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Dr. Onn is among the growing number of healthcare leaders in Northern Israel who have lauded the School’s positive impact on the region as it enters its fourth year. In this short time-frame, the School has attracted top Israeli scientists and hundreds of students who are committed to improving healthcare in the North and throughout Israel.

Nothing Short of a Revolution

“The benefits are not just for the hospital … It has turned us into a full-fledged academic medical school, which means that everyone – not just the students but the doctors as well – is studying. Because you cannot teach if you don’t have the best knowledge. Our physicians are preparing lectures for the students; we do joint research projects with the School of Medicine; there are new research labs. It’s nothing short of a revolution.”

The Medical School, which will be graduating its first cohort this summer, requires its students to spend two years during their studies in one of three hospitals affiliated with Bar-Ilan University. The hospitals are Poriah near Tiberias, Ziv in Safed, and the Medical Center of the Galilee in Nahariya. The School is additionally affiliated with the Scottish Hospital and Italian Holy Family Hospital, both in Nazareth; and also works with Mazra Psychiatric Hospital in Acre and the community clinics of Kupat Holim Clalit. 

Dr. Onn says Poriah has benefited from the School’s emphasis on research. “We now have labs in cardiology, nephrology, stem cell research and microbiology at the hospital.” 

According to Onn, this has made it easier to attract the best physicians in the country. “We can now tell a potential candidate that at Poriah we can give you an academic career. You can be a clinical professor, you can teach students, and I can give you a lab for your research … It’s no different than a hospital in the center of the country.”