From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
Medical, health students could be called to service in hospitals
Renee Ghert-Zand is the health reporter and a feature writer for The Times of Israel.
The Health Ministry announces that medical, nursing and health profession students who have not been called up for IDF reserve duty may be called to serve in the medical system for a limited time with a salary.
With students generally being young, it is assumed that many have been called up for military service and it is as yet unclear how many will be able to serve in this other capacity.
The decision to recruit students to augment human resources in the medical system was made under the assumption that the need for more staff would continue for a long period.
In the first three days of the war, 2,616 people were taken to hospitals. This morning, there were 544 still hospitalized — three in critical condition, 126 in serious condition, 192 in moderate condition, and 223 with light injuries.
Official guidelines for the call-up of students are being finalized. It was reported in an online publication for the Israeli medical community that the students may be called up to serve 180 hours per month, for one month only, in a hospital, health maintenance organization, nursing home, or the Magen David Adom rescue organization.
Dr. Adi Niv-Yagoda, an expert on medicine and law policy, was quoted as saying, “There were situations in the past during wars when students in various stages of training were brought in to perform tasks that do not require specific expertise…they can do technical jobs or even be asked to work as janitors or orderlies.”
