The Ministry of Healh wishes to inform students of developmental psychology and educational psychology that there is a lack of professionals in those areas and many employers are desperately looking for psychologists who are specialists in those areas.
Many quality specialization positions are available in those areas, and candidates can be admitted without any waiting queue, since those specialization areas are given priority.
The specialist training process in those areas, from the first day of the bachelor studies until the granting of the specialist diploma (including a waiting period for the beginning of the specialization) is approximately 9 years (for those who study for their bachelors and masters degree without interruption).
On the other hand, the specialist training process in the field of clinical psychology, from the first day of the bachelors studies until the granting of the specialist diploma (including a waiting period for the beginning of the specialization) is at least 11 years (for those who study for their bachelors and masters degree without interruption).
Among other reasons, the long training period is due to the lack of adequacy between the number of students willing to specialize in clinical psychology and the number of specialization options.
Framework of studies
The number of study programs offered nowadays in the clinical area in Israel, and the opening of new study programs, does not necessarily reflect the scope of the employment needs in the area, or the existing specialization options.
Approximately 200 students conclude their master's degree in clinical psychology in Israel each year, and they are joined by those who graduated abroad.
Duration of the specialization
Financing the specialization
Specialization in an accredited institution is funded in several ways:
Due to the shortage of clinical psychologists from the Arabic, Ultra-Orthodox, and Ethiopian sectors, psychology graduates from those sectors are given priority in the allocation of Ministry of Health specialization scholarships in the area of clinical psychology.
Number of trainees and psychologists
Each year approximately 80 new trainees start their specializations on the account of Ministry of Health scholarships, and approx. 240 trainees are admitted to specialization programs not under the auspices of the Ministry of Health.
Nowadays, the number of trainees in clinical psychology is approx. 1,500, and approx. 500 of them are funded by Ministry of Health scholarships.
As of August 1st, 2016, the number of psychologists registered in the Psychologists Register totals 12,261, and 4,154 of them are registered as clinical psychologists.
Waiting for specialization
As of July 31st, 2016, 330 candidates are waiting for the begining of their specializations, and the average period of waiting for the begining of the specialization is approximately one year and a half.
Due to the small number of hospitalization frameworks recognized for specialization, there is a waiting queue in specializations in those frameworks, totaling approximately 123 waiting candidates and the average waiting period in this part of the specialization is approximately a year.
The expected number of candidates awaiting the begining of their specializations by the end of 2016 totals approximately 400 individuals awaiting the begining of their specialization process, and the average time of waiting for the begining of the specialization is expected to take two years.
Therefore, due to the waiting queue for scholarships or for the beginning of the clinical specialization in hospitalization, the training period in clinical psychology is longer than the training process in other areas.
The Ministry of Health is working towards shortening the periods of waiting for specializations in psychology. Recently, a
new outline for the allocation of scholarships, whose main goal is to shorten the waiting times, has been implemented.
Students willing to study and specialize in clinical psychology should be aware that they are facing a long specialization period while on the other hand there are substantial shortages in other fields of psychology.
