Thinking of Israeli Med Schools...diversity question

[bohreffect]

Hi,

I've been a lurker on sdn for awhile but just signed up. I'm applying to med school this for Fall 2010 cycle and I'm looking at many international med schools. (GPA 3.3, taking the mcat in June but have about a 30 on pracs) I've always been really interested in international medicine so as of right now medical schools in Israel have caught my interest. The only concern is is that I'm a black female. I know that Israeli med school have a draw more for people of Israeli descent or of the Jewish faith, so I was just wondering are there any people of different backgrounds (either ethnically or religiously) that could tell me their experiences in regards to med school in Israel? Thanks so much!

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[womp]

I'm Asian-American, not Jewish, and I got into Sackler this year for class of 2013, but I don't have any experiences of the school yet. There didn't seem to be any issues being non-Jewish during the admissions process.

 

[IzzyMD09]

The only concern is is that I'm a black female. I know that Israeli med school have a draw more for people of Israeli descent or of the Jewish faith, so I was just wondering are there any people of different backgrounds (either ethnically or religiously) that could tell me their experiences in regards to med school in Israel?

Hmmmm this is an interesting question, obviously our medical schools are doing enough to portray our actual diversity. I cannot speak for Sackler or Technion for I am not a student at those institutions, but I do know that BGU can proudly boast diversity, without any attempts of achieving such a standard we have attracted students of all ethnicities and descent, not just African Americans, but Africans, South Koreans, Palestinians, Americans, Canadians, of all sizes shapes and colors. I think under roughly 50% of each of our classes is Jewish, but even Jews within themselves are extremely diverse, my roomate was an Egyptian American Jew, my other roomates family was from Spain, and he lived in Alaska, doesnt get more diverse than that.

I will say this, there are not a lot of African Americans in our program, this issue has been brought up indirectly by students themselves who call for more diversity. However, we deal with our applicant pool and do not discriminate, its possible less African Americans apply to Israeli medical schools. The answer to this question is not known, but I do know we do not give preference based on gender race religion or ethnicity, and to the best of my knowledge we are not an affirmative action school nor are we a reverse discrimination school.

Hope that helps,

Izzy

Izzy