Medicine is considered a challenging profession with opportunities for personal development, self-realization and satisfaction, but also one that involves exhausting studies, strenuous and demanding work, and the risk of burnout. The candidates for academic studies, typically young people in their twenties, are now more aware than ever of the various considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing their field of study, with issues such as future remuneration, leisure time and quality of life serving as central considerations in their decision making process.

While medicine is one of the most sought-after professions among candidates for academic studies in Israel, "competing" professions enjoy an increase in prestige, in relation to medicine.

Although the acceptance grade required for medical studies at the Tel Aviv University is the highest among the various fields of study, closer examination reveals that the field of medicine is currently struggling to maintain its high stature, in light of the rising demand for disciplines that are considered more prestigious and lucrative. 

A study conducted by the IMA examined the demand for medical studies between the years 1993 –2005. The data shows that in recent years, the number of medical school candidates has increased by just 2.33%, while the average increase in computer and electronics studies was 12.12%. Additionally, the increase in demand for medical studies is smaller than the increase in the number of slots available in medical schools (3.29%).

The group of students studying abroad due to their failure to reach the requirements threshold in Israel must also be taken into account. It can be assumed that in the absence of the connection that forms with their potential work environment throughout their years of study, at least some of the doctors in this group tend to end up working in Europe and the US as opposed to Israel.

The increase in the field’s percentage of women – who are still viewed as secondary providers – must also be considered. The sex ratio among those who choose the profession has changed;  the number of female medical students is now higher than that of the males. A profession in which the sex ratio experiences a shift, faces the risk of undergoing fundamental changes, including a decline in salary and working conditions. This is because a profession with a high percentage of female practitioners is still widely regarded as a "second salary" profession, which generates lower income than that of the family's primary breadwinner. Moreover, in a far-reaching study conducted by the Brookdale Institute to examine the criteria for professions in crisis, the number of women employed in the field was considered an indicator of crisis. The study stated as follows: "the shortage of "good" residents is indicated by the success rate in the first stage of residency exams, the percentage of graduates from abroad, and the percentage of women who complete their residency". ¹ The study does not mean to claim that the level of professionalism among women is lower than that among men, but "The rise in the significance of considerations relating to lifestyle among students contemplating the medical profession, is also linked to the rise in the number of women graduating the medicine faculty". ² The main point is that women are more inclined than men to work part-time.

These findings show that although medicine is still viewed as one of the more appealing fields of study among candidates for academic studies, it has become less glamorous and prestigious than in the past. The field of medicine, with its prominent component of mission and self-sacrifice, is now struggling to maintain its exclusive status in the competition with other lucrative professions that do not infringe as much upon the practitioners’ personal life. The field of medicine "competes" with the fields of high-tech, engineering etc. for the best undergraduate candidates. To this backdrop, it is easy to understand the aging of the Israeli physician population, with the percentage of young doctors ever-decreasing. The average age of Israeli physicians is rising; in 1990, doctors under 45 constituted 48% of the physician population in Israel. In 2000 the percentage was 37%, and in 2008 – only 27.7%.³ 

These alternative fields of study offer graduates broad employment possibilities, high income, opportunities for professional promotion, and high social status. The importance attributed to the employment conditions, including work environment (infrastructure and human resources) and remuneration, is a decisive factor in choosing a field of study, and reflects the changes in the priorities and values of Israeli society in recent decades. Policymakers must take this into account when making budgetary decisions regarding the healthcare system.

¹ Nirel

² Page 553

³ The Ministry of Health, Report of the Committee for Medical and Nursing Workforce in Israel, p. 19.