Technion American Medical Students (TEAMS) Program – Ranking, Tuition, Campus & Environment | ValueMD

General Information

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About Israel

(Background sourced from The World Factbook)

After World War II, Britain gave up its mandate over Palestine, and the UN voted to split the territory into separate Arab and Jewish states — a plan the Arab side rejected. Israel went on to prevail in a series of wars against its Arab neighbors, though the underlying tensions were never resolved. (Territory Israel has occupied since the 1967 war falls outside this country profile unless specifically noted.) Israel withdrew from the Sinai on April 25, 1982 under the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Following the framework set at the 1991 Madrid Conference, Israel held bilateral talks with Palestinian and Syrian representatives aimed at a lasting settlement. On September 13, 1993, Israel and Palestinian leaders signed the Declaration of Principles — commonly known as the Oslo Accords — establishing a period of interim Palestinian self-governance. The October 26, 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace settled remaining territorial and other disputes between the two countries. Movement toward a permanent-status agreement stalled amid Israeli-Palestinian violence between September 2003 and February 2005. In 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip, pulling out settlers and troops while keeping control over most crossing points. Hamas’s 2006 win in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections froze ties between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. That same year, Israel fought a 34-day conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon (June–August 2006), followed by a 23-day conflict with Hamas in Gaza (December 2008–January 2009). Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a governing coalition in March 2009 after that February’s general election. Direct talks with the Palestinian Authority, launched in September 2010, broke down once Israel’s 10-month partial settlement-construction freeze in the West Bank expired.

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The Technion American Medical Students Program (TeAMS)

The Technion American Medical Students Program (TeAMS) gives qualified U.S. and Canadian pre-med college graduates a path to the M.D. degree through the Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

Running since 1983, the program has seen every one of its hundreds of graduates pass licensing exams to practice back in the U.S. or Canada, and every graduate has secured a residency placement — many in highly competitive specialties and subspecialties. TeAMS pairs rigorous basic medical science training at a world-class technological institute with clinical education at some of the country’s leading medical centers, and studying in Israel adds a dimension to the medical education that’s hard to replicate elsewhere.

The Technion and the Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine

Established in 1969, the Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine is one of 20 faculties and departments that make up the Technion. As part of Israel’s only science and technology university, the medical faculty draws directly on cutting-edge developments across science and engineering to train physicians with a strong technological grounding. The Technion maintains active collaboration agreements with leading medical and biomedical engineering institutions worldwide, including a recently signed and actively developing partnership with Johns Hopkins University.

The Faculty of Medicine is based in the Rappaport Building in Bat-Galim, Haifa — right next to Rambam Medical Center and along the Mediterranean coast. The Technion’s main campus is in Neve Sha’anan, Haifa, home to its other faculties and departments. The Faculty of Medicine anchors medical education across northern Israel, housing the basic-science research labs and preclinical teaching departments (biochemistry, physiology, biophysics, immunology, pharmacology, microbiology, anatomy, and other morphological sciences), along with teaching labs, the central medical library, seminar rooms, and lecture halls. Clinical training and research happen in the formally accredited departments of three affiliated Haifa medical centers — Rambam Medical Center, Bnai Zion Medical Center, and Carmel Medical Center — plus additional affiliated centers in nearby cities.

Accreditation

The Technion’s M.D. degree is fully accredited by Israel’s National Council for Higher Education and appears in the World Health Organization’s Directory of Medical Programs.

TeAMS students complete 36 months of study — the length required of foreign (non-U.S.) medical graduates to obtain a U.S. medical license. Technion Faculty of Medicine graduates returning to the U.S. can enter AMA-approved internship and residency programs once certified by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), granted after passing Steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE.

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Why Study at the Technion

The Technion American Program offers:

• A full range of clinical experience within teaching hospitals
• State-of-the-art laboratories, medical equipment, and facilities
• Internationally recognized researchers and faculty
• An English-language curriculum
• A warm, supportive, encouraging environment
• Integration with the local student body
• Access to all Technion facilities, including the campus pool, sports center, and social/cultural programming

Prospective students are welcome at the program’s regularly scheduled information seminars across the U.S. and Canada, where they can learn about the program, the admissions process, and the support available to enrolled students.

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Admissions

Eligibility

The program is open to qualified U.S. and Canadian citizens or permanent residents who have lived in North America for at least 8 of the last 10 years. The Technion’s American Program lets students pursue an M.D. through a curriculum modeled on U.S. medical schools. All qualified applicants receive equal consideration regardless of sex, religion, age, race, color, national origin, or disability, consistent with applicable federal and state law.

