Prof. Koa said that he is convinced that the decision will make a significant contribution to the development and strengthening of the Galilee.
The president of Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Moshe Koa, welcomed the decision of the MLA to approve the study programs for the Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. Prof. Koa said that he is convinced that the decision will make a significant contribution to the development and strengthening of the Galilee. With the approval of the plans, the university will soon begin registration for the first cycle of studies that will begin in October 2011 in Safed. In the first phase, the three-year clinical track will be opened - designed to return to Israel medical students studying abroad (50 students will be accepted in the first cycle). In the near future, another track will be approved, the four-year track intended for graduates of a bachelor's degree in life sciences.
The teaching and research faculty in the first academic year will consist of 14-12 scientists carefully selected from over 100 scientists who submitted their applications. 10 of the selected faculty members come from leading prestigious universities in the world. The areas of teaching and research are: bioenergetics, genetics, virology, metabolism, cancer, infectious diseases, bioinformatics, nutrition, pathology, neurology, brain and mind, public health, anatomy.
The faculty members chosen to teach will live in the Galilee. The designated dean is Prof. Ran Tor-Kaspa and the replacements for the dean are Prof. Michael Weingarten and Prof. Haim Breitbart.
Bar-Ilan University has already signed cooperation agreements of the Faculty of Medicine with most of the hospitals in the north, including the Ziv Hospital in Safed, the Nahariya Hospital, the Fouriya Hospital, the hospitals in Nazareth, the "Mezra" Mental Hospital near Acre, as well as with the various health funds .
A special emphasis in the training of doctors at the Bar-Ilan faculty will be on community medicine.
In addition, a cooperation agreement was signed for the purpose of carrying out pre-clinical teaching and research with the Migal Institute (Upper Galilee Knowledge Center Ltd.).
In the first years of operation of the Faculty of Medicine, studies will take place in the old Ziv Hospital building (Hadassa facility) in Safed, which will be renovated with an investment of approximately 100 million shekels, of which the state will provide approximately 30 million shekels and the rest will be raised by Bar-Ilan University through donations. About 20 research laboratories, teaching classrooms, a library and secretarial rooms will be built there. At the same time, space will be located and the permanent campus of the Faculty of Medicine will be built on the western slopes of Safed with an investment of approximately NIS 1.5 billion, half from the state budget and half from donations raised by Bar-Ilan University.
