No doctors, but hope remains: how Ukraine can tackle the shortage of medical professionals.
Pressing Issue: Why There Is a Shortage of Applicants to Medical Universities
According to the enrollment statistics for 2024, a total of 189,463 Ukrainian applicants participated, which is 33% less than in 2023 (when there were 282,374 applicants). Notably, the "Medicine" specialty did not make it into the top ten most popular choices among applicants, ranking only 13th with 13,953 applications, as indicated by a study from the portal Education.ua. In 2024, the most desired specialty among applicants was "Psychology," which topped the ranking for the first time with 47,672 applications. Other popular fields included "Management," which secured the second spot (46,402 applications), and "Philology" (43,198 applications).
For the 2024 admissions, a total of 189,463 Ukrainian applicants participated, which is 33% less than in 2023 (when there were 282,374 applicants). Additionally, the specialty "Medicine" did not rank among the top ten most popular choices and only reached 13th place with 13,953 applications.
The decline in applicants for medical specialties can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, many potential applicants are already living abroad and are enrolling in educational institutions there. Secondly, gaining admission to state-funded medical universities is traditionally quite challenging due to high competition scores. Moreover, the cost of studying under a contract is not negligible — ranging from 55,000 to 80,000 UAH per year. Another reason for the waning interest among youth in medical universities is that medical professionals are subject to military service and may be mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The shortage of applicants in medical universities has even prompted the Ministry of Health to initiate an experimental project to be implemented at Lviv Medical University. Thanks to this innovation, students will be able to combine clinical and practical training, as noted by Viktor Lyashko.
"We issued a government decree that allows us to integrate clinical training with practical experience. We aim to unify the approaches to forming these departments so that students have access to patients from the first year. Starting with care, then junior medical staff, nursing, ensuring that they are continuously involved in the process and are developing. This will motivate high school graduates to enter medical universities, thus replenishing our medical workforce," he added.
The shortage of personnel in the medical sector is primarily due to the low number of youth currently enrolling in medical universities, and this issue is expected to worsen.
"The complexity of the medical profession lies in the fact that to become a doctor, one must study and not only obtain a diploma but also complete a residency. This is a very lengthy process. Therefore, we cannot quickly retrain specialists. In contrast to other professions where a person can be trained in a matter of weeks or months, such as to operate a machine or work at a supermarket checkout, this is not the case in the medical field. There are different requirements and a different training system. Therefore, what we have lost now represents losses over a long period, many years. We cannot quickly recover from this. The popularity of these professions has slightly decreased, particularly due to mobilization and military registration. The demand for these professions has dropped, considering the number of applicants. This is a significant problem for Ukraine, as this is a non-renewable resource. Such specialists take a long time to train," says Natalia Slin'ko.
0 Who Is Training Medical Personnel During Wartime: Experts Discuss Trends in the Medical Sector
According to the heads of state medical institutions, the current staff shortage is being mitigated by interns arriving from other cities. For instance, in the medical facilities of Mykolaiv region, there is a shortage of nearly 1,200 doctors, as reported by the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration's Health Department, Iryna Tkachенко.
"As of today, the shortage of doctors is almost 1,200, which constitutes 32%. Additionally, over 850 doctors (31%) are over 60 years old," said Iryna Tkachенко.
According to her, the Health Department has placed an order for 300 interns in the region, of which 58 specialists studying under budgetary funding and 28 contract students have arrived.
The difficulty in finding qualified specialists in medicine and pharmacy in Ukraine is confirmed by data from the job search portal Work.ua.
There is a double shortage of qualified personnel. Unfortunately, this trend has persisted for several years, but it has intensified during the full-scale war.
According to PR manager Victoria Bilyakova, there is a double shortage of qualified personnel. Unfortunately, this trend has persisted for several years, but it has intensified during the full-scale war.
The market is particularly lacking individuals with specialized education and professional skills. Consequently, employers are forced to reassess their hiring approaches and requirements. For example, they may hire individuals with lower qualifications and invest in their training, as well as systematically increase salaries. Another method of staff replenishment is to employ specialists who have already retired but wish to return to work in their field.
The director of "Medikom Clinic," Margarita Malevanaya, agrees with the staffing expert, stating that salaries play a crucial role in attracting specialists.
"I currently observe a significant dependence of average medical personnel and administrative positions on salary. In fact, salary has always been a critical factor in motivation, but while many factors influence doctors' decisions to continue working in the clinic—those being higher-qualified staff—nurses and junior medical staff primarily focus on salary. In Kyiv, they are in short supply, prompting many to commute from suburban areas, spending not only time but also money on travel, thereby literally saving penny by penny. If I, as a manager, see that we are opening vacancies and cannot fill them for a long time, the only correct approach is to quickly raise salaries rather than gather managers and tell them we are waiting for the end of the war. The reality is that at this stage, the influence of money is greater than before when people held onto their jobs because they were accustomed to them, had good relationships with colleagues, and were satisfied with everything," says Margarita Malevanaya.
1 Despite this, the expert does not believe that the number of specialists is decreasing, as it was three years ago at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
"Active movement within the country and beyond its borders continued for two years. Previously, we welcomed doctors from Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro regions with open arms. Now, only individuals from active combat zones are relocating. However, these are not large cities and do not constitute a critical mass of people that could impact the labor market. I do not observe movements from Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, and other major cities closer to the front line," says the expert.
Current Job Openings for Doctors in Ukraine's Private Sector*
- family doctor, general practice — 25,000-57,000 UAH;
- cardiologist — 20,000 UAH;
- ultrasound doctor — 40,000-50,000 UAH;
- ophthalmologist — 30,000-40,000 UAH;
- nephrologist — 20,000-22,000 UAH;
- ENT doctor — 30,000-60,000 UAH;
- oncologist — 35,000 UAH;
- cosmetologist — 60,000 UAH;
- therapist dentist — 50,000 UAH;
- dental assistant, nurse — 22,500-25,000 UAH.
*data from Work.ua
Regarding Ukrainian specialists who have left for abroad, Margarita Malevanaya states that those who wanted to return have already done so, and therefore, leaders do not expect a significant influx of personnel from abroad even after hostilities cease.
"When the full-scale war ends, a small percentage of people may return, but one should not overly rely on this. Three years is a long period during which people have managed to find their paths. If someone has not found their way yet, they are searching outside Ukraine. Therefore, the labor market is shaped by those currently on the ground, and I do not see any prerequisites for expecting new individuals to appear," says the expert.
Staffing specialist Natalia Slin'ko agrees with the clinic director.
Specialists return for various reasons, and work is not the primary motivator.
"Specialists return for various reasons, and work is not the primary motivator. Typically, our doctors find it challenging to validate their diplomas abroad. However, over these years, many have learned the language