The Health Ministry said on Thursday that it was considering making a "national program for the empowerment and training of young physicians," including the introduction of year-long, mentored training following graduation, state news agency Hina informed the public.

The program that is being considered is part of planned reforms in the health sector, Minister Vili Beros, has said following criticism by umbrella medical associations which have said that one of the reasons young doctors are leaving the country is the fact that they are left to fend for themselves after graduation.

The minister has said that the year-long, mentored training would be available for family and emergency medicine, public health or a combination of specialties. This would provide young doctors with an opportunity to obtain a broader picture of the health system in cooperation with their mentors, including examinations, diagnostics, triage and treatment of different profiles of patients.

The proposal was prompted by comments and proposals of final-year medical students as well as doctors’ experiences.

Beros has said that the planned reforms envisage significant changes in the management of human resources as well as additional improvements regarding doctors’ labor status, including determining coefficients for specialists and subspecialists as well as equalising coefficients of hospital and primary healthcare doctors, and regulating the work of doctors who work both in the public and private sectors.

The minister said the planned changes to laws related to healthcare would soon be put to public consultation and he expected them to be adopted by the end of the year.