Over my dead body. Instead of enforcing compulsory retention, one should delve into the reasons why people are permanently leaving for abroad (hint: working conditions and salary) and address these issues. There’s nothing wrong with temporarily going abroad for further education and bringing the experience back to Estonia; such behavior is even commendable—why not do it right after graduating from university?

Instead of mandatory work, we could find incentive-based methods to attract people to healthcare. The number of doctors going abroad to work is still marginal, but fewer and fewer students want to study to become doctors. Perhaps it’s no longer as popular to study a field where education takes a long time, the responsibility is great, and the salary is quite low considering all this. It is unfair that students in other fields do not face such restrictions—this could further reduce the popularity of medical studies. Instead, I would suggest planning a forward-looking healthcare system—how, where, and what kinds of specialists are needed, and how to do this in the smartest way given our resources.

Speaking of medical care in rural areas, this could be effectively addressed with a salary coefficient—why should a young doctor even consider going to Finland if they can earn significantly more in their own rural area in Estonia than in the cities?