eJPhil: Four-Year Medical School Program Launched at BGU
eJPhil: Four-Year Medical School Program Launched at BGU
June 11, 2025
Prof. Alan Jotkowitz, Director of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Sagol Medical School for International Health
eJewishPhilanthropy— As Israel faces a growing doctor shortage with the looming retirement of 1990s-era Russian immigrants, the newly named Sagol Medical School for International Health — a partnership between Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and the Sagol Network — has launched a four-year medical school program focused on advanced technologies, public health and future-ready medical education.
Unlike other medical schools in Israel, which are six-year programs for students without bachelor’s degrees, this shorter program is meant for students who have completed their bachelor’s degrees, making it more suitable for new immigrants, though it is open to all Israeli citizens, its director, professor Alan Jotkowitz, told eJewishPhilanthropy.
The creation of the school comes in the wake of the Israeli government’s decision, in 2022, to close Israeli medical school programs for international students to prioritize the training of domestic doctors to address the growing physician shortage. There are currently 160 students enrolled in the new program.
The collaboration between BGU, which is located in the southern Israeli city of Beer-Sheva, and the Sagol Network emerged from a mutual commitment to shaping a worldwide academic and medical framework that views health as a continually advancing discipline, Jotkowitz said. The program will emphasize a comprehensive global health perspective, the importance of preventive medicine and the integration of state-of-the-art technologies and the strategic use of artificial intelligence, already used in radiology and pathology, into other areas of medicine, he said.
The school will also work to strengthen the medical services in southern Israel, said Jotkowitz, who noted that Israel’s shortage of doctors can be most felt in Israel’s periphery, particularly in the Negev.
In a statement, Israeli plastics magnate and philanthropist Sami Sagol noted that the Sagol Medical School for International Health is the latest addition to the Sagol Network ecosystem of leading national and international universities and medical centers whose mission it is to make Israel a global hub for brain and health research.
“I hope this school will help realize David Ben-Gurion’s vision of turning the Negev into the ‘Israeli Oxford’ and contribute to the region’s development and prosperity,” Sagol said.
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