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Israel offers Anglo docs cash for aliya
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By Yair Ettinger
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Jewish
doctors from the U.K., U.S. and Canada who immigrate to Israel will
receive an absorption package worth $60,000, the government and the
Nefesh B'Nefesh immigration organization announced yesterday.
The initiative is part of a joint venture by the absorption and
health ministries and Nefesh B'Nefesh intended to reverse the trend of
Israeli doctors being lured abroad by bigger salaries.
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"Nefesh B'Nefesh has identified a national strategic need of
immediate urgency and is honored to channel itself to bolster the
number of physicians in Israel," said Rabbi Joshua Fass, co-founder and
executive director of Nefesh B'Nefesh.
According to recent statistics, Israel's current rate of 3.4
doctors per 1,000 people is estimated to drop to 2.5 doctors by 2025.
Plans to open a fifth medical school in Israel are underway and the
initiative's organizers say the package, which will be given in
addition to the regular absorption package offered to immigrating Jews,
will help address the expected dearth.
Physicians under 40 who have completed their medical studies in
either North America or Britain will receive $25,000 upon arrival in
Israel. Over the next few years, they will be paid between $1,000 and
$1,500 a month.
Applicants are promised shortened procedures to receive their
medical and driver's licenses. In return, they must commit to work in
Israel for at least nine months a year. Over the coming months, Nefesh
B'Nefesh plans to launch a campaign among Jewish doctors in the
Diaspora to promote the program.
Health Minister Yacov Ben-Yizri said that it is "important to
encourage every Jewish doctor in the Diaspora to immigrate and offer
his skills. It is of the utmost importance to have doctors immigrate,
and I promise that the Health Ministry will do everything it can to
help this blessed campaign."
Absorption Minister Jacob Edery added: "The shortage in the number
of doctors over the next decade requires us to make a joint effort, and
that is why the Absorption Ministry has joined the program. It will
give funds and additional aid to ensure that the [doctors] are absorbed
as well as possible into the Israeli health system."
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