Only 45 of the first 2,000 MIRs choose primary care

Only 45 out of 2,000 medical applicants in Spain chose family and community medicine in the first five days of the election. Although it is a low number, this year’s data is better than the last three.

It should be noted that out of the 8,503 places provided by the Ministry of Health for training in various fields, 2,455 places are for family and community medicine, which is the specialty that occupies the largest number of places. No one is oblivious to the endemic crisis plaguing primary care in our country, so it is not surprising that Being a family physician is not an attractive option for MIR (Resident internal physicians).

«We hope you fill the places, because this major Necessary for the proper functioning of the entire national health system, because It solves approximately 80-90% of the health problems of the population. However, it is quite understandable that it does not attract the residents, who are fully aware of the dangerous situation in which it has been immersed for years.” Vincent MatasDirector of the Union Medical Study Center in Granada.

vacancies

It is no coincidence that this year it was not in the top 10 most chosen majors either, although, at the moment, it is 13th in preferences. MIR’s first pick was No. 14. In At last year’s call, 200 family medicine slots were left vacant, Something of concern since there is currently a shortage of these professionals. Medical associations in this specialty estimate that, for at least another five years, the number of professionals required will not be reached. And even if the problem of model shortages is resolved, there will still be two other very complex ones: lack of budget and saturation of agendas.

“Primary care accounts for only 14% of global health spending; In order for you to start doing something, you need to reach, at least, 20-25%. We hope that departments, both at the state and territory levels, will take family medicine seriously and start investing. More budget is needed, more staff is needed and professionals can have more time to take care of each patient, ”Matas emphasizes.

There is also a need for responsible planning of the needs of specialist physicians and by specialty, in order to cover the large number of positions that will become vacant in the next ten years. “Let’s hope that the new rapid response rate is sufficient and that they do not migrate en masse to neighboring countries with better conditions,” he adds.

Madrid favorite destination

The Community of Madrid has the most number of selected places (557), It is followed by Andalusia (310) – which for the first time overtook Catalonia (287), the Valencian Community (237), the Basque Country (112), Galicia (90) and Castilla and León (58). In these seven provinces, 1,651 places were awarded, which is 82.5% of the total number of places.

44 of the 100 best MIRs have chosen hospitals from the public network of the Community of Madrid for their training, a region leading healthcare specialist training with 1,790 places.

In the case of family medicine, so far, there are 5 who have chosen Barcelona, ​​against 3 who have chosen Madrid, but we must remember that last year the Catalan Ministry of Health approved an incentive scheme of up to 9,000 euros per year to new MIRs for family and community medicine and mental health nursing who choose to train in the area.

Anesthesia and cardiology

Of the first 2000 MIRs, 220 anesthesiology and resuscitation positions were selected, and 175 cardiology positions were selected. 170 pediatrics, 163 ophthalmology and 127 orthopedics and fractures. They are followed by dermatology (120), radiological diagnosis (104), obstetrics and gynecology (104), internal medicine (88), gastroenterology (83), and neurology (72). In the first five days of the election, two specialties, dermatology and plastic surgery, sold out in the first two days. Cardiology and anesthesiology have always occupied the first place in the rating, but attention is paid to them Dermatology In this unprecedented call. Although more venues were shown than at other events, they sold out earlier than ever before. working conditions (High salary and that they don’t have to work as 24 hour guards) A major factor when choosing this specialization.