Turkey is aiming to increase the number of doctors by 80 thousand in the next 10 years and is looking to Greece to fill its shortfall said İrfan Şencan, Health Ministry Deputy Undersecretary.
Turkey is asking Greek doctors to come and finish their training: "We want these doctors to come to Ege University, 9 Eylül or Istanbul University to receive specialized training," said Şencan. He claimed, although Greece has a surplus of doctors, they still need specialized training.
However, the Turkish Medical association disagrees with the government's approach. They say that the problem with the Turkish health service is not the lack of doctors, it is the fact that people with minor problems are clogging up the hospitals when they should be going to their family physicians, said Bayazit İlhan, chairman of the Turkish Medical association.
"We have asked the Health Ministry to make a study of how many doctors and what specialties are needed, but they have not gotten back to us yet," said İlhan, who added that starting the discussion by assuming that thousands of doctors are needed is not very helpful.
"It is not logical that people go to hospitals and training hospitals for every minor health problem," said İlhan.
İlhan added that people "do not trust their family doctor; they believe they need to see a specialist. This view is reinforced by politicians who say that they can go to the hospitals when they should be encouraged to go to family doctors instead."
Şencan said that Turkey has currently 120,000 doctors, but aims to raise this number to 200,000 by 2023, the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic's foundation.
Greece and many other European Union member states have been hit by a severe economic crisis since 2010, which has caused the reduction of wages and a rise in unemployment.
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