The Bulgarian Medical Union (BMU) is giving out its "Doctor of the Year" award tonight to mark its 125th anniversary, the union said. Bulgarian Doctor's Day has been marked since 1996, when the BMU chose a patron for doctors.

The awards go to doctors for professional achievements, contributions to medicine, new methods of diagnosis and treatment, and for raising the standing of the profession. Prof Nikolay Gabrovski won the award in 2025.

Tonight's prizes cover four categories: "You Are Our Future", "Contribution to the Development and Standing of the Professional Organisation", "Contribution to the Development and Use of Innovative Medicine and Unique Techniques" and "Long Service in Medicine and Active Contribution to the Development of a Specialty". There are also two special awards: "For Contribution and Service to the Medical Profession – 125 Years of the BMU" and the Dr Stefan Cherkezov award for medical dedication and ethics.

The union traces its roots to 12 March 1878, when Dr Stoyko Yurdanov wrote from Turnu Severin to Dr Ivan Slavkov, a doctor in Tarnovo. He asked for a medical society that would bring doctors together and add to their knowledge.

In 1880, Dr Dimitar Mollov set up the "Physical and Medical Society" in Sofia. Medical societies later appeared in Varna, Ruse, Plovdiv and other cities.

The Plovdiv Medical Society started the 1901 merger of 14 medical groups. The first doctors' congress that year laid the foundations of the BMU, and Dr Mollov became its first chairman. The BMU is the world's second professional body of doctors.

In 1947 the communist authorities shut down the union and seized its property. Activists were persecuted and the independent representation of doctors ended. The BMU says doctors have worked in a different social and professional setting since then: a free organisation was replaced by a state-run system, and the profession has had no independent institutional voice. The union calls 1947 one of the hardest turning points in the history of the profession.

Private medical practice was banned for good in 1971. After the democratic changes of 1989, work to rebuild the BMU began almost at once. In early 1990 the 27th restoration congress elected Prof Ivan Kirov as chairman. Two years later the surgeon Dr Dimitar Ignatov took over and led the union for a decade.

The 1999 Law on the Professional Organisations of Doctors and Dentists made the BMU the official legal successor of the 1901 organisation. The law made membership compulsory. It also gave the union duties on professional ethics and a role in drafting the National Framework Contract.

The National Health Information System, whose data the BMU cites, shows Bulgaria had 34,753 doctors as of 16 October 2026. Of these, 24,183 have a specialty, most often in internal medicine, general practice and paediatrics.

The largest age group is 60 to 64, with 5,045 doctors, followed by those aged 65 to 69, with 4,964. There are 45 doctors aged 90 to 94, and 86 aged 20 to 24.

Women make up 57% of doctors and men 43%. The average age of all doctors is 54.5, and of GPs 61.9.