The one-time allowance granted to young specialists with a bachelor's degree in medicine increases from 120,000 lei to 250,000 lei. These are the doctors and pharmacists who will be hired as they will be assigned by the Ministry of Health. The doubling of the allowance is stipulated in a draft law that was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday, IPN reports.
The allowance will be paid in two installments: 120,000 lei after six months of work and 130,000 lei after the third year of work. Also, young specialists will benefit from compensation for home rental and for the consumed heat and electricity in the first five years of work, not in the first three, as it previously decided.
The list of beneficiaries of allowances and compensation will also include young specialists with medical higher education, such as optometrists, general nurses, radiology technicians with higher education, physiotherapists and other specialists in the field.
"The major goal of the bill is to attract and keep young specialists in the medical system (doctors, pharmacists and medical and pharmaceutical staff with post-secondary technical vocational education), especially in rural areas, small towns, regions, where compared to urban areas there is a much more critical shortage of medical staff," said the Ministry of Health.
According to statistical data of the Ministry of Health, 9,638 doctors and 18,929 medical employees with secondary education worked in the national health care system in 2023. Of these, 1,816 doctors (20%) and 3,190 medical personnel with secondary education (17%) were of retirement age.
According to the Ministry of Health, the largest shortage of specialists with higher medical education was reported in the following specialties: family medicine – 216 specialists, anesthesia and intensive care – 143, radiology and medical imaging – 76, internal medicine – 70, emergency medicine – 31, and general surgery – 48.
