Landmark Achievement: Majority of Med Grads Opt to Stay in Bulgaria

Anesthesiology is the most desired specialty among the graduating class of 2023 at the Medical University of Sofia

A record number of young doctors – 62.5%, wish to practice in Bulgaria - these are the results of a survey among Bulgarian graduates from the Class of 2023 at the Medical Faculty of MU-Sofia.

For the first time in over 10 years, the percentage of those staying in Bulgaria (62.5%) is higher than that of those leaving (37.5%). The number has slowly increased over the past years, as in the previous Class of 2022, it reached a ratio of 50% - remaining and leaving.

As an argument for choosing Bulgaria, young doctors now point out national identity in the first place, family and friends in the second place, and moral obligation to their homeland in the third place. 87.11% want to work in hospital institutions and only 8.99% as general practitioners. 2.73% of graduates would dedicate themselves to a scientific career. The percentage of those willing to work as medical representatives for pharmaceutical companies continues to decrease and is very low (0.78%).

The motives of those who want to leave (37.5%) are higher salaries abroad (25.66%), and better organization of the healthcare system (19.97%). The number of young doctors who believe that the development of personnel in our healthcare system is becoming difficult (16.86%) and therefore will leave Bulgaria has increased by about 2%. Their ambitions are mainly directed towards European countries (71.95%). Over the past three years, the interest in working in the USA has decreased by about 2% each year (for the current one, it is 8.85%).

Anesthesiology and Intensive Care is the specialty that has taken first place (12.22%) in the preferences of the graduates. Surgery (9.97%) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (9.36%) rank second and third, respectively. Cardiology follows (8.39%). Pediatrics, which was leading in the previous cohort, now ranks fourth with 6.75% expressing a desire to practice it. There has been a significant decrease in interest in Internal Medicine (3.86%), Endocrinology (1.93%), and Imaging Diagnostics (2.57%) - the decline is about 6% for all three specialties compared to previous cohorts. Emergency Medicine continues to rank last in the list of desired specialties among young doctors (0.64%). The highest percentage of graduates have responded that they have not yet decided what they will choose (16.90%).

Positive assessments of the quality of education at the Medical Faculty are increasing. When asked if they would recommend it as a place for education, 76.86% responded with "Yes", which is over 6% more compared to the previous cohort.

The graduation ceremony for the young doctors will take place on February 20, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture (NDK). In the Class of 2023, there are 596 individuals - 239 Bulgarian students and 357 international students from 31 countries.

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