The Republic of Slovenia, like most other countries, has been facing a shortage of doctors for many years. Despite the training of additional staff, they do not meet the population's needs for medical care, so they have to recruit doctors from abroad. The purpose of writing the master's thesis is therefore to study the field of employment of foreign doctors in the Republic of Slovenia, especially the field of knowledge of the Slovenian language, which in practice has proven to be a frequent obstacle in employment. Through a review of domestic and foreign literature, we performed an analysis of migration and migration trends of health workers in OECD countries and the Republic of Slovenia, as well as an analysis of their causes. After studying the Slovenian legislation governing the employment of foreigners, we used the method of description to describe all the necessary procedures before employing a foreigner in the Republic of Slovenia and continued with a review of the conditions for employment of foreigners in selected European countries and in a third country. The procedures for hiring a foreign doctor in the Republic of Slovenia are demanding and lengthy, foreigners spend the most time learning the language. After analyzing the collected data from other countries, we conclude that the prescribed higher level of knowledge of the country's official language is not related to a lower proportion of foreign doctors in the country. Other conditions, such as geographical proximity, better working conditions and better pay for the work performed, also influence the doctor's decision to migrate.
In Slovenia, a decline in the employment of foreign doctors was noticed after 2017, when the amendment to the ZZdrS and ZZDej were made, which determined the language proficiency level C1 SEJO for foreigners. At the time of writing the master's thesis, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia approved the amendment of both laws and made it possible for doctors, who obtained their education abroad, to take the exam in the "Slovene professional language for doctors", with the intent to speed up their employment, as they will presumably acquire the required knowledge of the language before. Time will tell whether the new legislation and the salary increase will be a big enough incentive for the arrival of foreign health workers in the Republic of Slovenia.
When describing the mandatory procedures before the employment of a foreigner, we drew attention to administrative obstacles that unnecessarily prolong the procedures and can be helpful in the formulation of new legislation.
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