Figures from the Brandenburg Health Ministry in Potsdam have revealed that one-fifth of doctors practising in the federal state are non-Germans.

Every fifth Brandenburg doctor is foreign-born

According to figures published by the Health Ministry in Potsdam in response to a parliamentary question by the Brandenburg branch of the Alternative für Deutschland, one in five doctors practising in the federal state are non-German.

Of the 10.120 doctors registered with the State Doctors’ Council (Landesärztekammer) and practising in Brandenburg at the end of 2024, 2.043 (18,9 percent) did not have German citizenship. 1.265 of these doctors had a non-EU passport, with Syrian, Russian and Turkish professionals making up the largest nationality groups of non-EU citizens working as doctors in Brandenburg.

The figures reveal a slow rise in the number of foreign-born employees working as doctors in the eastern federal state. 10 years ago, 10,2 percent of the 9.233 doctors registered with the Brandenburg Doctors’ Council were non-German.

But the increase in foreign-born doctors taking up positions in Brandenburg amounts to a drop in the ocean amid Germany’s broader medical worker shortage. According to a recent study by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Labour at the German Economic Institute (IW), nationwide around 47.400 vacant jobs in healthcare went unfilled in 2023 / 2024 due to a lack of suitably qualified applicants.

Doctors face long waiting times to have qualifications recognised

The statistics from the IW show that medicine and care work are the sectors worst hit by Germany’s record-high worker shortage. This is partly because international medical professionals must have their qualifications recognised in Germany before they can begin practising, and processing times are long.

The qualification recognition process takes around four months for EU, EEC or Swiss citizens, but for all other non-EU nationals, it can take between one and a half and two years. 

Applicants must first send their documents to the state examination office (Landesprüfungsamt), approved qualifications are then forwarded to the assessment centre (Gutachtenstelle), before they can take an examination to prove their medical knowledge (Kenntnisprüfung) and complete a specialised German language test for medical workers (Fachsprachprüfung).

According to a report by ARD, newcomers are faced with long waiting times for appointments to take their Kenntnisprüfung and Frachsprachprüfung, which is delaying the entire qualification recognition process.

Speaking to the German public broadcaster, several medical professionals explained that it is nigh impossible to contact the relevant authorities to receive updates about processing times and applicants often become frustrated and have mental health struggles as a result of waiting so long without being able to practise.

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