3 out of 4 doctor positions are vacant
The shortage of doctors in public hospitals is increasing. In the last 2.5 years, only 4,000 out of nearly 16,000 positions were filled in seven rounds of doctor appointments, representing 27% of the total. Only one of the four positions opened was filled. Responding to Minister Memişoğlu's statement, ‘There are toilets in our hospital rooms,’ healthcare workers said, ‘There is a shortage of doctors in the public sector.’
The public health system is sounding the alarm despite Health Minister Prof. Dr. Kemal Memişoğlu boasting, ‘We have achieved things that developed countries could not even dream of. Turkey has 184,000 hospital beds, all of which are single, double, with toilets and bathrooms.’
This situation is also reflected in the data. In the last 2.5 years, nearly 16,000 positions for specialist doctors were opened for the first time and reopened, but only 27 %, or 4,200, were filled. It was noteworthy that no doctors came to some provinces such as Hakkari, Şırnak, Muş and Bayburt during this period. This situation has become a threat to public health, with many patients forced to travel thousands of kilometres to other provinces for treatment. Aside from regional inequalities, the fact that many public positions in plastic surgery, dermatology, paediatrics and other specialised fields remain unfilled has also drawn attention. This situation has affected citizens' access to treatment, with healthcare professionals warning that ‘problems will deepen in the coming period.’
NO APPOINTMENTS IN 5 PROVINCES
The 23-year rule of the AKP has made access to public healthcare increasingly difficult for the people. Despite claims by Health Minister Memişoğlu and his predecessors that they have revolutionised the healthcare system, patients continue to face serious problems in accessing healthcare services.
While the average person in the country visits the hospital 12.4 times a year, Minister Memişoğlu's boast about this situation has sparked widespread criticism. This situation has both increased overcrowding in public hospitals and severely hindered access to treatment. On the same day, the minister praised the fact that hospital rooms have toilets and bathrooms, but there is a bigger problem in hospitals: The shortage of doctors is growing.
NO SPECIALISTS IN 9 FIELDS
Healthcare worker Kubilay Yalçınkaya conducted an analysis of the Ministry of Health's first and second round of appointments for a 2.5-year period. Of the four positions opened in seven rounds of appointments between 2023, 2024 and 2025, only one was filled.
The selection rate remained at 27%. According to the data, no appointments were made in five provinces over the past 2.5 years, while the appointment rate for positions opened in 17 provinces remained below 10%. In nine specialties, not a single specialist physician was appointed, while the selection rate for positions opened in 12 specialties remained below 10%, drawing attention.
Yalçınkaya pointed out that specialisations such as plastic surgery, dermatology and physical therapy, which are the most preferred in the TUS, are not filled at the same rate in public hospitals, saying, "There are many preferences in the TUS, but there are no doctors in this field in the public sector. Three out of four positions are vacant. Former Health Minister Fahrettin Koca had said, “I need four years to solve this problem,” and implemented the “White Reform,” but the return to the public sector has not reached the desired level.‘
Yalçınkaya also highlighted that some provinces have no doctors at all, saying, ’Without mandatory service, those provinces would not even see a specialist doctor. In most provinces, there are no specialists in fields other than gynaecology and surgery, but it is really difficult to find doctors in the main fields. The situation is even worse in some provinces. Hope has been lost. Some provinces are no longer even opening positions because no one wants to work there."
Yalçınkaya continued, "In some provinces, they are using compulsory service to keep health services running. Unfortunately, the country's healthcare system has regressed to what it was 25 years ago. Especially in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia, people are forced to travel to Ankara, İstanbul, Diyarbakır, Van, or Erzurum for treatment. This means they have to migrate between cities, while those in the west are forced to seek private care. For citizens to change provinces for treatment with a caregiver means accommodation, transportation, and lodging expenses. This is a significant cost when accompanied by a caregiver. This situation affects people in those regions economically, socially, and culturally. You cannot encourage healthcare workers to go there without transforming those cities. Housing, social needs, and economic rights must be provided so that doctors and healthcare workers will go to these regions. This situation again affects the health of the people. The Ministry must see this."
Reminding the Minister of his statement, "We have toilets in our rooms," Yalçınkaya said, "You have a toilet in your room, but there are no doctors in your hospital. Having toilets in patient rooms is not something to be proud of in 2025," he said. Yalçınkaya added, "If you cannot send a doctor to Ağrı in 2025 and your doctors are being transferred to a village in Berlin, this is a very serious risk."
THEY PREFERRED THE PRIVATE SECTOR OVER THE PUBLIC SECTOR
When examining the occupancy rates of departments where the Ministry has opened positions and made appointments seven times, it was observed that the most preferred departments in the TUS did not choose the public sector. In particular, most positions in departments such as plastic surgery, dermatology and venereal diseases, and psychiatry remained vacant.
SOME OF THE POSITIONS OPENED HAVE NOT BEEN FILLED IN 2.5 YEARS
In the 7 rounds of appointments made over the past 2.5 years, it was observed that certain positions in some provinces, particularly in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions, remained unfilled. This situation not only exacerbated regional inequalities but also forced patients to travel thousands of kilometres to seek treatment in other provinces, once again causing hardship for citizens.
The following branches are about to disappear from the public sector:
•207 positions were opened in plastic reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, 17 of which were filled.
•181 positions were opened in gastroenterology, 16 of which were filled.
•48 positions were opened in hand surgery, 3 of which were filled.
•One of the 47 positions in paediatric intensive care was filled.
•Two of the 31 positions in paediatric urology were filled.
•Only three of the 49 positions in paediatric infectious diseases were filled.
•One of the 28 positions in paediatric chest diseases was filled.
DOCTORS CONTINUE TO MIGRATE ABROAD
Due to various factors such as working conditions, issues related to labour rights, bullying, and violence, doctors are either resigning from the public sector, emigrating abroad, retiring, or moving to the private sector. It has been revealed that 995 doctors applied to the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) to practise medicine abroad in the first five months of 2025.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled 4 hekim kadrosunun 3’ü boş published in BirGün newspaper on June 24, 2025.
