The Government announced measures following the irregularities in the residency exam.

The Government of Javier Milei, through the National Ministry of Health, led by Mario Lugones, together with the Undersecretary of University Policies, Alejandro Álvarez, announced a series of measures aimed at ensuring transparency and fairness in the admission to medical residencies, after serious irregularities were detected in the results of the Unified Exam held last July 1.

In a post on his X account, Lugones stated: “We are not going to allow health care to be in the hands of professionals who are not up to the task. That's why, together with Alejandro Álvarez, Undersecretary of University Policies, we established clear criteria to evaluate academic consistency and ensure that admission is fair, transparent, and merit-based.”

Additionally, the Minister of Health published a video revealing information and announcing the measures that will be taken. According to the preliminary data presented, more than 100 applicants will have to retake the exam, most of them graduates of foreign universities. In contrast, 95% of professionals trained at Argentine universities will not have to repeat the evaluation.

Among the proposals put forward by the Ministry, a new validation criterion for high scores stood out, which includes the review of the institutional academic record and the international recognition of the home institutions, in accordance with the standards of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).

However, this initiative was not supported by the health authorities of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) or the province of Buenos Aires (PBA), who expressed at the meeting of the Committee of Experts their disagreement with using institutional criteria. Both jurisdictions agreed to evaluate only the grade obtained in the exam, even though many copied, and the individual average of each applicant.

Given the lack of interjurisdictional consensus, the Ministry decided to move forward with the creation of a new National Evaluation Committee, which will be tasked with thoroughly reviewing the 268 cases of applicants with high scores.

According to the Ministry of Health, the objective is to reward merit and real effort, avoiding the validation of results that do not reflect solid academic training. The initiative seeks to shield the process against possible fraud and establish clear, demanding, and objective rules that restore confidence in the mechanisms for admission to medical residencies.

The Ministry clarified that the current schedule will not be modified, and that individual notifications, as well as any possible reevaluation instances, will be governed by current regulations.

The decision represents a firm step by Milei's Government to reinforce standards in medical training and ensure that those who access positions in the Argentine health system are truly prepared to practice with responsibility, ethics, and competence.