The Roma doctors healing Bulgaria
This article is part of the Breaking out: Stories of Roma empowerment special report, presented by the Roma Foundation for Europe.
On a hot June day, a group of Roma teenagers huddled over chemistry equations prepping for jobs the Bulgarian healthcare system is struggling to fill: doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists. The students are attending a course for Bulgaria’s rigorous medical school admissions exams, organized by Trust for Social Achievement, TSA, a Sofia-based nonprofit helping disadvantaged communities.
Long excluded from higher education and professional careers, young Roma — a marginalized ethnic group making up about 10 percent of the Bulgarian population — are increasingly finding opportunities in fields that were once all but off-limits.
It’s a trend that goes beyond medicine — but when it comes to healthcare, Roma medical staff aren’t just breaking into a new field, they’re answering a desperate need too.
Bulgaria has a brain drain problem as young professionals are drawn to the benefits of working in richer countries. While the number of physicians is above EU average, they are mostly concentrated in big cities, and there are shortages in key specialties, according to a recent report conducted by the European Commission. Bulgaria is also one of the EU countries with the lowest number of nurses, along with Latvia and Greece.
“[The program] produces doctors, nurses, and midwives who are much needed, especially in small towns,” said Miroslav Angelov, a Sofia-based cardiologist who became a doctor after attending a previous edition of the training program.
“These people are the real changemakers,” Angelov said.
