Young doctors in Italy protest and threaten to strike over working conditions

Hundreds of young doctors from across Italy staged a protest in Rome this week to demand that their rights and benefits be brought in line with European colleagues.

On 25 September, representatives of young doctors’ associations demonstrated in front of the Ministry of University and Research (Mur) in Rome, to demand reforms to the country’s postgraduate specialisation system. The associations have joined forces to call for young resident doctors—called specializzandi—to be reclassified as doctors and not students in order to secure greater rights and benefits. They have warned that strike action could follow if reforms are not made soon.

The Italian …