The lack of doctors in the Valencian Community has become more evident during 2021 due to the incidence of covid-19, yet despite this deficit that has been dragging on for years, the medical community has continued to work tirelessly, according to the annual report by the College of Physicians of Valencia (ICOMV).
“There is a shortage of doctors, and this is aggravated by the increase in the aging within the Valencian population. In addition, since March 2020 we must add the physical and mental consequences derived from the pandemic and suffered by medical personnel,” the report states. In 2021, some 500 new members have been registered, including young MIR doctors who are starting their professional career and doctors who arrived from abroad to work in Valencia, but about 250 have retired.
Furthermore, in the short and medium term, a high percentage of doctors will retire, due to the aging of Valencian medical professionals, sources have indicated, adding that in 2021 53.8% of Valencian doctors are over 50 years of age.
In addition to aging, doctors who go abroad in search of better job opportunities must be taken into account. In 2021 about 30 doctors went to work abroad, mainly to Colombia, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. On the other hand, in 2021 some 200 foreign doctors have come to Valencia to work, most of them from Colombia, Argentina and Cuba.
Valencian medicine is becoming increasingly feminised, since at present the ICOMV has 16,800 members, among which, 52.8% are women and 47.2% are men. Attacks on the medical community continue to be worrisome, since until December 2021 there have been 21 attacks on doctors, although sources emphasise that this figure is not real, as the statistics only include the attacks that are reported and, many times, for fear of the consequences, doctors and health personnel do not report the events through the legal channels.
