The Minister of Health, Emil Ceban, strongly rejects the allegations regarding the supposed fraudulent issuance of diplomas for doctors from Romania who completed their residency in Chisinau. According to him, the University of Medicine introduced residency for foreign citizens, including those from Romania, back in 2016, but according to the law, they are not allowed to practice during their residency studies, reports IPN.
“I say with all confidence and responsibility that the diplomas are not fake. I stake my reputation on this. Yes, there are fake diplomas circulating in the country, we even reported two such diplomas to the authorities last week. We cannot control what is sold at the Central Market. But this is not about Romanian residents,” said the Minister of Health on the TV8 show “Cutia Neagră”.
Emil Ceban explained that undergraduate studies in medicine from the Republic of Moldova are fully accredited in Europe and the residency for international students, including Romanians, has been available since 2016.
“But Romania does not recognize everything that is not EU. For Romanian residents, 90% of the residency studies were in dentistry, two cases of emergency medicine, one case of imaging and one case of occupational medicine. In 2024 we were notified by the Ministry of Health in Romania, we conducted a check and expelled eight residents from Romania. We expelled them because they did not attend lessons”, explained Emil Ceban.
The Minister emphasized that foreign residents can attend courses, but they cannot work in hospitals, and the scandal erupted after some of them got jobs in Romania. “Foreign resident students come to lessons, but they do not have access to our hospitals. According to the law, they do not have the right to work. The whole scandal started because some of them got jobs in Romania”, the Health Minister pointed out.
At the beginning of November, Romanian authorities, prosecutors and police officers, conducted raids both at the residences of some doctors and at the headquarters of some public institutions, among which is the headquarters of the Ministry of Health in Romania. The investigation targets individuals who have requested the recognition of medical degrees following their studies in the Republic of Moldova.
