Medics who trained abroad face near-insurmountable barriers to entering specialist medical training, whilst young doctors who want to invest and work in their own country are finding themselves shut out of Lithuania's state health insurance system.
Povilas Ancevičius holds a degree from the University of Freiburg, one of Germany's most prestigious institutions. Yet when he tried to enter medical residency back in Lithuania, he was rejected – not because of his clinical record, but because of differences in curricula.
His German dental programme did not include mathematics, which counts towards Lithuanian residency admissions scores. A zero in that subject placed him at the bottom of the rankings.
He applied for medical residency in Lithuania several times. It never worked.
"It sounds absurd, but this has been the main reason several colleagues of mine have not returned to Lithuania," he said. Doctors who begin residency abroad, he adds, tend to stay there – drawn by better pay and working conditions.
