Old Challenges and New Perspectives on Developing Military Physicians: The First 4 Years of the New Israeli Model

Abstract

Military medicine comprises a set of unique characteristics that differentiate it from other medical specialties. Faced with challenges in recruiting, educating, and training military physicians, the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps redefined the paradigm for educating military physicians by establishing the Army Program for Excellence in medicine (APEX). This program created a military medical track at the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Medicine in Jerusalem. All military track students attend a single medical school, which allows for a more focused and efficient program. The students study, dorm, and train together, forming a strong social network. They also receive significant financial, logistical, academic, and educational support. Finally, the program provides a full curriculum in military medical studies, composed of academic courses given for credits and an integrated training schedule designed to build and improve physical and mental fitness for the military environment. In this article, we provide an overview of APEX, including the admissions process and a descriptive analysis of the student body, and present our comprehensive approach to teaching academic military medicine. To the best of our knowledge, APEX represents one of the few fully integrated undergraduate longitudinal military medical education programs, allowing us to educate military physicians "from day one."

Healthcare Military Logistics at Disaster Regions around the World: Insights from Ten Field Hospital Missions over Three Decades

“…An important trait of the Israeli FFH pertains to the medical staff selection and training: the staff of the FFH (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, etc.) is recruited in a very selective process [14]. It is composed from mixture of reservists and actual duty soldiers drafted for the voluntary mission.…”

The Dental, Oral, Medical Epidemiological (DOME) Study: Protocol and Study Methods

“…general intelligence (IQ) scored on a 9-point scale that is adjusted from time to time. 68,69 The ICS score ranges from 10 to 90, with 90 being roughly equivalent to an IQ of 135 and above. 67 (b) Quality group score: This score integrates several personality characteristics designed to assess combat suitability and future military performance.…”

“…67 (b) Quality group score: This score integrates several personality characteristics designed to assess combat suitability and future military performance. 69 It is comprised of educational background, test scores, and a personal interview, which are combined with an actuarial procedure into a single 16-point scale score between 41 and 56. 67,69 6.…”

“…69 It is comprised of educational background, test scores, and a personal interview, which are combined with an actuarial procedure into a single 16-point scale score between 41 and 56. 67,69 6. Socio-economic status (SES): SES was based on the locality of residence taken from Israeli Ministry of the interior records, which stratifies all local councils and municipalities data into 10 socio-economic docile groups determined by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.…”

“…Medical care is provided according to the guidelines of the IDF Medical Corps. 69 During the education and training military physicians are taught the appropriate military medical terminology and guidelines. 69 QA of health care was performed regularly by QA teams, as was previously detailed.…”