The State Duma obliges graduates of medical universities to undergo three years of service after studying

The State Duma adopted in the third and final reading the law on labor service for students of medical universities, according to the website of the lower house of parliament.

Now students enrolled on a budget will be required to enter into a targeted training agreement and work in their specialty for up to three years in a medical institution that provides services in the compulsory health insurance system (mainly government institutions).

In the third reading, the law was supported by 339 deputies, another 69 abstained, and no one voted against.

Initially, it was assumed that all students enrolled on a budget in medical and pharmaceutical universities would have to enter into an agreement on targeted training. However, by the third reading, pharmacists were excluded from this system, and it was decided to leave completely targeted training only in the residency program (obtaining a narrower specialty).

Graduates will be required to work in the organization specified in their target training agreement. Graduates will be able to choose the region and place of work themselves. They will have to find a job within one year after graduating from a university or college. In case of early termination of the contract, the student must pay a fine equal to twice the cost of training. If you stop studying in the first year, you will receive the entire cost of one year of study and a double fine.

If a resident refuses to enter into an agreement, he will be able to continue his training for a fee, but only if there are places available.

The fact that the Ministry of Health proposed introducing mandatory service for graduates of medical universities studying at the expense of the budget became known in February 2025. The bill submitted to the State Duma caused criticism from the medical community. For the second reading, which took place at the end of October, 46 amendments to the bill were proposed - 17 of them were accepted, 29 were rejected. Representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation asked to remove the document from consideration, since, in their opinion, it is clearly “raw”, and the medical community is against the initiative. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin responded by saying that “there are no doctors in hospitals, and the public is different.”

In the explanatory note, the authors of the bill indicated that about 35% of university graduates and 40% of college graduates subsequently do not work in the state or municipal healthcare system, “thus not participating in the implementation of citizens’ rights to receive free medical care.”