“We are very satisfied with the increase in medical specialization scholarships planned for 2021, but I fear that they are not enough to prevent the flight of our doctors abroad. So we risk running out of specialists just when we need them most at almost two years old. since the beginning of the Covid emergency “. The alarm was raised by Massimo Tortorella, president of Consulcesi, in view of the next admission test which will take place on 20 July. The fate of the young Italian doctors will be decided tomorrow with a test consisting of 140 multiple choice questions, each with five possible answers. Thousands will not make it and, given the selection methods, not all will be discarded for demerit. A few weeks ago – a note from Consulcesi recalls – the Ministry of Health signed a decree that brought to 17,400 the places available in the medical specialization schools funded by the State for the academic year 2020/2021, that is 4,200 more than those initially planned and announced in 2019/2020. The previous year the number was about half: 8,000. “It is a fair measure that will certainly serve to partially absorb the serious accumulated training funnel, but unfortunately it is insufficient to eliminate the problem and limit one of its most serious consequences, namely the flight of doctors abroad”, underlines Tortorella. In the last 8 years, according to OECD data – Consulcesi recalls – over 9 thousand doctors have been trained in Italy and have gone to work abroad. These include many young graduated doctors who have not managed to enter the specialization of their dreams and who have turned to foreign countries. But fewer specialists in Italy also means untimely care and assistance for citizens, because the flight of doctors abroad is also joined by that of white coats leaving the hospital for private facilities. According to a study by Anaao Assomed, the association of Italian doctors and health managers, there are about 24 thousand medical specialists who could be missing in hospital wards by 2023, causing a serious risk for the national health system. “All this should push us to increase even more places available in specialization schools: the problem of the shortage of specialists should be tackled upstream”, highlights Tortorella. Also in this case Consulcesi makes its legal skills available by offering advice on the free help desk number 800 189 091 to all aspiring trainees who want to have information in case of problems related to the entry test.