Federal Health Minister Linnemann wants to speed up the recognition of foreign doctors

Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) wants to speed up the admission of foreign doctors and pharmacists. This should be made possible by a corresponding regulation, which is due to come into force in November, as Spiegel reports. "If you want to attract skilled workers to the health system, you shouldn't be slowed down by bureaucracy," said the CDU politician. “We are therefore simplifying the recognition of foreign qualifications for doctors, dentists, pharmacists and midwives and creating uniform nationwide requirements.”

The measures include that in the future authorities will have to accept documents in English and the procedures should run digitally. “The professionals, our healthcare system and, above all, the patients benefit from this,” said Linnemann.

Anyone who has started training to become a doctor or pharmacist abroad should, in exceptional cases, be able to continue and complete it in Germany. This will make it easier for skilled workers from Ukraine to get approval.

Linnemann's regulation supplements a law that has already been passed to accelerate the recognition process for foreign professional qualifications in the medical professions. The Federal Council is scheduled to deal with the regulation on October 16th.

Shortage of doctors in Germany

The Central Institute for Statutory Health Insurance estimates that there will be a shortage of around 50,000 doctors in Germany by 2040, especially in rural areas. According to a survey by DAK Gesundheit, more than a third of Germans experience a shortage of doctors in their region.