[THE DOCTOR IN THE DIGITAL AGE - COMPETENCIES NEEDED AND A ROAD MAP FOR THEIR ACHIEVEMENT]

The digital age has profoundly transformed our lives, including health and healthcare. The computer, the smart cellphone, digital communication, social networks, applications, the Electronic Medical Record, web-based medical knowledge availability, tele-medicine and a host of additional tools progress rapidly and seem to leave physicians behind, while the public adapts them willingly. This article enumerates the characteristics of the digital era in healthcare, Israel's leadership in health care application of information technology, the different domains of impact, additional competencies they mandate presently and, in the future, as well as associated ethical dilemmas. Subsequently, a road map is outlined to achieving the additional skills in all stages of the professional life cycle and through competency-based medical education, together with a vision of future medicine and the future physician. In conclusion, the hope that Israel's' doctors will resume a leadership role in the digital transformation of healthcare is expressed.