Understanding the Doctor Shortage in Israel
- Anglo Doctor in Israel
- Nov 2
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 3
Hospitals are often understaffed, community doctors are responsible for thousands of patients, and getting an appointment with a specialist can take months. It’s seems that Israel’s healthcare system is under significant strain, but what’s driving it?
Israel’s population is growing faster than its number of doctors, nearly half of the country’s physicians are nearing retirement, and a new policy is about to restrict the flow of foreign-trained doctors who have long helped fill the gaps.
In response, the government is looking to Aliyah as part of the solution, with plans to absorb thousands of immigrant doctors to strengthen the system.
So is Israel really facing a doctor shortage and can immigration help close the gap?
Let’s take a closer look.
The Reality in Israel’s Healthcare System
Here are the key issues:
Israel’s Population Is Growing Faster Than Its Supply of Doctors
Between 2010 and 2020, the number of doctors in Israel rose from 3.0 to 3.3 per 1,000 people, showing growth in both total doctors and population ratio. However, the OECD (group of developed nations) average rose faster, from 3.1 to 3.7, widening the gap between Israel and other developed countries.
This slower growth in doctor density is largely due to Israel’s rapid population increase of over 20%, compared with only 6% across the OECD, meaning that despite more doctors overall, Israel’s growing population has outpaced the expansion of its medical workforce.
Israel Faces One Of The Oldest Physician Populations In The Developed World
Nearly half of all doctors in Israel (49%) are aged 55 or older, one of the highest proportions among OECD countries. Even more striking, about 26% of specialist physicians are over the age of 67, highlighting how much of Israel’s medical workforce is approaching retirement, a trend that raises serious concerns about future staffing and continuity of care.
Israel Relies Heavily On Foreign-trained Doctors, But This Is About To Change.
A large share of Israeli doctors study medicine abroad because of the limited number of medical school places at home. Many of them trained in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, and Moldova before returning to complete their residency and begin practicing in Israel.
Today, about 58% of doctors in Israel received their first medical degree overseas - the highest proportion in any OECD country.
That picture, however, is about to change. In 2025, the Yatziv Reform will come into effect. The Yatziv Reform, developed in response to concerns about the quality of medical education, tightens the rules on which foreign medical schools are recognized. Degrees from a number of non-OECD countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and some in Romania, will no longer qualify for licensing exams in Israel.
This change is projected to reduce the number of eligible medical graduates by nearly 30% starting in 2025, even when factoring in the rise in local graduates. As a result, Israel is expected to see fewer fully trained specialists entering the workforce 5 to 7 years later, depending on the length of their specialty training.
Israel Trains Too Few Doctors to Meet Its Growing Needs
Israel has increased the number of medical school graduates in recent years, but its output remains the lowest in the OECD when adjusted for population size and the number of practicing doctors.
In 2020, Israel produced 7 new medical graduates per 100,000 people, compared with the OECD average of 14. When measured against the number of working physicians, Israel had 21 graduates per 1,000 doctors, roughly half the OECD rate. At this pace, it would take about 50 years to replace the current medical workforce if Israel relied solely on its domestic training system, without foreign-trained doctors.
This gap reflects limited medical school capacity, partly due to shortages of hospital beds and clinical training sites, which restrict the number of students who can complete their clinical rotations. Even though other countries like the Netherlands and the UK face similar hospital constraints, they still produce about twice as many medical graduates per hospital bed as Israel.
Overall, despite some progress, Israel’s limited medical education capacity remains a key bottleneck in addressing its long-term doctor shortage.
Can Doctor Aliyah Help Solve Israel’s Physician Shortage?
In response to the mounting pressure on Israel’s healthcare system, the government has begun prioritizing the immigration of doctors as part of its strategy to address the growing shortage. In 2023, a new Physicians Directorate was established within the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration (Misrad Ha-Klitah) with a clear goal; to bring 2,000 doctors to Israel over the next five years.
Working in partnership with Nefesh B’Nefesh through the International Medical Aliyah Program (IMAP), the Directorate has already made significant progress, organizing MedEx events and launching other impactful initiatives to attract and support immigrant physicians.
Aliyah of Doctors is on the Rise
In recent years, Israel has continued to welcome a steady stream of doctors making Aliyah.
In 2023, 494 physicians immigrated, approximately 70% of them from Russia and the former Soviet Union. Their average age was just over 41, with a median age of 37, a group still very much in the middle of their medical careers and ready to contribute to the Israeli health system.
The following year, in 2024, 519 doctors arrived, according to the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. Over the course of 2025, that number rose again, with roughly 575 new immigrant doctors expected by year’s end. Of these, 255 came from Russia and the former Soviet Union, 148 from the U.S. and Canada, 148 from Europe, 25 from South America, 2 from South Africa, and 1 from Australia.
These figures show that Israel continues to attract skilled and experienced doctors from across the Jewish world. Yet, even with this steady influx, it is still uncertain whether the number of new arrivals will be enough to offset retirements, population growth, and the increasing demands on the healthcare system.
In Summary...
Israel’s doctor shortage is a complex challenge with no single solution. Investment is needed across the board; in medical education, workforce planning and system structure.
Medical Olim bring not only hope but real strength to Israel’s healthcare system. They don’t just increase the number of practicing doctors but they also bring diverse training, valuable experience, and fresh perspectives that can greatly enrich Israeli medicine. Their successful integration into the healthcare system has the potential to deliver enormous benefits across the country.
References:
Israel Association of Public Health Physicians. Preparing for a Wave of Doctor Immigration: Reducing the Required Years of Professional Experience. Doctors Only, January 14, 2024.
Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. Hundreds of Doctors Immigrated to Israel Over the Past Year. January 7, 2025.
OECD. Medical Education and Training in Israel. May 2023.
Authored by Gaetan Lafortune, OECD Health Division, with contributions from Guillaume Dedet, Gaelle Balestat, Victor Gellie, Federica Turatto, and Ekin Dagistan.
