In the coming year the province of Alicante will have 280 new MIR (Family Doctors) training places in its public health centres. This is a figure that is lower than the 312 retirements that will occur in the province during 2024.

According to data provided by the COMA, the Official College of Physicians of Alicante, a total of 687 doctors are going to retire in the province during the next three years.

“As we can already see, Primary Care is saturated today, so it is very likely that in the coming years the situation will deteriorate even further,” explains the president of COMA, Dr. Hermann Schwarz.

He added, “We are one of the few professions that after passing a national examination such as the MIR, we do not have a guaranteed job.”

Given this situation, Dr Schwarz is asking for a national strategy that allows quantifying the need for professionals in each of the medical specialties. “We do not have reliable data on the number of doctors we have in each specialty. It is one of the Achilles heels of the health system,” a situation that, in his opinion, prevents the optimal distribution of available resources.

In response, the Community President, Carlos Mazon, announced that starting in 2025, contracts of one to three years will be offered to doctors who finish their training in Valencian health centres.

“This is a measure aimed at promoting the attraction and loyalty of MIRs”, intended not only at alleviating the deficit of health professionals that affects the entire national territory, but also to encourage and motivate professionals to remain in the Valencian health system.”