The Athens Medical Association (ISA) continues to issue certificates for doctors who want to practice their profession in other European countries outside of Greece. 1,018 of these documents were issued since January, marking a slight decline since 2015, when 1,521 were issued, rising from 1,380 in 2014 and 1,488 in 2013. For a sixth consecutive year, Greece has been unable to stem the flow of doctors leaving the country.
Overall, between 2010 and this year, ISA has readied paperwork for more than 9,300 medical professionals looking to leave Greece, the only difference being a decline in UK’s popularity as a destination, due largely to the ‘Brexit’ referendum. In 2013 863 documents were prepared in order to be used in UK, while this year the according number has fallen to 487. Still, UK remains the preferred destination, followed by Germany (102), Cyprus (77), France (75), Switzerland (58) and Sweden (44). Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have also had a steady presence on the list over the last few years. The majority of certificates prepared this year (719) concerned doctors who had completed their residencies but were not able to find work in Greece and are tempted by the working conditions and high salaries. Pay for doctors at Swiss hospitals start from around 6,000 euros per month, while companies in Saudi Arabia offer even better terms.
This kind of brain drain has made a mark on the face of the Greek health system. Public hospitals are facing serious shortage of medical staff, lacking around 6,000 specialists. This all but ensures the collapse of the Greek National Health System (ESY) which is facing a unique situation: struggling under a lack of personnel, while the number of young unemployed doctors is on the rise.