Meet the “physician assistant”: Starting in August, a new profession in Israel will commence, where its graduates will meet patients not only in emergency rooms but also in hospital departments and health clinics. They will examine patients, present the case to doctors, and perform various referrals and medical procedures to ease the load and shorten waiting times.
New profession to be taught at university level
To address the dropout from the profession and align with other Western countries, the Health Ministry decided to upgrade the training and rename the profession “physician assistant.” Under the new profession, which will now be taught at the university level and granted a master’s degree, the training will start from the basics, covering subjects taught in medical schools, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology.
The Health Ministry will conduct strictly overseerformance and effectiveness and will gradually approve additional authorities, including approving specific medication prescriptions, initiating drug treatments, chronic care management, and signing follow-up prescriptions. Program graduates will be assigned to internal departments, community health clinics, psychiatric hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. The curriculum, which will be offered at medical faculties, is currently being developed, with the first class of students expected in March 2026.
Additionally, ‘physician assistant’ graduates can work in any department, community, and hospital, similar to the US and Europe. The Health Ministry is in continuous contact with the Council for Higher Education, responsible for building an appropriate syllabus for master’s degree studies in the profession.”
