Israel will open its first military medical school. The program, operating in conjunction with Hadassah-Hebrew University School of Medicine, is scheduled to open this fall with 50 students.

The inaugural class will share many classes with the other 100 first-year Hadassah-Hebrew University medical students, but also will take additional courses emphasizing subjects necessary for military service such as sports medicine, treating trauma and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear attack injuries, and management training.

The military medical school will address a shortage of fulltime physicians in the Israel Defense Forces, new challenges of unconventional warfare and the need for sophisticated management of modern military clinics, according to a news release from Hadassah.

Tuition and housing will be paid by the IDF in return for a five-year commitment of service as a military doctor at a military base or with a fighting unit. (JTA)