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Post-linked residency · 15 November 2026 session

Which medical specialties are in short supply in 2026: two join after two years without changes

Geriatrics and gerontology and paediatric psychiatry join the Health Ministry list. Nothing leaves, and 11 of the 25 concern children or newborns.

An administrative list for post-linked residency. It shows neither how many doctors are missing nor where.

In 2026, the Health Ministry designates 25 deficit specialties for post-linked residency. Compared with the identical 2024 and 2025 lists, two specialties are new: geriatrics and gerontology and paediatric psychiatry. Nothing was removed.

See what changed

Contents

  1. What changed
  2. Why it matters to you
  3. Children
  4. The complete 2026 list
  5. What the list omits
  6. Post-linked residency
  7. Questions and answers
  8. Sources and method

2024 · 2025 · 2026

What changed

The list is not rewritten. It grows. All 23 specialties from 2024 and 2025 stay on the list; in 2026 two join them.

2026: 25 specialties on the list, two of them new.

  • on the list
  • new in 2026
  • off the list

Each square is one specialty. The two marked squares join the list in 2026.

Between 2024 and 2025 not one line changed: the lists are identical.

The difference, line by line

The growth is two specialties, which is 8.7% over 2024.

Three readers

Why it matters to you

One list, three different stakes.

If you are a patient or a parent

The label will not bring a doctor to your door any sooner. It opens a special recruitment channel for these specialties: post-linked residency.

If you are a resident doctor

“On post” means a job tied to one specific hospital, not just a training place. The contract is signed with the unit that advertised the post, and after residency comes the duty to work there for as many years as the training lasted.

If you watch the system

The designation widens where post-linked residency can run. By exception, university teaching hospitals, institutes and clinical medical centres may advertise posts in these specialties.

The second row of figures

Almost half concern children

44% of the specialties on the list — 11 of 25 — are paediatric or neonatal.

  • paediatric or neonatal
  • the rest of the list

Each square is one specialty from the 2026 list. The marked squares are paediatric or neonatal.

See all 11 specialties
  1. paediatric cardiology
  2. paediatric surgery
  3. paediatric gastroenterology
  4. paediatric nephrology
  5. neonatology
  6. paediatric neurology
  7. paediatric oncology and haematology
  8. paediatric orthopaedics
  9. paediatrics
  10. paediatric pulmonology
  11. paediatric psychiatry

The share describes the list, not the doctor shortage: 44% of the specialties on the list are paediatric or neonatal, which says nothing about how many paediatricians are missing.

The rows

The complete 2026 list

All 25 specialties from the order, in the order of the act.

Showing 25 of 25 specialties.

  1. anaesthesia and intensive care
  2. infectious diseases
  3. paediatric cardiologyPaediatric
  4. paediatric surgeryPaediatric
  5. epidemiology
  6. medical assessment of capacity for work
  7. paediatric gastroenterologyPaediatric
  8. geriatrics and gerontologyNew in 2026
  9. haematology
  10. hygiene
  11. emergency medicine
  12. family medicine
  13. medical microbiology
  14. sports medicine
  15. paediatric nephrologyPaediatric
  16. neonatologyNeonatal
  17. paediatric neurologyPaediatric
  18. medical oncology
  19. paediatric oncology and haematologyPaediatric
  20. paediatric orthopaedicsPaediatric
  21. paediatricsPaediatric
  22. paediatric pulmonologyPaediatric
  23. paediatric psychiatryNew in 2026Paediatric
  24. radiotherapy
  25. public health and management

The limits

What the list omits

Five limits, briefly.

  • It does not say how many doctors are missing in each specialty.
  • It does not say which counties have shortages.
  • It is not a ranking of specialties by severity.
  • It shows no waiting times for patients.
  • A specialty joining the list does not prove the shortage grew worse in 2026.

The map of missing doctors, by locality: The Atlas of Medical Deserts

The mechanism

How post-linked residency works

Five steps, in plain words.

  1. The post appears

    A public healthcare provider advertises a post for one of the specialties.

  2. The contract is signed

    The winning candidate signs the employment contract before training starts.

  3. The training

    The resident trains in the university centre.

  4. The contract holds

    The contract with the unit runs for an indefinite period.

  5. The doctor stays

    After residency, the doctor works in the unit for as many years as the training lasted.

The basis is Article 18 of Government Ordinance 18/2009: paragraph (5) opens the exception for deficit specialties set yearly by order, and paragraphs (6)–(8) set the contract and the duty to stay in the unit. Article 18 on the Legislative Portal.

The designation does not guarantee that posts will be advertised in every listed specialty.

The two extra rows are not the news. The news is which rows they are: care for the elderly and mental health for children. The order gives no reason why these two joined.

In brief

Questions and answers

Six direct answers, with the sources below.

Which medical specialties are in short supply in 2026?

The official list holds 25 specialties, in the order of the act — see the complete list above. Joining in 2026 are geriatrics and gerontology and paediatric psychiatry.

Which specialties are new in 2026?

Two: geriatrics and gerontology and paediatric psychiatry. No specialty left the list.

What does a “deficit specialty” mean?

A specialty for which the Health Ministry opens, through a yearly order, the exception to the rule that bars post-linked residency in university teaching hospitals, institutes and clinical medical centres. The label belongs to that mechanism; it is not a ranking of the doctor shortage.

What is post-linked residency?

A competition for a post advertised by one specific unit, not just a training place. The doctor signs an employment contract with the unit before training and stays there, after residency, for as many years as the training lasted.

Does the list show where doctors are missing?

No. The order gives no counties, units or posts. For doctor numbers by locality, see the Atlas of Medical Deserts.

Why are there so many paediatric specialties?

The order gives no reasons. The list only shows the state opening the recruitment channel for 11 paediatric or neonatal specialties out of 25. Any explanation of causes would be interpretation, not a fact from the act.

The evidence

Sources and method

Every figure on the page can be checked against the acts below.

The official acts

Checked reproductions of the acts

How it was counted

  • The count: 23 in 2024, 23 in 2025, 25 in 2026. The 2024 and 2025 lists are identical line by line.
  • The difference: two entries join in 2026, none leave. The 8.7% growth is the gap between 25 and 23, set against 23.
  • The paediatric share: 11 of 25, which is 44% of the specialties on the list, rounded to the whole.
  • The complete list above keeps the order of Article 1 of the orders.
  • The on-post resident's indefinite contract is set by the competition methodology (Order 1050/2025, Article 4(5)).
  • The English renderings of the specialties: Marius Comper.
  • This edition covers the residency session of 15 November 2026.

Type: Fraunces and Source Serif 4, under the SIL Open Font Licence.