As Belgium faces a labour shortage in the medical sector, the French Community Government (Wallonia-Brussels Federation) has increased the available places for medicine students to 1,366.
The number is unprecedented in recent years and comes after the Federation decided to raise the number of medical licenses to 929 for the 2023 class of medical students, Le Soir reports.
The Wallonia-Brussels Federation sets yearly quotas for the number of medical licenses that will be granted at the end of the six-year studies. In 2022, that number was 744, still a significant increase from the 505 licenses that were established for the 2021 class.
The number of student places was increased over the 929 cut-offs in order to account for students that may leave their studies over the six years. If the eventual number of graduates exceeded the cut-off, they will still be granted medical licenses.
An aggravating shortage
Belgium's doctors are increasing in age and nearing retirement, but the gap will not be easily filled by incoming graduates. Over half (54%) of all GPs in Belgium are 55 years or older, found the 2021 census of healthcare staff.
The current labour shortage is already affecting the labour conditions of medical workers, who report chronic exhaustion and burnout. A recent survey showed that 74% of workers said that they are facing a workload that is "structurally unsustainable".
Half of healthcare employees have doubts about their professional future and as many as 70% of those under 35 are considering leaving the sector, according to the same survey.
Recently, thousands of workers from the healthcare sector took to the streets of Brussels to demand solutions for these structural issues.
The demonstrators denounced the low pay, unstable contracts, exhausting working conditions and the shortage of personnel within their trade.
