able to take courses in bioinformatics, Python, entrepreneurship and innovation. The sixth year will be shortened and dedicated to special tracks and excellence tracks such as clinical, research, entrepreneurial and managerial track.
Another change that is planned is a reduction in the number of study hours. The management of the faculty wrote: "When we examined the number of teaching hours at our place in comparison to medical schools in Israel and around the world, we saw that over the years many hours have been added and our students study hundreds of hours more each year compared to parallel programs. This is not reflected in higher averages in the final exams or in any quality indicators , but causes a heavy burden, both mentally and emotionally, on our students. Since the purpose of the studies is more to teach how to learn and less to 'go over all the material', it is clear that not only is there no prevention of significant cuts, but it is an essential need."
In addition, it was decided to connect the students early to the clinic, that is, to patients in the field - today medical students study mainly theory during the first three years and only then come to the field. "Earlier exposure to patients, and especially to the meaning and responsibility required of those who practice medicine, is expected to change the student's attitude towards studies in the early years as well," the faculty management wrote. "Today, a large part of the material is still perceived by them as lacking context. The early connection will allow for increased motivation and involvement in the learning process."