Doctors and Hospitals in Greece

Doctors and hospitals are sometimes needed, when you are traveling in Greece. However, when tourists are  visiting smaller islands, remote or mountain villages, they are often surprised they can not find any hospital or doctor nearby. So be aware of where you go!

In general, there are many doctors in Greece, especially in the bigger cities. When living in Athens or Thessaloniki, you can easily make an appointment with a doctor of any specialisation without a long waiting time.
However, if you live in or travel to a smaller city or a remote village, you might need to travel to the bigger cities to find a specialist or a hospital.

 

If you wish to read this article also in Greek, then click below
Πώς γίνεται κανείς γιατρός στην Ελλάδα;

How you become a doctor in Greece?

Similarly to most countries, the path to becoming a doctor in Greece, whether a general practitioner or a specialist, is long and requires a lot of hard work. It thus takes a lot of passion and dedication to helping and curing people to become one! At the same time, it’s considered a very prestigious profession in Greek society as well, which only makes it more appealing to young people. But there are also some major differences in Greece, which most tourist have no idea about.

Going to medical school

Firstly, in order to start a degree in medicine, one needs to be an excellent student and perform really well at the exams that take place at the end of senior high school. These are called “panellinies”, which back-translate as panhellenic in English, since everybody finishing high school (17-19 years old) all over the country takes the same exams.

Unlike most undergraduate degrees, which in Greece take four years, medical school requires a minimum of five, and a specialization after that.

For more information about the “panellinies” exams, click here

Work experience in the Greek countryside.

After completing the 5-year medical degree, medical school graduates have to do an obligatory 12-month work placement anywhere in the countryside, which in Greek it’s called “agrotiko” (en. Agricultural, pastoral).  Even though students might have had some hands-on work experience during their studies, this placement enables them to continue learning while shadowing and – then assisting – doctors on the job. The first month(s) of this placement consist mainly of training, but then students are expected to be able to manage different types of incidents and patient cases under the supervision of the hospital doctors.

This work placement takes place strictly in the Greek countryside, often in remote villages or islands. This allows the state to find staff for hospitals and health centres in rural Greece, which are often severely under-resourced. At the same time, recent medical school graduates have the chance to practise and gather valuable work experience.

Choosing a specialisation field

During all this time, students are not considered doctors – only medical school graduates. In order for someone to become a doctor, according to Greek law, they need to continue their studies and specialise in a specific field of medicine. The length of the specialisation training depends on the field and can take between 4 to 6 years. For instance, gastroenterologists and cardiologists need 6 years, whereas paediatricians need  4. During this period, the doctors-to-be rotate across different hospital departments.

In order to receive specialist training, all candidates need to enlist until a spot opens up for them at a public hospital and this could be in a different city from where they’ve been living or studying. Once this stage is completed as well, young doctors can practice medicine, either by opening their own, private practice or taking up work at a public hospital. Some doctors choose to do both, but this is regulated by specific legislation.

At this point, it is worth noting that due to the high number of medical graduates compared to the low number of spots available for training at Greek hospitals, there is a certain backlog of people who are waiting for their turn. Depending on the area in which someone wants to specialise as a doctor, the wait can last from two up to seven years. As a result, even if people graduate from university at 24, they might be well into their thirties when they become full professionals. This is why many Greeks choose to complete their agrotiko (see above) while they wait, or decide to go abroad to receive specialist training either in another European country or the US.

A Hospital or Medical Center?

In Greece, the terms “hospital” and “medical center” are used to refer to different types of healthcare facilities. When going for holidays in Greece, it might be wise to check if you travel to a destination where there is a hospital, or if there is only a Medical Center nearby.