The first comprehensive evaluation of government programmes supporting the education of doctors and non-medical healthcare professionals confirms their importance for the Czech healthcare system. Masaryk University’s Faculty of Medicine is also actively involved in these programmes.
The programme supporting medical education was approved in 2019. Its original goal was to increase student numbers by 15%, but medical faculties have managed to increase their capacity by 30.9%. The average annual number of newly enrolled students has risen from 1,680 in the 2015–2018 period to the current 2,220. More than 12,200 students are currently studying medical programmes at Czech medical faculties, and in the coming years more than 1,800 young doctors are expected to successfully graduate each year.
The results confirm that faculties are able to significantly expand the capacity of demanding study programmes while maintaining the quality of education. “Every year, medical faculties demonstrate their ability to effectively manage the high level of interest among young people in healthcare fields and to handle the organisation of admissions. It is also very positive that interest in these demanding programmes is growing. Experience from recent years shows that systematic support for healthcare education is producing real results; the role of medical faculties as guarantors of the content and quality of education is indispensable,” says Martin Repko, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine MU, who also previously served as Chair of the Association of Deans of Medical Faculties of the Czech Republic.
The programme supporting medical education was followed in 2025 by a government programme focused on non-medical healthcare professionals. Its aim is to strengthen capacity particularly in fields affected by demographic developments. In its first year, the number of newly enrolled students in supported fields increased by 20%, while the increase for general nursing was almost 40%. The programme covers general and paediatric nursing, midwifery, paramedicine, radiography and nutritional therapy.
The importance of both programmes is also confirmed by data from the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic, which helped lay their foundations. “In both cases, the data clearly demonstrated that increasing the capacity of educational institutions is essential, particularly because of the expected retirement of senior healthcare professionals,” says Professor Ladislav Dušek, Director of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic. “The data also show that up to 90% of graduates of healthcare programmes, both doctors and non-medical healthcare professionals, enter clinical practice or further education within the Czech healthcare system. This confirms the effectiveness of this education, also in relation to the data monitored by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports.”
The successful results also demonstrate the importance of long-term support for healthcare education and the need to continue measures focused on the quality of practical training, the stabilisation of academic staff and closer links between education and the clinical environment.
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