More than a third of young Israeli doctors say they plan to leave country soon

The results, shared with Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov on August 6, indicated that 38 percent of respondents planned to leave Israel at the end of the current stage in their training. Twenty percent they would permanently relocate, 7% would leave for a fellowship, and the remaining 11% were nondefinitive about the period away from Israel.

According to Prof. Hagai Levine, head of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians, there is no reliable data on the usual number of young doctors who leave the country, either temporarily or permanently, either following the completion of their residencies or early in their careers.

Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, head of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s School of Public Health, concurred that there are no formal numbers available, but estimates that the percentage of young doctors seeking to leave is five to 10 times higher than in what he termed “normal times.”

Trainees have comprised a significant proportion of the medical community protesting the government’s judicial overhaul plan. Many have opposed it from the beginning, and others joined the fight as the vote on the first law of the plan, which restricts the courts’ right to strike down government and administrative decisions based on “reasonableness,” approached.

The Knesset passed the law on July 24. The Supreme Court declined to issue an injunction freezing the law but will hear arguments against the legislation from several petitioners in September.

The exit of so many young doctors would deal a harsh blow to the Israeli healthcare system, in which a quarter of doctors are currently of retirement age. The number of active physicians in Israel, 3.3 per 1,000 population, is already lower than the OECD average of 3.6 per 1,000 population.

When the young doctors who indicated that they planned to leave Israel were asked why, 77% cited the political situation, 54% cited salary conditions, 54% cited the country’s economic situation, and 39% the conditions of medical residency. (Residents have been fighting for years to have shifts reduced from 26 or more hours. The government recently confirmed that the hours would be reduced to 19-21, beginning in September at hospitals in the country’s periphery.)

“The subject of relocation is preoccupying young doctors,” Mirsham chair Dr. Rey Biton told Doctors Only, a publication for the Israeli healthcare community. “It is easiest for medical students, interns, residents, and young doctors to leave. They are very concerned about their work conditions, and the political and economic situations. These things lend themselves to their not seeing a future for themselves in medicine here,” she said.

Biton said that the healthcare system needs to take these people seriously and think of ways to keep them in the country.

Survey respondents who said they were considering leaving Israel indicated that certain changes would make them reconsider. Thirty-one percent wanted to see the judicial legislation stopped and talks between the coalition and opposition take place. Sixteen percent wanted improvement in work conditions for trainees. Twelve percent would like better salaries. Eighteen percent said a combination of improvements might make them reconsider.

However, a full 23% answered that nothing would sway them from their inclination to relocate to another country.

“Hospitals around the world approach us and suggest we move there and work under conditions that we can only dream about in Israel — no 26-hour shifts — and great terms for our families. They are willing to give us a lot… and the temptation is great,” Biton said.

Biton reported that she discussed the survey results with the Health Ministry’s Bar Siman Tov in a meeting. She said that he was very worried by the statistics and confirmed that medical trainees’ conditions needed to be improved.

“There are many ways in which we can improve things for medical residents in their difficult day-to-day work. Relocation is not required to ensure that residents work under humane conditions. The director-general agreed with me on this. I am hopeful that things will change,” Biton said.

Renee Ghert-Zand