Over 3,000 graduates will be eligible to participate in residency placement in 2026

Preparations have begun for the 2026 placement of medical higher education institution graduates into residencies.

Currently, more than 3,000 future doctors will be able to participate in the rating-based placement. Specifically, this includes over 2,900 state-funded students, with the remainder being contract-based students applying for state-funded internship positions.

For the second consecutive year, graduates are being placed into residency through an electronic system (ESRDI) — a digital platform created to make this process transparent and understandable.

The e-system automates residency placement and support. It:

• collects data on graduates' academic performance;
• automatically calculates the competitive score;
• generates a nationwide ranking;
• places students according to their rank;
• stores data on residency completion;
• generates electronic documents;
• provides digital support throughout the entire resident training process.

Electronic placement minimises the human factor, preventing external influence on the results. The automatic calculation of the competitive score to a precision of 0.00001 allows for the accurate and transparent generation of the graduates' academic performance ranking.

Every graduate of a higher medical education institution can choose their desired vacancy and speciality for their residency in any region of Ukraine, according to their position in the ranking.

The placement system is integrated with the Unified Vacancies Web Portal of the Ministry of Health. Thanks to this, residents complete their practical training in positions that are actually needed by medical facilities.

In 2026, the main phase of the placement will cover graduates in the following specialities:

• "Medicine";
• "Paediatrics";
• "Medical Psychology".

If they wish, graduates in the following specialities can also participate in the placement:

• "Dentistry";
• "Pharmacy".

Key phases of the 2026 placement

• By 30 May — medical facilities submit vacancies to the Unified Vacancies Web Portal.
• By 15 June — universities upload graduates' academic performance data to the ESRDI.
• 16–23 June — registration of graduates and creation of their personal electronic accounts in the placement e-system.
• 24 June — automatic generation of the competitive ranking in the system.
• 25 June – 1 July — graduates submit placement applications.
• 3 July — automatic rating-based placement and generation of referrals for residency completion.
• 6–10 July — second wave of placement for those who did not receive a spot.
• By 20 July — submission of documents for enrolment at a healthcare facility to undergo the practical part of the residency.
• 1 August — start of the practical part of the residency.
• By 10 August — submission of documents for enrolment at a higher education institution to undergo the theoretical part of the residency.
• 1 September — start of the theoretical part of the training.

As a reminder, placement into residency via the electronic system was first implemented in 2025. During its main wave, 2,738 graduates secured state-funded spots.

The electronic system for rating-based distribution to medical residency was created by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the Ministry of Digital Transformation on the Diia.Engine platform, supported by Swiss-Ukrainian EGAP Program, implemented by East Europe Foundation.