The government’s commitment to improving the healthcare sector has seen an increase in medical professionals remaining in Hungary.
According to MTI, there are more doctors staying in Hungary and more fresh graduates coming on stream compared to just a few years ago, when many in the medical profession emigrated to work abroad.
Bence Rétvári, parliamentary state secretary at the Ministry of Human Resources, said that in 2010 there was a replacement rate of 1.2 graduates per doctor dropping out of the labor market, ever since the government introduced a new scheme to increase wages, the rate has averaged 3.6, and this positive trend seems to be continuing.
Rétvári pointed out that compared with the first half of 2016, the number of doctors leaving for jobs abroad has fallen by more than 15 percent, from 175 to 148 in the first half of 2017.
The state secretary also noted that the number of medical students had increased by 40 percent in six years. In 2010, 1,000 medical students completed their studies, while in 2016 1,399 received a medical degree.
According to an OECD report from 2016, per 100,000 people, 14.5 became doctors, higher than the EU average of 12.3, he added.