Program Overview

MTA offers a groundbreaking nursing degree program for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men, which facilitates their success in academia, and integration into the Israeli workforce. The program combines theoretical studies with applied practical clinical experience in Israel's leading hospitals,  and includes an entire framework of services to support retention to course completion, and employment opportunities beyond graduation.

Need

Haredi Jews in Israel are a fast growing population that currently constitutes nearly a quarter of the country’s total population, and, significantly, occupy the lowest socioeconomic strata in the country, with a poverty rate of over 50%. The Haredim’s exclusion from academia hinders their access to quality jobs in the modern workforce and poses a challenge not only for the impoverished Haredi community’s welfare, but also for stability of Israel’s economic and social future. A growing wave of Haredi men are eager to enter academia but face financial, religious, and cultural obstacles.

Challenges

Given the Haredi community's traditional culture and customs, special adaptations have been made to the content and structure of the program answer to the students' lifestyle and needs, as most of them are older students and parents in large families, who have to balance academic studies, work, religious duties and family responsibilities.
The college works with leading medical institutions to ensure students’ employment upon graduation. Graduates become nurses in hospitals and community clinics, and treat the entire Israeli public, breaking social and cultural boundaries.

Unconventional Solutions

• Studies at a male-only campus, to allow students study at a rabbinically sanctioned environment;

• Enhanced teaching and tutoring in sciences and English to help students handle their assignments;

• Potentially sensitive topics such as women’s health are taught using simulations and manikins;

• Orientation and computer workshops, as students who are unfamiliar with academic learning style;

• Financial assistance packages, as most Haredi students are over 30, married with children;

• Evening studies allow students to meet religions obligations and fulfill their academic requirements;

• MTA Career Services work with leading hospitals to secure employment positions for graduates.

Personal Impact

“We have decided to take faith in our own hands, to take on the responsibility of breadwinning, and to contribute to our society… We are the first male Haredi nurses at the hospital, and we call upon you: join us! We are proud of our work alongside the entire Israeli society: Jews, Muslims and Christians, men and women, Mizrahi Jews and Ashkenazi Jews, gays and single mothers… we are the first sparrow of the integration of the Haredi sector in Israeli society.” — Haredi Nursing Program Graduate.