The Ministry of Public Health, together with the Instituto Dominicano de Seguro Social (IDSS) and the Armed Forces, have decided not to allow residents working towards specialists’ qualifications to graduate as they were not able to complete their studies and training during the six-month doctors’ strike in both the public and IDSS hospitals that only ended last month. As the academic schedule was affected by the work stoppage (30 October-1 May in public hospitals, 30 October-7 June in those of IDSS), only two months of study and field work was completed which, according to the Ministry of Public Health, makes it impossible for the residents to graduate in good faith. Both the IDSS and the Ministry of Public Health admitted that in the past the pressure had been applied by the Asociación Médica Dominicana (AMD) to graduate specialists who had not fulfilled the minimum requirements.