Young doctors protest again – ministry offers residents EUR 1,550 a month
Medical students and young doctors demanded better conditions and pay outside the Health Ministry. Minister Ivkova promised their demands would be met.
Archive image · Photo: Apostoloff / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Medical students and young doctors protested again on Tuesday evening outside the Ministry of Health in Sofia. The action was organised by the Future in Bulgaria initiative. Participants are calling for better working conditions, higher salaries and real career prospects at home, so that young medics do not have to look for jobs abroad. According to the BTA news agency, recent graduates currently earn between EUR 700 and 1,000 a month. The organisers want high base salaries rather than additional financial incentives.
Konstantin Kostov called for changes to Ordinance No. 1, which governs specialist training, and for higher pay for residents and other medical staff. Protesters also want the process digitised and a single portal for residency places with transparent conditions, through which all applications would be filed. Zina Grachanlieva said medical students and Bulgarian doctors deserve to be valued by the state for the work they do. 'A great many colleagues are giving up medicine altogether,' said Dr Beloslava Tomova.
Before the protest, Health Minister Katya Ivkova said she respected the right to protest and that the demands were just and would be met. She hoped the young people's energy would not be used for political purposes. Her ministry has drafted an ordinance under which residents in state-funded places would receive EUR 1,550 a month. Later that day, Prime Minister Rumen Radev promised modern working conditions for doctors and more money for young medics' salaries at a medical forum.