Young doctors in Italy protest and threaten to strike over working conditions

Hundreds of young doctors from across Italy staged a protest in Rome this week to demand that their rights and benefits be brought in line with European colleagues.On 25 September, representatives of young doctors’ associations demonstrated in front of the Ministry of University and Research (Mur) in Rome, to demand reforms to the country’s postgraduate specialisation system. The associations have joined forces to call for young resident doctors—called specialiszandi—to be reclassified as doctors and not students in order to secure greater rights and benefits. They have warned that strike action could follow if reforms are not made soon.The Italian doctors say that the current classification, established 1999, sets them apart from many of their European peers in terms of rights, benefits, and professional education, and makes them similar to a student rather than a professional. Currently, after graduating in medicine and surgery, postgraduates are required to take up a residency…
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