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Third Class of Doctors Receive Officer Insignia at Military Medical Academy

Diana Dukovska
Third Class of Doctors Receive Officer Insignia at Military Medical Academy
Third Class of Doctors Receive Officer Insignia at Military Medical Academy
Eighteen cadets of the Class of 2025 receive their officer insignia at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia, October 18, 2025 (Photo: Military Medical Academy)
Sofia,  
18.10.2025 17:14
 (BTA)

Eighteen cadets from the third class of the Military Doctor Programme were commissioned as lieutenants at a ceremony at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia on Saturday. The programme was launched in 2017 jointly by the Military Medical Academy, the Naval Academy in Varna and the Medical University - Varna.

The event was attended by President Rumen Radev, Commander-in-Chief of the Bulgarian Armed Forces; Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov; the Chief of Defence, Admiral Emil Eftimov; Major General Ventsislav Mutafchiyski, Director of the Military Medical Academy; and representatives of military structures.

President Radev told the cadets that their specialization was created at a time when no one in Europe expected a full-scale war to break out on the continent, when thousands of lives would be lost and there would be a severe shortage of military medical personnel. He described the initiative to launch this programme as a foresighted decision which has strengthened Bulgaria's military medical capabilities.

Defence Minister Zapryanov said the government is making every effort to prioritize military development and the strengthening of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The number of candidates for service and for enrolment in military schools has soared after a 30% pay rise for servicepeople and an increase in grants for training at higher military education institutions this year. He added that if all ongoing projects and those set to start under the EU's SAFE mechanism are implemented, Bulgaria's Armed Forces will be qualitatively different by the end of 2030 compared with their current state.

Major General Mutafchiyski said that with the third class now being deployed to the troops, the programme has established a tradition that offers hope for the development of military medicine. "On this solemn day, you are not simply receiving your diplomas and insignia, but also responsibility and a place in the history of the Military Medical Academy. You have earned it, for you have gone through a rigorous training unmatched by any other medical students in Bulgaria," he said.

The top graduate of the class begins work at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia, while the others are assigned to military units across the country. All of them will have the opportunity to specialize at the Academy. Priority specialities include surgery, orthopaedics and traumatology, anaesthesiology and intensive care, psychiatry, plastic and reconstructive surgery and burns, virology, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, and epidemiology.

/DD/

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