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.”