Romanian doctor from Germany, harsh reply for Ilie Bolojan: “The state no longer knows how to convince and tries to coerce”
ATI doctor, Iuliu Torje. Photo source: Facebook / Iulie Torje
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's proposal that graduates of state medical schools should be forced to stay working in Romania for several years after completing their studies has been strongly criticized by a doctor based in Germany.
ATI doctor Iuliu Torje, former honorary advisor to the Minister of Health, trained in the Romanian university system, sent a public message to the Prime Minister, criticizing the idea of the obligation for graduates of state medical schools to stay to work in the country after graduation, calling it “a symptom of a state that no longer knows how to convince and tries to coerce”.
“One of those who left is writing to you. A doctor trained in Romania. A doctor who chose professional exile out of the refusal to accept the mediocrity imposed by the system,” the doctor begins his message addressed directly to Ilie Bolojan.
He claims that the idea of imposing by law a mandatory period of work in the country represents “clear evidence of a structural failure, masked under the discourse of public responsibility”.
In the opinion of the doctor originally from Zalău, the state can oblige, but it must provide opportunities for professionals. “What you are proposing is the unilateral breach of this contract: the state does not perform, but you remain obligated,” wrote the ATI doctor.
“The doctor is not the property of the state”
In his message, Torje rejects the idea that professionals trained in Romanian state universities would, implicitly, become “debtors” of the system.
“The doctor is not the property of the state. Doctors should not be forced to stay. The state should be forced to become a place worth staying in,” the German-based doctor said.
He also lists the conditions he considers essential before any discussion of mandatoriness: fair wages, adequate pay for guards, functioning hospitals, accessible education, promotion on merit, and the elimination of “medical feudalism.”
Until these issues are resolved, “any discussion about the obligation is an acknowledgment of the state's failure, not a solution,” the doctor claims.
Finally, the anesthesiologist who practices in Germany says that he left the country, but he did not “abandon it”, but “Romania abandoned its doctors long before”.
Dr. Cătălina Poiană, president of the College of Physicians, claims that she sees only one situation in which a doctor could be forced to stay in Romania, after Ilie Bolojan said that “you have an obligation towards this country”
Bolojan, about medical graduates: “You have an obligation to this country”
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared on Tuesday that graduates of state medical schools should stay to work in Romania for at least a few years after graduation.
“Regarding the problems related to rural-urban imbalances, doctors and so on, I will argue that, if you benefit, in our country, from a medical training for the entire duration of your journey – studies done at the budget, residency paid by the Romanian state – you have an obligation towards this country”, declared Bolojan, at the debate with the mayors organized by the General Assembly of the Association of Municipalities in Romania.
“And for at least a few years – two, three, four, five years – you have to work somewhere in Romania. But let's put this into practice”, added the prime minister, quoted by Agerpres.
He drew attention to the fact that there are 7,000 graduates of medical schools in Romania, of which only 1,000 are employed in the public sector. On the other hand, there are many Romanian doctors who end up working in other countries.
