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Many Germans decide to study medicine abroad – despite the high tuition fees (symbolic image)
Photo: The Good Brigade / Getty Images
Despite the shortage of skilled workers in the medical field, many interested people cannot study in Germany. Human medicine is one of the most popular subjects and has nationwide admission restrictions, usually with an NC of 1.0 to 1.2. That's why many people are looking for opportunities abroad - at least 7,500 Germans are currently studying medicine there. This is shown by the “CHECK medical studies in Europe” evaluation by the CHE Center for University Development.
This corresponds to a proportion of at least eight percent of all German medical students, meaning one in twelve is abroad. The number is an estimate by the CHE experts based on data from the Federal Statistical Office. According to the CHE, it is not possible to calculate the total number of German medical students abroad because the numbers for some countries such as Italy or Bulgaria are not available.
Foreign countries are popular – but expensive
Austria and Hungary are among the most popular countries; in 2021, over 2,000 German students were enrolled in a medical course there. This was followed by Poland with almost 900 and the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Lithuania with around 400 students.
Compared to Germany, tuition fees are high everywhere and range from around 3,000 euros to almost 30,000 euros per academic year. With a study period of an average of six years, this amounts to up to 180,000 euros for tuition fees alone, according to the publication.
The language of study for most international medical courses in Southeast Europe is English; you can study in German in Hungary or Croatia, for example. According to the CHE, you usually only have to master the national language for clinical training at the end of your studies.
No figures on the return rate
The CHE found in the evaluation that there is almost no data on where German students go after they graduate. It is not known how many potential doctors Germany loses due to studying abroad.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called for around 5,000 additional medical study places in Germany in 2023 in order to cover the need for doctors in the long term. Some federal states, such as North Rhine-Westphalia or Saxony-Anhalt, offer those interested a place to study medicine if they commit to later working as a family doctor in rural regions for a certain period of time.
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