The process of filling vacancies for medical specialties has concluded, with 158 doctors given ‘the cold shoulder’ and a further 213 candidates simply giving up trying altogether. As the doctors’ association explains, this is further proof that Portugal is “training up too many doctors” for the country’s ‘demands’. The 158 left ‘unplaced’ were those that scored 40% or less in their candidacies, reports Correio da Manhã, while the 213 were young doctors who simply realised numbers were against them.
Said José Manuel Silva, president of the doctors’ association, the likelihood of reversing the situation that sees too many doctors being produced is almost non-existent.
“We have asked for a meeting with the Minister for Science, Technology and High Education, but he has not even replied.
“It is strange that he fears dialogue,” Silva added, stressing that many of the doctors prevented from studying a speciality will now emigrate.
