Doctors leave Slovakia in huge numbers and do not return. Even the ministry admits that we lack thousands of doctors. How about replacing them, at least in part, with foreign doctors? Two days ago, exams of foreign doctors were held, and the way everything went, only indicates that we do not want any doctors, not just foreigners. The personal experience of everyone in Slovak healthcare is the answer to the question of whether this approach is correct.
Exam
On October 21 and 22, a professional exam for foreign general practitioners and dentists was held at the medical faculty of the University of Comenius. This is a mandatory stage since 2016, which is always held at the end of the year in one of the three medical universities commissioned by the Ministry of Education. There were no preparatory courses, no test templates, and the question headings looked like this:
For dentists
Exam
On October 21 and 22, a professional exam for foreign general practitioners and dentists was held at the medical faculty of the University of Comenius. This is a mandatory stage since 2016, which is always held at the end of the year in one of the three medical universities commissioned by the Ministry of Education. There were no preparatory courses, no test templates, and the question headings looked like this:
For dentists
For doctors of global practice
Fee
The exam fee for general practitioners was 665 euros, 38 doctors took part in the exam. There were also 15 doctors who passed the exam in the spring at SZU, but had to pass the oral part. However, they still had to pay the fee in full. In the field of dentistry, 11 doctors registered, paying a fee of 1,064 euros.
Compared to the Czech Republic, this is 5-10 times more, where the contribution is about 120 euros for both disciplines (https://www.mzcr.cz/dokumenty/aprobacni-zkousky_1784_952_3.html).
Recall that this was only a written exam, where all the answers were multiple choice, and only those who passed the written exam went to the oral exam. Therefore, the real cost was low.
As far as I understand, the University of Comenius collected 46,949 euros.
Many of the doctors came from Ukraine, where the average salary is 200 euros, and this is really a waste. For many, it was hard-earned money that led to the impoverishment of their families. Among them were those who took out a loan to try.
Success
Of the 38 doctors, only 5 passed the exam, three of whom studied in the Czech Republic and, according to my information, answered in Czech. None of the dentists passed the exam.
And the main question that revolved among them was this: we are dentists, why are there so many questions from internal medicine and surgery?
There were other logical questions: why were there laws in the legislative part that were not on the list for preparation published on the Internet, for example, the Emergency Medical Services Act? There were laws in the preparation information that the candidates had to focus on, but there were other laws in the test.
Why were there questions in the test that had the same answers, but only one was correct?
What the university provided:
Registration for the exam, premises, preparation and printing of tests, control over the exam by colleagues from the training department, verification of exams using a computer and participation of the commission during the oral part of the exam. However, they managed to repeatedly tell the participants that this was imposed by the Ministry of Education and they did not want to do this.
How doctors perceived it
After such an experience, foreign doctors left with disappointment and disgust. Information like "do not come to Slovakia" immediately appeared on social networks. Lucky for those of them who came to Slovakia only for the experiment and had the opportunity to return. But there are cases in which this is not possible. For example, they have partners/husbands in Slovakia or children in schools, and they cannot return. Such doctors often work in Slovakia as cosmetologists, masseurs or even support staff in nursing homes or run their own business.
These are strong and determined people, because they have chosen a profession from God that saves our lives and the lives of our children. And I am very glad that even in such a difficult situation they did not give up and decided to meet and prepare for the next exam!
Slovakia lacks 5,500 doctors and 4,000 nurses. Slovak doctors go abroad, but we forcibly prevent the arrival of foreign doctors and invent artificial obstacles, and the exams in question serve only to enrich schools. Indeed, since 2016, only 65 doctors have passed the exams. The Czech Republic has already received hundreds of doctors in this way, and Poland - thousands.
Only here, in Slovakia, we love to play in our own sandbox and do not want to let help here.
The exam fee for general practitioners was 665 euros, 38 doctors took part in the exam. There were also 15 doctors who passed the exam in the spring at SZU, but had to pass the oral part. However, they still had to pay the fee in full. In the field of dentistry, 11 doctors registered, paying a fee of 1,064 euros.
Compared to the Czech Republic, this is 5-10 times more, where the contribution is about 120 euros for both disciplines (https://www.mzcr.cz/dokumenty/aprobacni-zkousky_1784_952_3.html).
Recall that this was only a written exam, where all the answers were multiple choice, and only those who passed the written exam went to the oral exam. Therefore, the real cost was low.
As far as I understand, the University of Comenius collected 46,949 euros.
Many of the doctors came from Ukraine, where the average salary is 200 euros, and this is really a waste. For many, it was hard-earned money that led to the impoverishment of their families. Among them were those who took out a loan to try.
Success
Of the 38 doctors, only 5 passed the exam, three of whom studied in the Czech Republic and, according to my information, answered in Czech. None of the dentists passed the exam.
And the main question that revolved among them was this: we are dentists, why are there so many questions from internal medicine and surgery?
There were other logical questions: why were there laws in the legislative part that were not on the list for preparation published on the Internet, for example, the Emergency Medical Services Act? There were laws in the preparation information that the candidates had to focus on, but there were other laws in the test.
Why were there questions in the test that had the same answers, but only one was correct?
What the university provided:
Registration for the exam, premises, preparation and printing of tests, control over the exam by colleagues from the training department, verification of exams using a computer and participation of the commission during the oral part of the exam. However, they managed to repeatedly tell the participants that this was imposed by the Ministry of Education and they did not want to do this.
How doctors perceived it
After such an experience, foreign doctors left with disappointment and disgust. Information like "do not come to Slovakia" immediately appeared on social networks. Lucky for those of them who came to Slovakia only for the experiment and had the opportunity to return. But there are cases in which this is not possible. For example, they have partners/husbands in Slovakia or children in schools, and they cannot return. Such doctors often work in Slovakia as cosmetologists, masseurs or even support staff in nursing homes or run their own business.
These are strong and determined people, because they have chosen a profession from God that saves our lives and the lives of our children. And I am very glad that even in such a difficult situation they did not give up and decided to meet and prepare for the next exam!
Slovakia lacks 5,500 doctors and 4,000 nurses. Slovak doctors go abroad, but we forcibly prevent the arrival of foreign doctors and invent artificial obstacles, and the exams in question serve only to enrich schools. Indeed, since 2016, only 65 doctors have passed the exams. The Czech Republic has already received hundreds of doctors in this way, and Poland - thousands.
Only here, in Slovakia, we love to play in our own sandbox and do not want to let help here.
Current articles by Alona Kurotova are also available at dennikn.sk