Almost 29 percent of registered general practitioners in Iran are not practicing medicine, according to figures cited by local media, which said the trend highlights waste in training costs and ongoing shortages of medical specialists.

More than 104,000 general practitioners are officially registered, but at least 30,000 are not active in the field, Nour News, an Iranian outlet affiliated with Supreme National Security Council, reported Thursday.

“The number alone demonstrates the loss of educational, financial and human capacity in a country that constantly faces shortages of specialists and unequal access to health services,” the outlet wrote.

It criticized authorities for repeatedly expanding medical school admissions as a response to shortages, arguing this has produced “a surplus of manpower without efficiency.”

Concerns about the lack of specialists have grown in recent years.

Interest in six key specialty fields has declined to the point that “the absence of applicants in these core disciplines will confront Iran’s healthcare system with serious challenges,” Abbasali Reis-Karami, head of Tehran University of Medical Sciences warned in July.