The Israeli Medical Association is the professional association representing about 95 percent of the physicians in Israel. The IMA represents physicians in all fields and regions throughout the country and at all stages in their medical careers, from students completing their studies and interns, to specialists and private practice doctors, to retired physicians. The IMA acts independently and on a nonpartisan basis to advance doctors and public medicine in Israel.

Benefits and Services

IMA members enjoy a wide range of benefits and services depending on where they are in their careers and their needs at that point. Through their IMA Doctor’s Card, IMA members benefit from discounts on textbooks, equipment and travel; access to tax, legal and mortgage consulting; professional development opportunities and much more. The IMA also serves as a source of information, education and advice for physicians at all stages in their medical careers. For example, the IMA advises and guides medical students through the process of preparing and applying for internships, including getting to know the various medical institutions throughout Israel and studying for and taking medical licensing exams. For doctors at a more advanced point in their career, the IMA is available to offer guidance through insurance policies and practices, salary discussions, retirement planning and more.

Legal Services

The IMA’s legal department advises physicians on a wide range of topics, including: salary, rights, workplace conditions, dismissal and resignation, contracts, parental and family leave, workplace discrimination and inequality, among many others. In addition, the IMA manages hotlines for doctors who need to report on incidences of online shaming or violence in the workplace.

Advancing Medicine

As part of its commitment to serving and representing doctors, the Israeli Medical Association is also committed to advancing Israeli medicine. This is done through the special projects, events and conferences it supports and organizes; the courses and professional development opportunities it offers for doctors; and its publications, including position papers, the IMA Around the Globe newsletter and three medical journals: IMAJ, Harefuah (in Hebrew), and JIMM (in Hebrew).

Medical Community

To ensure that Israeli medicine does not operate in a silo, the IMA also works to foster a medical community and network, including collaboration with international organizations and the IMA World Fellowship, which has brought together Israeli medical professionals and their foreign counterparts through chapters located in countries around the world. Through the IMA-WF, a broad-reaching medical community has been established, fostering dialogue; exposing Israeli physicians to medical practices, processes and institutions around the world; making it possible to share Israeli innovation abroad; and creating a global community of supporters of Israeli medicine and Israel in general.