There is a serious shortage of medical personnel in Ukraine, especially among doctors and nurses. According to the data of the portal.ua, in 2024 the lack of doctors remains one of the biggest problems, which complicates the provision of medical services. However, this situation is not new and is explained by a number of factors to consider.
One of the main reasons for the shortage of medical professionals is the decrease in the number of young people who choose medical specialties. In 2024, only 13,953 entrants filed applications for the specialty "Medicine". This is much less than other specialties, such as "Psychology" or "Philology" for which tens of thousands of entrants have filed statements. The reason is the complexity of medical specialties and a long way of mastering the profession that scares young people. Medical workers are conscripts, so mobilization in the Armed Forces further reduces interest in medical professions. This has negative effects on the health care system, as these personnel can be mobilized, which reduces the availability of medical services. The salary of doctors, including doctors and nurses, is another important reason for the lack of personnel. The average income of a doctor in Ukraine is 23,000 UAH per month, which is not enough to attract new specialists. In Kiev, for example, the average salary of a doctor can reach 66 000 UAH, but this applies only to individual medical institutions. In most regions, salaries do not correspond to the standard of living, which makes experts seek work abroad or leave the medical sphere. In Ukraine, there is also a tendency to leave doctors abroad in search of better working conditions and salaries. Often, doctors from Transcarpathia and other regions go to countries such as Poland, Czech Republic or Hungary. This only exacerbates the personnel problem in Ukraine.
To address this problem, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine was actively working on the reform of the medical system by 2030. In particular, hospital planning is carried out, hospitals are divided by their role to rationally calculate human resources and material and technical base. However, in order to effectively implement this reform, you need to find new approaches to the motivation of medical professionals. Experts advise that in order to resolve the personnel crisis in medicine, it is important to raise wages for doctors and nurses, creating attractive working conditions, as well as to review the requirements for hiring to attract even less qualified workers and invest in their training. A shortage of personnel in the medical field is not only a Ukrainian problem. The European Union also has an aggravation of this situation, in particular in Hungary, where medicine reform is ongoing. Ukrainian doctors, in particular from Transcarpathia, work in Hungary, where there is a significant demand for medical professionals.
The lack of medical staff in Ukraine is one of the biggest problems for the national health care system. The shortage of physicians is explained by the low level of salaries, the complexity of the profession and military mobilization. However, under medical reform, the government is trying to solve these problems through hospital planning and advanced training of healthcare professionals, which will improve the availability of medical services to the population.
