Skopje, 24 August 2023 (MIA) — Health Minister Fatmir Mexhiti met Thursday with deans from the Skopje, Shtip and Tetovo medicine faculties Sonja Topuzovska, Milka Zdravkovska, and Nezvat Elezi to discuss new specializations at their departments currently open to applicants, the Ministry of Health said in a press release.

This is the first time that the Faculty of Medicine in Tetovo has offered specializations, the release said.

Meeting participants also discussed the challenges specialist face as well as improving work conditions and education.

"Young people are the future of the health system," Mexhiti said. "We continuously invest in their education in order to reduce the brain drain trend.

"We are in a process of changing the rulebook for specializations to align it with European examples and practices, with the aim of replenishing the staff of specialists according to the specific needs of public health institutions."

They also talked about the potential 600 new jobs in health care that had been requested during a government session as well as the possibility for employing private specialists. ssh/mr