The Medical School for International Health (MSIH) at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is a unique medical school that incorporates global health components into all four years of the core M.D. curriculum.
As a small and prestigious medical school, we offer an M.D. program that prepares you for a career going far beyond the hospital or private clinic. Gain the training necessary to practice medicine while meeting the challenges of global health — and make a real impact.
With classes entirely in English, the M.D. program is taught by experienced physicians, most of whom have personal involvement in global health. Together, we are dedicated to preparing a new generation of doctors who have a comprehensive view of health around the world — whether they practice medicine locally or internationally.
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With three years of study and training in Israel, fourth-year electives in North America and an eight-week global health clerkship at one of our sites around the world, our M.D. program is designed to provide an exciting path to residency in the United States, Israel, Canada and beyond. Match rates for MSIH graduates parallel match rates of top medical programs in the U.S., with more than 90% of students matching with one of their top residency choices over the past decade.
Learn more about ResidencyThe average U.S. residency match rate for the past five years was over 90%.
Become a skilled physician with a comprehensive view of health around the world.
MSIH is the first and only medical school in the world to incorporate global health components into all four years of the core curriculum.
At MSIH, courses in global health and the medical humanities are incorporated into the curriculum so that graduates better understand medicine as a science and an art.
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Students at the Medical School for International Health care about Global Health – and are investing in their future as global health physicians. Find out what Global Health means to MSIH students and faculty.
Degree granted:
M.D. (doctorate in medicine)
The only Israeli university created by government mandate, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) was established in 1969 with a mission to be an engine for the development of Israel’s Negev region.
BGU was inspired by the vision of Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who believed that the future of Israel lay in the Negev region, a desert area comprising more than 60 percent of the country.
In 1973, Israel’s Council for Higher Education tasked BGU with establishing a new medical school. From the outset, program founders were intent upon creating a program that was different in focus, orientation and scope from traditional medical schools.
A primary objective of the Faculty of Health Sciences has been addressing the health care needs of the diverse populations of the Negev, Israel’s semi-arid desert region that makes up more than 60% of the country’s landmass. The faculty also stands out in its emphasis on the inherent relationship between medical education and medical care, with a focus on primary care.
In 1998, the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences, in collaboration with Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, initiated a new M.D. program aimed at extending the schools’ philosophies and experience to students from around the world. The M.D. program at MSIH follows a four-year, North-American-style curriculum taught in English by BGU faculty.
The relationship between BGU and Columbia helps combine MSIH’s international reputation as a leader in humanistic approaches to community medicine with Columbia’s reputation for excellence in medical education. Centered on principles of effective cross-cultural medical practice, the MSIH curriculum includes studies in international preventive medicine, geographic medicine, tropical diseases, global environment, and refugee and disaster medicine. The M.D. degree is awarded by BGU.
The Faculty of Health Sciences has established itself as a pioneer in training doctors who are uniquely prepared for the health challenges and population needs of 21st-century global medicine.
Through its outreach programs, the faculty has extended its reach to help communities in Africa and Asia develop their health care systems.
BGU also provides training for specialists in anesthesiology and critical care, including one program under the sponsorship of the European section of the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists, and another, sponsored by the Peres Center for Peace, that enhances Palestinian residency training. As part of a research and teaching collaboration with Azerbaijan Medical University, BGU recently sent a delegation to train 31 Azeri doctors and researchers in clinical best practices.
