Only one-third of Slovakia’s medical students intend to stay in the country after graduating, according to the results of a new survey presented at the KonMED 2025 medical education conference in Žilina on Monday.
The data, collected by the Slovak Association of Medical Students (SloMSA), highlights a growing willingness among future doctors to pursue careers abroad, most commonly in neighboring Czechia or other European countries.
As cited by the TASR news agency, Barbora Bôžeková, president of SloMSA, said the findings were based on 98 responses, mainly from general medicine students studying in Slovakia. “The questionnaire showed that only one-third of medical students plan to stay in Slovakia, and the remaining two-thirds are determined to go to work elsewhere,” she said.
The survey revealed that the most common reason for leaving was dissatisfaction with the working environment in Slovakia, cited by 40 respondents. Other significant factors included overall quality of life and the country’s political situation. Bôžeková noted that pay was relatively less important, ranking only sixth in the list of concerns, on par with the perceived lack of support for young doctors.
Responding to the findings, Monika Jankechová, director of the Department of Health Education at the Slovak Ministry of Health, said the lower emphasis on salary may reflect the fact that doctors’ wages have been increased in recent years. However, she acknowledged the weight students placed on broader quality-of-life issues.
“I have to confirm whether they are students of secondary medical schools, university students, nurses, midwives, or radiologists with whom we have talked recently, their preferences in terms of the development of the social situation are not decisive for them to stay working in Slovakia,” she said.
Jankechová added that retaining young doctors will require the state to offer concrete benefits, especially housing and career development opportunities. “First of all, it should be an offer of career growth, and secondly, they should be offered benefits. The most significant is accommodation, and thus the creation of facilities that will allow them to live in good quality in Slovakia,” she said.
The KonMED 2025 conference, organized by SloMSA and the Žilina Self-Governing Region, also featured discussions on reforms to medical education and steps to better prepare students for clinical practice.
The brain drain of graduates has long been an issue in Slovakia and neighboring countries, as shown by a 2023 OECD report highlighting the below-average number of practicing doctors and nurses that remain in the country.
“The number of active doctors in Slovakia is challenged by aging and migration issues,” the report stated. “The moderately rising number of new medical graduates in recent years has had some impact in increasing the number of doctors, but further increases are not expected.”
“The low density of nurses is caused by workforce migration and reduced numbers of new nursing graduates. Both issues are related to a lack of attractiveness of nursing due to low wages, high numbers of overtime hours, and low professional recognition,” it added.
Despite a net migration increase in recent years, the country still struggles to retain its top talent, with at least 20 percent of graduates heading abroad, according to the OECD.
“The young generation no longer believes in Slovakia,” Michal Vašečka, president of the Bratislava Policy Institute, said recently. “Once they leave, there is nothing for them to come back to. They consider the country a backwater.”
Czechia is a notable beneficiary of Slovakia’s next-generation intelligentsia, with Vašečka claiming that Prague receives “the crème de la crème of Slovak society.”
