TITLE:
What Contribution Can Doctors Trained in Romania Bring in Order to Remedy the Medical Deficit in Germany? Comparison of Medical Studies and Specialist Training between Romania, Germany, and Poland, Using as an Example the Fields of Internal Medicine, General Medicine, and Anesthesia
AUTHORS:
Anamaria Cudalb, Ursula Gresser
KEYWORDS:
Medical Education, Medical Studies, Specialist Medical Training, Romanian Physicians, Shortage of Physicians
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.11 No.11,
November
27,
2020
ABSTRACT: Aim: The growing shortage of doctors in Germany is a
subject that is currently well documented in the mass media. The fields with
the biggest deficits are internal medicine, general medicine, and anesthesia.
One of the measures to correct this problem is employing doctors who have
studied abroad. The objective of this study is to assess the extent to which
the deficit of trained medics in Germany can be amended with doctors trained in
Romania and Poland. Subject and methods: A very good overview of this
phenomenon was acquired by putting together a compilation of the educational
process which leads to graduating as a medical doctor in Romania, Poland and Germany, the available literature regarding doctors migration and the annual statistical data provided by the German Medical
Association. The study included processing the data obtained through two
self-made questionnaires addressed to Romanian doctors. The first, with 129
respondents, was addressed to physicians who studied in Romania and were
already working in Germany. The second, with 59 respondents, was addressed to
Romanian students who wish to come and work in Germany. Results: The results of
the Romanian survey were compared with similar studies carried out in Poland,
revealing great similarities between the selected groups in training,
motivation, way of thinking and perceptions of working conditions. The resulting graphics and figures provide a
visual representation of the phenomenon, strengthening the conclusion.
Discussion and conclusion: Taking into account the aging population in Germany,
the increasing numbers of females in the medical profession, the growing trend
of part-time work, the difficult medicine admission process and the unabated emigration of German doctors to
the US, UK, Austria, and Switzerland, it is safe to conclude that Germany needs
foreign-trained doctors. It became evident that not all the information
regarding the training process in the three studied countries completely
overlaps. There were also discrepancies between what is documented and the
actual numbers of completed procedures that are required in order to complete the training. When taking
all of this into account, the question this paper set to answer was positively
answered, proof of which is the growing percentage of Polish and Romanian
trained doctors working in Germany.