Entrance Requirements

To qualify for admission, an applicant must have:

1. Completed a bachelor’s degree and the required pre-med coursework (as a U.S. or Canadian college graduate) by the time they enter the program
2. Successfully completed:
   • General Chemistry — one year, with laboratory
   • Organic Chemistry — one year, with laboratory
   • General Physics — one year, with laboratory
   • General Biology — one year, with laboratory
   • English Composition or Literature — one year
   • (Statistics and Calculus are strongly recommended, though not required)
3. Taken the MCAT

The Admissions Committee doesn’t favor any particular undergraduate major — it looks instead at an applicant’s science preparation and the breadth of their academic and extracurricular background. TeAMS aims to attract candidates whose personal qualities and achievements point toward becoming outstanding clinical physicians.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit:

• A completed application form
• The application fee ($50)
• Official MCAT results, sent along with the application
• Official transcripts from every college attended
• Three letters of recommendation, at least two from people who can speak to the applicant’s science background (an official letter from a college’s premedical committee may replace all three)

Admissions Process

Once all supporting materials are in, the Admissions Committee reviews each application, weighing academic background, MCAT scores, premedical committee evaluations, recommendation letters, and personal information. Promising candidates are invited to interview with the committee.

After interviews, the committee reviews every candidate and recommends admission for those who show the maturity and readiness to pursue a medical education outside North America. Candidates hear back within three weeks of their final interview.

Tuition

Tuition for the 2013–2014 academic year is $29,750 (USD). Additional student association, security, and welfare fees — set annually by the Technion — added roughly $270 (USD) for 2013–2014.

Payment is made by U.S.-dollar check to “Technion-Faculty of Medicine,” in two installments:

• First day of the Winter semester: 50% of tuition, plus additional fees
• First day of the Spring semester: remaining 50% of tuition

Some first-year courses require a microscope, available to rent from the Technion for $400 each.

All students are responsible for completing required vaccinations before starting at the Technion, and must bring documentation of their most recent immunizations for IPV, Td, MMR, TB, Hepatitis B, and similar — subject to approval by Israel’s Ministry of Health.

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Program

Curriculum Objectives

• Train physicians with a solid, general grounding in medical science and practice — whether they go on to primary care, a specialty, or research
• Equip graduates with the knowledge, skills, and professional conduct needed across all areas of medicine
• Build understanding of public health needs and the role of community and preventive medicine
• Give students the foundation to keep growing after graduation, through self-study and postgraduate specialization

The curriculum meets these goals through a mix of teaching approaches. Some material is organized around multidisciplinary units — molecular genetics, for instance, is taught jointly by biochemists, geneticists, and cell biologists, while neuroscience draws on anatomy, histology and cell biology, physiology, and pharmacology divisions together. Related math and physics topics are woven into medical coursework — electricity alongside nerve conduction, gas theory alongside the respiratory system, hydrodynamics alongside the cardiovascular system. Other subjects follow a more traditional format. Instruction spans formal lectures, lab sessions, small-group conferences, review sessions, and exams at the end of each course segment.

Self-study is a core emphasis — both to reinforce coursework and to build the habits physicians and scientists need to keep up with a fast-moving field. The behavioral sciences get significant attention too, covering the doctor-patient relationship and the ethics of medical practice, alongside a strong focus on preventive medicine and community public health as central pillars of care.

Clinical Electives in Israel and the U.S.

• Electives in Israel: 4 of the 16 elective weeks must be completed in Israel, at a Technion-affiliated hospital.
• Electives outside the Technion: Up to 12 weeks may be credited toward electives completed elsewhere.

Pre-Clinical Years

The first two years build the scientific foundation for medical study. Students attend lectures and take part in small-group seminars, review sessions, and labs, with a strong emphasis on hands-on experiments, anatomical dissection, and pathology work that builds both technical skill and scientific thinking.

Year One: Students are introduced to the hospital system and its various functions in the first half of the year, alongside coursework in psychology and an emergency medicine course.

1st Year — Winter

1st Year — Spring

Total, 1st Year: 50 points

Year Two continues preclinical instruction across the courses below. Students also take Introduction to Clinical Medicine — covering core lectures across all areas of clinical medicine — along with Physical Diagnosis, which focuses on history-taking and examination technique. From the start of this year, students are already engaging with the hospital system directly. A USMLE preparatory course begins in the second semester of Year 2 and continues through the exam sitting in August, ahead of clinical rotations starting in Year 3.

