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Photo: Tal Cohen
Doctors Needed
Photo: Tal Cohen

Chief medical officer warns of severe lack of IDF doctors

Brigadier-General Nachman Ash says shortage will only be solved in 10 years, until then troops to be treated by HMOs

The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday that it was still plagued with a serious lack of medical officers. Brigadier-General Nachman Ash, the IDF's chief medical officer, said 20 battalions were currently without military doctors.

 

The army requires the enlistment of 75 doctors per year in order to fill all doctor posts, but in recent years the number of medical students studying prior to their army service has been declining.

 

Ash says it may take up to a decade to solve the shortage, as a new program for army doctors in Jerusalem's Hebrew University will only begin producing graduates in ten years. He said the shortage was the result of a growing lack of doctors in Israel and the world.

 

The medical officer added that the army would attempt to solve the current crisis by holding a bid for HMOs willing to treat soldiers in the area of Tel Aviv and Tel Hashomer.

 

"In the end the soldier will choose the HMO to service him. The family doctor will be able to advise us regarding medical limitations, but the army will have the final say on any exemptions (from service)," Ash said.

 

He said the process, to be completed gradually over the next two years, would terminate with the inclusion of all four HMOs.

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.17.09, 18:58
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