Rules for training doctors are planned to be changed in Kazakhstan

Aligning medical education with real-world needs

According to the draft document, Kazakhstan seeks to establish a unified planning system for medical workforce training. The system is designed to calculate the required number of medical university and vocational graduates based on the actual needs of the healthcare sector.

"The new rules will allow for more accurate forecasting of the number of doctors and other healthcare professionals needed nationwide in the coming years, while also accounting for the specific characteristics of each region," the document states.

Key factors in staffing calculations

The initiative will take into account population size, disease patterns, current staffing levels, the expansion of hospital and clinic networks, and overall healthcare development plans.

The document provides for:

• forecasting the demand for medical specialists;
• identifying regions with staff shortages or surpluses;
• calculating the required number of enrollment slots for medical specialties;
• shaping the state educational order based on the needs of specific regions and cities;
• continuous monitoring of staffing levels across healthcare organizations.

The Ministry of Health plans to pay particular attention to regions currently experiencing medical personnel shortages.

"Workforce training planning will improve the efficiency of specialist distribution and ensure the population has access to the necessary number of doctors," the draft order says.

The Ministry clarified that the new rules will not lead to a reduction in medical training programs.

Project developers expect that the unified planning system will help bridge the specialist gap, enhance the quality of state healthcare management, and improve citizens' access to medical care.

Context

Experts previously noted that their primary concern is not a general shortage of medics, but rather the imbalance in their regional distribution.

In January, Olga Demushkan, head of the National Observatory of Health Human Resources at the Salidat Kairbekova National Scientific Center for Health Development, stated that the most critical staffing shortages were in the North Kazakhstan, Kostanay, Ulytau, and Zhetysu regions. The expert attributed this to several factors:

• These regions lack medical universities.
• The North Kazakhstan and Kostanay regions see the highest outflow of personnel to neighboring countries.
• Ulytau and Zhetysu are recently established regions that have yet to resolve their medical staffing issues.

"Compare this: Astana has 68.9 doctors per 10,000 residents, while North Kazakhstan has only 32.7, and the Kostanay region even fewer at 30.7. Why does this matter? The total number of medics in the country may seem optimal, and the deficit might appear minor. However, a more thorough analysis reveals that the number of doctors per capita is insufficient," Demushkan said, citing the statistics.

Experts also identified a significant gap between the number of medical graduates and the number of specialists who actually enter the healthcare workforce as a major challenge.