2nd Year — Winter

2nd Year — Spring

Total, 2nd Year: 42.0 points

Clinical Years

Clinical training runs as clerkships for small student groups, centered on bedside teaching and tutoring within affiliated hospital departments, outpatient clinics, and primary care settings. Students engage directly with patients, join clinical rounds and decision-making, build history-taking and physical diagnosis skills under faculty supervision, and get exposure to subspecialties and diagnostic work in labs and imaging. Division chairs assign teaching departments each academic year, and student groups rotate through them accordingly.

Year Three covers 42 weeks of instruction and clinical rotations, with NBME shelf exams in Medicine, Surgery, OB/GYN, and Pediatrics. All clinical activity takes place in formally accredited departments, following a rotation structure similar to that of Technion’s Israeli medical students — but taught in English. Students must pass final exams in Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Neurology during this year.

Year Four spans 30 weeks, from September through the end of April. The year opens with 12 weeks of electives in Israel or the U.S., followed by six two-week rotations chosen from surgical subspecialties and three from internal medicine subspecialties.

3rd Year — Clinical

4th Year — Clinical

Sub-Internship: choose one of Surgery, Pediatrics, or Medicine.

Elective and Surgical Subspecialty options: Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Urology, Orthopedics, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine, Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (ENT), Ophthalmology, Anesthesia, Neurosurgery, Vascular Surgery

Elective and Internal Medicine Subspecialty options: Cardiology, Nephrology, Hematology, Gastroenterology, Imaging, Oncology, Dermatology, Rheumatology, Infectious Diseases, Endocrinology, Pulmonology, Immunology and Allergy

MD/PhD Program

The Faculty of Medicine offers an MD/PhD track for top-performing students, structured in three stages:

1. Stage One: Two academic years within the standard MD program (the preclinical portion).
2. Stage Two: Two to three years dedicated entirely to PhD research.
3. Stage Three: Return to the MD curriculum for the final two years of clinical study.

Admission to the MD/PhD program happens after a student’s first year at the Technion, based on first-year GPA within the MD program and an interview, with prior research background and experience weighed favorably.

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Student Affairs

Student Life

Life at the Technion extends well beyond the classroom — students have access to leadership and service opportunities, cultural events and performances, artistic and spiritual outlets, athletics at multiple levels, on- and off-campus political and social engagement, and work experience opportunities.

Accommodations in Israel

The Technion can arrange dormitory rooms for students through the Technion American Program Coordinator, with payment due upon arrival. Some students prefer to live near the Medical Faculty in Bat-Galim or the nearby Kiryat Eliezer area — the program’s administration office helps connect students and faculty with apartment listings in the area.

Health Insurance

Students without health coverage valid outside their home country should arrange insurance immediately upon arriving in Israel.

Technion Sports Center and Facilities

The Sports and Physical Education Unit serves the whole Technion student body, offering everything from recreational and lifetime sports — swimming, tennis, lawn bowling, bowling, sailing, target shooting, badminton, cycling, orienteering — to conventional team sports like basketball and volleyball, plus newer additions such as triathlon, aerobic dance, judo, taekwondo, and karate. Self-defense and survival courses are open to all students. Facilities are available for extracurricular use throughout the day. The unit runs the annual Open Technion Championship (basketball, soccer, tennis, squash) among students, faculty, and staff, along with an Open Sports Day held during the Technion’s Annual Student Day, where teams from different faculties compete. Technion teams also compete nationally through organized leagues such as the Sports Union and Israeli Championships — including the rugby and chess teams in the National League, and basketball and handball in League A and other divisions.

Student Association

Medical students are encouraged to get involved in campus life, with access to libraries and athletic facilities, plus activities like trips, dances, parties, movies, aerobics, yoga, massage, and music lessons. The Student Association also offers:

• Various scholarships
• Discounts on municipal taxes
• Income tax assistance — coordination, exemptions, and refunds
• Free legal counseling
• Free student ID registration and renewal
• Photocopy cards for sale, with free cards for students completing reserve duty (milu’im) of over five class days, and for female students returning from maternity leave
• Laser printer cards for sale (one free per pre-clinical student, per year)
• Class photos for graduating students
• A committee handling army reserve duty exemptions (valta”m)
• Compensation for reserve duty
• Transportation fee compensation for the family practice program
• Coordination of transportation to hospital departments
• Photocopies of test and lecture packets
• Distribution of USMLE and CSA applications
• Statuscope, the Faculty of Medicine’s student newspaper
• Organization of ceremonies and sporting events
• “Adopt-a-Student” — pairing incoming American students with support
• Volunteer opportunities in the Haifa community
• Discounts at the campus bookstore

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Further Information

For more detail on the TeAMS program, admissions, or tuition, contact the Technion American Medical Students Program directly.