Where will I be staying?
Most students stay at a hospital dorms, and share a room with one other students. However - we offer some of the students lodging with a medical student at one of the universities in Israel.
IMPORTANT : It is strictly forbidden to host guests in your dorm room (which also includes your boyfriend / girlfriend).

How far are the dormitories from the hospital?
The dormitories are next to hospital, but check your Card of Acceptance as your dorms might be located in a different hospital, a bus ride away from the hospital where your department is.

When can I check in and out of the dorms?
The opening hours for every dorms are different for every LC - check our "Useful Information" page for information on this according to your LC.

What kind of documents do I need to bring?
Make sure to bring the following documents when arriving to the hospital : your immunizations records, studies certificate and insurance papers. It is important to note that students who do not bring these documents as required might not be accepted for exchange due to hospital regulation.
Please make sure to have an English / Hebrew immunization certificate!

What are the required immunization records I have to bring?
MMR (mumps, measles, rubella),polio, hepatitis B virus (HBV), tetanus-diphtheria and skin test with PPD(tuberculosis) / or IFN-Gamma Test .

My NEO told me that I'm a unilateral student - what should I do?
In order to process an acceptance of a Unilateral student for exchange in Israel: maximum 7 days after the student’s AF is submitted on the IFMSA EX system, we have to get the Unilateral Fee through a bank transfer (excluding bank charges that should be paid by the sender! We have to get the whole sum of Unilateral Fee) It must be done on time, due to the fact that upon arranging the exchange, we must pay - for each unit to the authorities accepting Exchange students, as we do for each bilateral unit.

Each Bank transfer must bear the name/s of the student/s that it is paid for, as otherwise, we will not be able to relate to it.

As soon as the money transaction was done: you have to inform us by Email of The following:
Attach to Email: scanned your bank’s swift document
Detail in Email:
a. date of transaction.
b. name of the organization that made the transaction.
c. the name of the student/s & Application No. that the transaction was made for.
d. email address to whom to send the receipt.

Each Bank transfer must bear the name/s of the student/s that it is paid for.
Avoid transfers without student name, as we will not be able to relate to it.
Our bank account details are:

> Bank name: Israel Discount Bank Ltd.
> Branch name: TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY
> Clearing Code: IL011105
> Account-number – (IBAN): IL040111050000006246550
> Swift ( BIC CODE) (LT address) – IDBLILIT105
> Beneficiary's Name: Medical Students Organization Tel Aviv University
> Beneficiary's address: Medical Students Organization
Faculty of Medicine
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv 69978
Israel

As soon as the money transaction was done, please inform us by Email of The following:

a. date of transaction.
b. name of the organization that made the transaction.
c. the name of the student/s & AF No. that the transaction was made for.
d. email to whom to send the receipt.

Thank you!
Federation Of Israeli Medical Students - FIMS
Sackler Faculty of Medicine
Tel-Aviv University
69978 Tel-Aviv
Israel

What do I need to complete before I can come on exchange?
The system the IFMSA uses to manage all exchanges is called ifmsa.net and you probably have access to it through your NEO.
In order to confirm your exchange - you must CC the exchange once you recieve your CA (Card of Acceptance).
Exchanges that will not be CC'd cannot be confirmed! If you do not have access to the ifmsa.net system - ask your NEO to CC your exchange for you.
In addition - please go over our Exchange Condition and make sure you are clear on all of them.

What should I bring with me?
The weather in Israel can be very hot during the summer. Bring clothes suitable for this kind of weather. Don't forget to bring your Swimsuit, as the beach is just 20 minutes drive from most of the hospitals in Tel-Aviv and Haifa. It's very advisable to bring your own sleeping bag / sheets if you want to camp out during the weekends. There is no dress code in our hospitals, but please do not dress provocatively.
Bed linens are not required, but you may need your own towel.

Is a white coat and stethoscope provided?
You are required to bring a stethoscope.
White coats are provided at the hospital. You might need to leave a deposit.

Is there internet access at the dorms?
Some of the dorms offer free wifi and internet access. Most hospitals offer free wifi as well.

Wifi in Israel is easy and free to find. Every coffee shop has free wifi, as well as restarurants. If it is password protected - just ask your waiter for the password.
In Tel Aviv - even some of the city is wired, just open a connection and get online!
In addition - every University has free wifi and libraries for your use.

What about public transportation?
All information on the public transportation system (and much more) can be found at our wikipages.

What are the hospital working hours?
Please ask your tutor at the hospital what are the expected working hours. It is usually between 8AM - 4PM, but might change between departments.

Can I change the departments I received in my Card of Acceptance?
Sorry. In almost all cases it is impossible to change a given department. We try to place you in your first choices, and if you were placed in a different department - it means we tried our best but the department does not have anymore available places.

Please also take into account that in some cases your department will change when you arrive to the hospital.

Of course we try to avoid this but sometime there are unexpected last minute obligations set by the hospital.

What about public transportation?
All information on the public transportation system (and much more) can be found at our wikipages.

What type of insurance should I get? You MUST have insurance to come on the exchange program. here are the details: Participants coming to Israel for the exchange program are responsible for meeting their own health & accident care costs, including hospitalization. It is therefore IMPERATIVE that all participants be in possession of a PERSONAL Travel, Health and Accident Insurance. Students who fail to produce copies of their insurance risk having their exchange period automatically cancelled without any refund.

The Federation of Israeli Medical Students (“FIMS” ) or any person such as: hosting hospitals, dorms, social program organizers, operators and any other hosts will neither provide nor offer medical care or insurance coverage to participants, and are not responsible in any way for the health and safety of the exchange student.

Malpractice insurance is not obligatory, but RECOMMENDED. You need to bring it from home. It will not be possible for you to buy malpractice insurance in Israel.

Make sure your luggage (including valuables/laptop) is covered by your insurance. Hosting hospitals/dorms/FIMS/Social program organizers, operators, or any other hosts will not be held responsible for loss of equipment/theft or a disaster.

What is the currency used in Israel?
Israel uses NIS - New Israeli Shekel, called "Shekels" (plural) in everyday use.
You can exchange money at various institutes : 1. Banks ("Discount Bank", "Leumi", "Hapoalim", "Mizrachi"), 2. Post offices (look for the red sign with a deer on it) and many CHANGE shops scattered around Israel.
You can use this currency calculator (NIS is listed as ILS).

Where can I get an Israeli SIM card?
Israel has multiple celluar operators, most popular ones are Orange, Cellcom and Pelephone.
Almost every mall has a celluar selling station of one of the three major firms - pre-paid cards are available, as well as data packages.

Can I miss some days at the hospital?
It is critical that you ask for your tutor's / department head permission for any abscene from hospital duty.
Students who miss more than 10% will be liable to have their exchange terminated. Please bear in mind that you are representing us and your country at the hospital.