Scottish drive to recruit non EU medical staff
The government hopes it will offset the effect of Brexit on employment figures.
Campaigns to recruit medical and nursing staff from outside the EU to work in Scotland's NHS will be launched later this year.
The Scottish Government is planning the global recruitment drive to offset the forecast impact of Brexit.
The announcement, made by Health Secretary Shona Robison at the annual NHS Scotland event in Glasgow, comes days after the Home Office announced medics from outside the EU would be excluded from the UK Government's cap on skilled migration.
She said there are "issues with vacancies'' across Scotland and EU staff are currently filling in hard to recruit posts.
The latest figures show long-term vacancies in NHS Scotland rose by more than 20% for consultants, nurses and midwives between March 31, 2017 and the same date this year.
Ms Robison said: "Scotland's NHS benefits enormously from the contribution made by staff from outside Scotland.
"We know there are issues with vacancies across Scotland. The current system of free movement allows skilled, experienced health professionals from across the EU to work in our NHS, filling vacancies in hard to recruit specialisms or in parts of the country with staffing challenges.
"Brexit is already impacting on this, so we are taking action now to try and mitigate against the damage from Brexit on our health and care workforce.
"Our message to our staff from the EU is simple - we value our contribution to our NHS and our nation, and we want you to stay.''
She added: "It is welcome that the UK Government has finally listened to our repeated calls to relax the visa regulations for vital, highly skilled international medical and nursing staff.
"We have already committed to recruitment campaigns for nursing, midwifery, social care and GPs this year.
"So we will now expand international recruitment activity further and focus on specialties and professional groups which have recruitment challenges and are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of EU withdrawal.'