BIU Launches Israel’s First Medical School in the Galilee

The historic opening of the initial site of the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee — located in the city of Safed — marks the beginning of a new era in healthcare services in northern Israel. The opening of the Bar-Ilan University medical school was marked by a festive ceremony in the presence of the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other noted guests.

Jerusalem Post, October 31, 2011:

Increasingly starved for young doctors, the country welcomed on Sunday the opening, in Safed, of its fifth medical school and the first in nearly four decades — the Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. To mark the occasion, Prime Minister (and formally health minister) Binyamin Netanyahu convened the whole cabinet at the site of the temporary medical faculty campus and greeted President Shimon Peres, who in the past, as minister for the development of the Negev and Galilee, pushed for the opening of such an institution.

Jerusalem Post, October 29, 2011:

The opening today of Bar-Ilan University’s new medical school in Safed is a milestone event in the history of the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Tomorrow, 124 students will begin their studies at this groundbreaking institution, including 54 Israelis returning to their homeland — and to the Galilee — from foreign universities where they have already completed three years of pre-clinical study. How will this medical school differ from Israel’s others? First, in its location. Second, in its innovative character.

Video: Bar-Ilan University established Israel’s 5th Faculty of Medicine in the city of Safed in the Galilee, on October 30, 2011. In addition to educating a new generation of doctors and medical scientists, Bar-Ilan also hopes to cultivate the area and provide advanced medical services and facilities to the entire Northern region of Israel.