Dozens of graduates from several medical schools have been unable to equalize their qualifications in order to pass the state exam for more than a year.
These are the professions of medical radiologist, radiological technician, medical laboratory engineer...
These are mostly students who have completed their studies, among others, at the Milutin Milanković Medical School of Professional Studies in Serbia, the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Pan-European University Apeiron in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the AAB College in Pristina, and the State Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad.
As they told "Vijesti", they are constantly "spinning" in a vicious circle between the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montenegro, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MPNI), and the Medical Chamber.
After failing to exercise their rights for more than a year, some of them hired a lawyer, but also turned to the institution of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms.
"This way, it challenges the ability of these people to advance in their profession, to continue their education as they planned. In addition, they work in jobs with lower qualifications, and therefore receive lower salaries than they would receive if equalization were carried out in accordance with the Law on the Recognition of Foreign Educational Documents and Equalization of Qualifications," said the attorney representing some of the graduates, a lawyer. Danijela Bulatović.
According to the Law, after a diploma is validated, the qualification is equalized by a school - an institution that implements a comparable educational or study program. If such an institution does not exist, the qualification is equalized by a competent professional body - a professional association composed of experts in a particular field.
"If there is no professional association referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, the procedure for equalizing qualifications shall be carried out by a commission formed by the Ministry from experts in a specific field. Based on the report of the commission referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, the Ministry shall issue a decision on equalizing qualifications," reads the letter of the Law.
However, graduates claim that institutions, associations and associations have been keeping them without answers for more than a year, causing them personal harm, allowing requests for equalization of qualifications to pile up, and that they are seeking their rights in court...
Faculty: We have no programs
"In the past period, requests have been submitted to the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Montenegro for the equalization of foreign qualifications from various study programs, including medical laboratory diagnostics and radiological technology, which candidates completed at higher education institutions in the region, including, among others, the Milutin Milanković Medical School of Professional Studies in Serbia, the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Pan-European University Apeiron in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the AAB College in Pristina and other public and private institutions in the region," the dean's office of the faculty responded to "Vijesti".
They state that these are requests submitted in different time periods, which are being considered in accordance with applicable regulations and procedures.
"The current Regulation on the equalization of foreign qualifications of educational level with the qualification level of education in Montenegro at the University of Montenegro stipulates that the faculty may conduct the equalization procedure only for those qualifications for which it implements an appropriate or comparable study program. Given the above, in the cases in question it was not possible to form committees at the Faculty of Medicine," the university unit responded.
They specify that the Faculty of Medicine does not implement study programs in certain areas for which requests were submitted, which is why, in the interest of legal and proper action, they have turned to the competent institutions for interpretation.
"After the statement of the Rectorate of the University of Montenegro was submitted, and in accordance with the Law on Recognition of Foreign Educational Documents and Equalization of Qualifications and the Law on Administrative Procedure, the submitted requests were forwarded to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation as the competent authority for further action and decision-making. The Faculty of Medicine informed the applicants about the actions taken," they said.
The Ministry of Education and Science reminds us of the legal provisions that stipulate that the equalization of qualifications is carried out by an institution that implements a comparable educational or study program.
"If there is no school or institution in Montenegro that implements a comparable educational or study program, the equalization of qualifications is carried out by the competent professional body. A professional body, in the sense of the law, is a professional association composed of experts from a specific field for which equalization of qualifications is requested. In the specific case, when it comes to the field of medicine or healthcare, chambers such as the Medical Chamber, the Pharmaceutical Chamber, the Dental Chamber, as well as associations are recognized as professional associations composed of experts from this field," the Ministry of Education and Science states.
The same provision, they remind, provides the possibility for certain qualifications acquired abroad, for which there is no professional association, to be equalized by a commission established by the Ministry.
MPNI: That's the job of the Medical Chamber
The Ministry of Health, however, emphasizes that the Law on Health Care recognizes the Medical, Dental, Pharmaceutical and Physiotherapist Chambers of Montenegro as professional associations of health workers with the status of legal entities.
"Furthermore, Article 142 of the Law on Health Care prescribes the activities of the chambers, so among other things, one of the responsibilities of the chambers is to implement the procedure for equalizing foreign qualifications with educational qualifications in Montenegro, if there is no institution in Montenegro that implements a comparable educational or study program, and that these activities of the chamber are performed as transferred tasks. We emphasize that the Medical Chamber of Montenegro has indicated to this Ministry in recent years that its membership has the professional capacities to form professional bodies for all areas of medicine and levels of professional development," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare warns.
