The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is planning an overhaul of its medical school, enabling it to double the number of students. The new program is being made possible, in part, by a donation from American Jewish industrialist and philanthropist Steve Lavin, chairman and controlling shareholder of the OSI Group, one of the world's leading meat suppliers, whose client list includes McDonald's.
The donation will support the establishment of an advanced medical education center focused primarily on training physicians in digital tools. The project has a total budget of $90 million over ten years, approximately half of which will come from university funds and half from donations, primarily from Lavin and philanthropic sources in his hometown of Chicago, which he plans to help the university solicit. The project is part of a broader $250 million initiative to strengthen the university’s Faculty of Medicine, which includes additional initiatives in teaching and research.
Identifying the training bottleneck
Prof. Eli Pikarsky, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Hebrew University, says, "Throughout the world, there is a shortage of medical personnel, especially doctors. We need to train more doctors and train them better. Sometimes a person goes to a great doctor and says, 'I'd like to be treated by this doctor all my life, because he explains with empathy, clarity and also listens to me.' Our goal is for all our doctors to be like that."
As far as Pikarsky is concerned, what’s causing the bottleneck is a shortage of mentors. "We’re lucky," he says, "We have good, enthusiastic students, but they need training from older, more experienced doctors, but you can't stop hospitals from working."
The shortage of doctors in Israel is particularly acute for several reasons. The Ministry of Health’s Yatziv Reform of 2019, restricting recognition of foreign medical degrees, reduced the number of new doctors entering the system by several hundred each year. In addition, in the coming years, Israel expects a large wave of retirements among physicians who immigrated from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. At the same time, 1,300 doctors have left Israel in just the past three years, including experienced physicians who would otherwise have formed the backbone of training the next generation of doctors.
Pikarsky's plan is to introduce a monitoring system for undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Medicine, which will continually measure the level of students' knowledge. The pediatrics studies departments will pilot the system beginning in January.
"Through technology, we want to help students better understand what is expected of them and how they are progressing toward the desired level of proficiency. This is a monitoring system that measures students not against one another, but against their own progress, because medicine is not a profession in which we want to encourage competition, but rather teamwork. The purpose of this assessment is to ensure that no student fails to understand the material and slips under the radar.
"Every student will have a human mentor, but thanks to this system, the mentor will know exactly where the student needs more support and will be able to focus time on that area."
"A system that will teach us how to teach"
Pikarsky continues: "We’ll also evaluate and monitor the training itself. We’ll be able to know what works and what doesn't. The system will allow them to ask more questions - they’re a little afraid of me, which doesn't make me happy, but that's what happens. The system will also allow them to ask each other these questions. They’ll have independent tasks as well as group tasks that require them to be present, interact, and to practice the all-important interpersonal skills."
Pikarsky notes that studies show that doctors interrupt patients, on average, just 60 seconds after they begin describing their case. "Patients wait two hours outside, rehearsing what they want to say to make sure the doctor understands their situation well, and then when the doctor interrupts them, they feel hurt and stressed out that they couldn't express themselves, and then they don't hear what the doctor is saying. If I were to call that doctor in for a conversation, and interrupt him after a minute, he'd be amazed to hear that's what he does. We'll offer them computer or human simulations of this behavior.
"The state of education has got to change. I believe this model will teach us not only how to teach medicine, but also how to instruct, educate, and train in general. These tools will make them thirsty for knowledge and perhaps make for greater equality."
"Too many talented people are leaving"
Lavin began his philanthropic activity a few years ago. In Israel, he invested in the ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran rehabilitation village, as well as in the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer.
What led you to focus your philanthropy on this particular issue?
"We’ve been investing in philanthropy in the medical sector in the United States for several years now. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, we conducted an in-depth study to understand the needs and realized that the shortage of manpower was a major problem, both physicians and psychologists. It was clear to me that we could improve the availability of doctors in Israel through the Hebrew University. Yossi Gal (Hebrew University vice president for Advancement and External Relations, G.W.) is a friend of mine.
"I think a lot today about repairing the world through philanthropy, business and the combination of them. I invest in the Israeli economy, in security, in housing, and of course in food, but what stands above all is medicine, because if we don’t have our health we can’t enjoy life - and then why be here at all? Plus the fact that too many talented people are leaving Israel and I would like to bring them home.
"In the US, we're investing in medical centers, and a new center for rare neurological syndromes has recently been is built in Chicago. It's an area where money is very much needed. The connecting thread is that we don't want the money to go to buildings and names on towers; we like programs that really advance medicine."
Are there further donations on the agenda?
"I’d like to use this project to build a partnership between Chicago’s philanthropic and medical communities - Chicago is a major medical hub- and Israel. We’re looking to invest another $18 million in a project focused on food tech, sustainability, and the cost of living, including at the Hebrew University. We also have another initiative that will likely total $16 million, to be divided among Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, the Technion, and Ben-Gurion University. The goal is to bring students from the US and Canada to study in Israel. For those who want to stay, we’ll help fund their next degree or help them find a job. And in northern Israel, we’re also running a leadership training program for Druze communities. All these initiatives need to work together to help address some of the challenges of the future."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on October 18, 2026.
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