Paid enrollment to medical universities will no longer be accepted in Belarus. What do doctors say about this?

How the situation looks in universities

At BSMU, starting from 2026, a small number of paid places have been retained only for pharmacists. Out of 1330 places, 782 are allocated for targeted enrollment.

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Photo: social media

Last year, not many paid places were also opened at BSMU — only 95. But it wasn't always like this: for example, five years ago there were 310 paid places, 660 for state-funded students, and 295 for targeted enrollment. Ten years ago, in 2016, there were 270 paid places and 208 for targeted enrollment. And in 2006, there were very few places for targeted students — only 72, compared to 230 paid and 745 regular state-funded places.

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Admission plan for applicants for 2016. Screenshot: bsmu.by

The active reduction of paid students and simultaneous increase in the share of targeted students began in 2023.

At Vitebsk State Medical University, paid students will only be accepted for correspondence courses in the "Pharmacy" specialty. All places for doctors are state-funded, with 60% through targeted enrollment.

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Screenshot: vsmu.by

A similar situation is observed at Grodno State Medical University. This year, 760 medical students will be admitted there, of whom more than half (459) will be from targeted enrollment.

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Screenshot: grsmu.by

What do doctors inside Belarus say?

A doctor, who herself once went through the path of targeted enrollment, admitted that it was a big mistake.

She was pushed towards targeted enrollment by the fact that it was the year when many schoolchildren graduated at once due to an attempt to switch everyone to 12-year education.

"There were fears that it would be impossible to get a state-funded place because of this, so I took that path, although at that time the proportion of targeted students was tiny," recalls the doctor.

At the time, it seemed like a good idea, as the referral, one might say, guaranteed admission.

"Right after school, you can't know and adequately assess what will happen so many years later. In fact, by agreeing to targeted enrollment, you determine how and where you will live for 12 years (six years of study, one year of internship, and five years of mandatory work assignment). This way, you can ruin, if not your whole life, then at least your entire youth."

During her studies, the doctor met her love and got married. In her case, she barely had to work off her targeted assignment. The couple first had one child, and later a second. She left to work for two months during a break between maternity leaves.

"Therefore, I would advise applicants and their parents to think 100 times before agreeing to targeted enrollment," the doctor advises.

Another medic studied on a state-funded basis and worked off two years. The man was lucky with his assignment, as he remained in his hometown.

But he doesn't particularly like the idea of mandatory work assignments, especially when it comes to five years. And the issue is not just the need to go work in another city after 6-7 years of study.

"Some of my former classmates who paid for their studies did not continue their career as doctors after graduation. A person might realize that medicine is not for them, might go into cosmetology or simply business. But if you have an obligation to work for five years, then you're stuck. As a result, not only does the doctor suffer in an unloved job, but also their patients, because such a person works half-heartedly," the doctor believes.

He also draws attention to the corruption component, which, according to him, was sometimes present even earlier during placements.

"Those who need to will get good places during placements or immediately upon receiving a targeted referral. There are entire dynasties of doctors who have everything covered. But for a person from an ordinary family, breaking into a good job in a good place, without having served their mandatory term, will become even more difficult," the interlocutor believes.

"Will only solve the problem for a few years"

Gynecologist, Deputy Representative for Social Policy in the United Transitional Cabinet, Stanislau Salavey calls such a practice an attempt by the state to finally legalize forced labor, while simultaneously trying to close problems with staff shortages.

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Stanislau Salavey. Photo: Belsat

"However, its effect will only be felt seven years from now, when those who enroll this year begin full-fledged work," the doctor notes.

Overall, the specialist calls the abolition of paid places and the increase in the number of targeted students "postponing until tomorrow what should have been done yesterday."

He considers such a method meaningless in the long term.

"Two-year mandatory work assignments have existed for quite a long time. After changes in legislation that occurred over the last few years, targeted students now have to work for five years. Their number for some specialties has been increased to 80%.

But if a system that provides for two years of forced work assignment doesn't work (since in some settlements only 20% remained after it, and others left for other places or abroad), then the same will happen with those who work for five years.

Thus, such a decision will simply prolong this cycle and solve the problem only for a few years, until the first targeted students complete their term and start leaving," explains Stanislau Salavey.

How else to attract specialists?

It is clear that doctors are needed not only in large settlements, where most graduates want to live and work, so the problem of staff shortages really needs to be solved. But in our country, the carrot-and-stick approach primarily uses the stick.

For example, in neighboring Poland and Lithuania, doctors are attracted with money. Doctors looking for work in Lithuania said there are vacancies offering 30,000 euros in relocation bonuses for a three-year contract.

"In Poland, it works like this: the greater the staff shortage in a particular voivodeship (analogous to our regions), the higher the doctor's salary will be there. Roughly speaking, a medic working in Warsaw in a state institution will receive significantly less than his colleague working somewhere near Bialystok," Salavey explains.

As for official housing, according to the interlocutor, in Poland this issue is solved by mortgages, which a Polish doctor can easily afford. "It must also be understood that the quality and standard of living in a small town in Poland or Lithuania will differ significantly from the standard of living in a small town in Belarus."

Another important problem facing Belarusian medicine, Salavey says, is the fact that doctors are in demand in other countries, including neighboring ones.

"The difference in salaries can be astronomical. While in Belarus a young specialist might be offered an official apartment, in Poland, after 2-3 years of work, a doctor can take out a mortgage and buy their own housing, and they won't have to work in a specific institution for their entire life to avoid losing it."

In addition to economic reasons, Salavey names a number of other factors.

"If you work from the very beginning in a place you didn't choose, then after your mandatory service, you will definitely leave. And then such a specialist faces a choice: move to some large city in Belarus or immediately go abroad, having learned the language and prepared for it during those five years," the interlocutor notes.

Also, in the case of targeted enrollment, students' motivation to study well can significantly decrease, as targeted students are almost never expelled.

"Moreover, if a student knows from day one what specialty they will work in, it can discourage them from learning other subjects well that are not related to their specialization, which is also not very good," the doctor believes.

Additional reason to go study abroad

Salavey believes that the abolition of paid education will push some Belarusians to go study, for example, in Smolensk or Moscow, because there they can get an education for money and not owe anything to the state afterwards.

A Russian diploma is recognized in Belarus, but whether such a student will return to Belarus afterwards is an open question.

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Illustrative photo. Photo: "Nasha Niva"

Other students who could afford to pay for their studies might immediately prepare to enroll in Poland or another EU country.

Overall, Stanislau Salavey believes that to solve staff problems in Belarus, people should be attracted to work in unpopular places not by coercive measures, but primarily by money.

"One needs to look at the level of staff shortage: the higher it is, the higher the salary should be. And this system must be transparent and understandable."

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