The department also emphasizes that they are acting in accordance with the opinions of the Ministry of Health that the competent chambers can form an expert body composed of experts from certain fields, for which equalization of qualifications is requested, if there are experts in the appropriate health field that is the subject of equalization of qualifications.
"If the chambers were to declare themselves incompetent to equalize qualifications in the field of healthcare, this would certainly be in contradiction with Article 142 of the Law on Healthcare, as well as with international practice in this area, where in all countries in the region and beyond, it is the chambers that carry out the equalization of qualifications in the field of healthcare, since these are regulated professions," the department warned. Angel Jakšić Stojanović.
"Vijesti" is in possession of a document from November 2022 in which the Medical Chamber informs the then Minister of Education Miomir Vojinović to “have the professional capacity to form expert bodies for all areas of medicine and levels of professional development” in order to implement the process of equalizing qualifications. By including the Medical Chamber in that process, they announced at the time, “unnecessary litigation would be avoided…”
Chamber: We are an association of doctors, not midwives
The Medical Chamber told "Vijesti" that they have already sent a statement to the Ombudsman regarding the essence of the editorial board's question. They also delivered that statement to the journalist.
They specify that they have received several requests for the equalization of qualifications, which were submitted to them by the Faculty of Medicine, with an accompanying document stating that that university unit does not implement comparable programs, and that they have received instructions from the Ministry of Education and Science to submit the submissions to the Chamber, recognizing it as the professional association competent to act.
"Not recognizing its jurisdiction to act in this specific case, and wishing to contribute to resolving this issue, the Chamber sent a request to the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation on September 30, 2025, to hold a working meeting. Since there was no response to that letter, the Chamber sent an urgent request on October 13, and then a repeated urgent request on October 27, 2025. The meeting was finally held on October 29, 2025, at the premises of the Ministry of Education, and was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education, the Faculty of Medicine and the Chamber," the statement states.
During the meeting, the document states, the Chamber "expressed a clear position that it is a professional association of medical doctors, not midwives, medical laboratory engineers, medical radiologists, radiological technicians and other related profiles, and that acting in this specific case would represent an excess of the Chamber's legal and statutory jurisdiction."
"On that occasion, the Chamber's representatives expressed their willingness to participate in the work of the commission, which would, in accordance with Article 22, paragraph 4 of the Law on the Recognition of Foreign Educational Documents and the Equalization of Qualifications, be formed by the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation. This proposal by the Chamber was approved by representatives of the Faculty of Medicine, but not by the Ministry of Education, which was of the opinion that each subject in the procedure is obliged to declare itself on the requests in question, that is, to issue an appropriate decision approving or rejecting the request," the statement emphasized.
It was specified that about twenty days later, a new meeting took place, which brought together representatives of several chambers in the field of medicine, the ministries of education and health, and the Faculty of Medicine.
"The outcome of this meeting was identical to the outcome of the meeting held at the Ministry of Education, where it was reiterated that all subjects in this procedure are obliged to respond to the submitted requests, that is, to adopt appropriate individual legal acts. Representatives of the Chamber announced on that occasion that they would return all requests they received to the Faculty of Medicine, so that it could issue a decision on rejection with instructions on legal protection, after which the applicants could contact the Medical Chamber, if they believe it is competent, which would adopt appropriate solutions."
The Chamber believes that this would pave the way for applicants, together with the rejection decisions of the Faculty of Medicine and the decisions of the Chamber, to submit a request to the Ministry of Education, which, in accordance with Article 22 of the current Law, could take further steps.
"At the aforementioned meeting, the Chamber representatives were verbally told to stop returning the requests in question within the next seven days. As the aforementioned deadline had expired, the Chamber wrote to the Ministry of Health, reminding them of the aforementioned. This letter was not responded to. Given the aforementioned, the Chamber returned all received documentation to the Faculty of Medicine by mail, along with an accompanying document, calling on the Faculty of Medicine to adopt appropriate solutions in accordance with the Law on Administrative Procedure and the Law on Recognition of Foreign Educational Documents and Equalization of Qualifications," concluded the statement signed by the president Žanka Cerović.
According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", a new round of talks between the relevant institutions regarding this issue is underway.
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