The German healthcare system is becoming more international and more and more foreign-trained employees are working in Berlin. The number of non-German citizens allowed to practice medicine in Berlin is also increasing.

While five years ago 311 licenses were granted to foreign-trained doctors, in 2022 there were already 438. The information comes from the response of State Secretary for Health Thomas Götz (Greens) to a question of the CDU deputy Adrian Grasse, which is available to the Tagesspiegel in advance.

The National Office for Health and Social Affairs (Lageso) is responsible for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications in medicine. As it became known in the summer of 2022, most applications for medical licenses came from Syrians, Turks, Egyptians, Ukrainians and Russians. These nations are also ahead in the number of permits actually granted.

The top ten positions on the Lageso list: 30 foreign doctors newly admitted to Berlin last year came from Turkey and Austria, 22 from Syria and Russia, 21 from Greece, 16 from Romania and Italy, 15 from Egypt, 14 from Hungary, 13 from Poland and Iran, 12 from Ukraine, 11 from Libya and Bulgaria and 10 from India. After obtaining their license to practice medicine, doctors work in clinics, practices or companies.

It is known in the profession that Ukrainian doctors in particular are currently awaiting approval. “Many doctors who have fled Ukraine bring with them excellent professional training from their home countries,” said Grasse, a CDU man. “In addition to speeding up training recognition procedures, interim opportunities for assistants in medical practices should also be created and communicated.”

Foreign doctors placed on hold cannot attend a practice without further formalities, even if the resident doctor undertakes to supervise them. Language requirements are considered difficult, to obtain a license to practice medicine you must have passed the Berlin Medical Association’s specialist language test at level C 1. A total of 34,500 doctors have recently been licensed in Berlin, including nearly 25,000 employees; about ten percent are foreign nationals.

The fact that the barriers to admission are considered high should obviously not lead to abandonment of applicants – State Secretary Götz writes: “A maximum processing time for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications is not specified by law, in particular because applications should not be rejected after a deadline has expired, if not all documents have been submitted or if the required language skills are not yet available and have not been proven. “

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