Minister of Health: We produce three times more resident doctors than we can include in the system / Tuition figures are out of control
Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete / Photo: Inquam Photos / George Călin
The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, says that a rethinking of the residency system is necessary, considering that there are three times more resident doctors than the number of those who can be included in the Romanian health system. “Tuition figures have gotten out of control in the last five years,” adds the Minister of Health, who also says that there is no statistic of doctors who will retire in the coming years.
“It is certain that an important structural reform is needed, I say, because we produce, with strict quotation marks, three times more residents than we can include in the system, because the schooling figures have gotten out of control in the last five years”, said Alexandru Rogobete, Sunday evening, on Antena 3, according to News.ro.
The Minister of Health considers it important that the number of positions in the system is correlated with the number of resident doctors: “The idea is to have a predictable system.”
In addition, says the Minister of Health, there is no statistic of doctors who will retire in the coming years.
“I would also like to know how many cardiologists will retire in the next four years. It doesn't exist, if you can imagine, there isn't this… Or when the UMFs and the Ministry of Health publish the number of positions and residency places, this very important indicator is not taken into account. Because this year I published a number of residency training places, because that's how, historically speaking, the universities gave me the numbers. I'm not sure that these figures are correlated with the need for the number of doctors in certain specialties”, said Alexandru Rogobete.
The Minister of Health announced that he intends to, together with the universities, create a clear map of the places that will be available in the coming years.
In addition, says Alexandru Rogobete, at the level of the Ministry of Health, the idea of re-establishing the internship appeared:
“There is a discussion and here you have provoked me, I will say in the end, although the discussion was not carried out in detail, including the idea of re-establishing the internship and the category of general doctors, who do not do the residency, but do an internship and then a super-specialization in a niche field. It is standing and exists on the discussion table at the Ministry of Health. We will probably implement it this year,” said the minister Health.
