It's understood that Germany faces a major shortage of doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and midwives among other skilled professionals.
Despite the clear need to increase the number of doctors and other medical professionals, the current system in Germany for recognising foreign qualifications remains complex and slow.
To address this challenge, the federal cabinet approved draft legislation on Wednesday proposed by Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) to accelerate the recognition of professional qualifications for foreign healthcare workers.
The new draft law aims to standardise and digitise recognition procedures across federal states. It specifically targets doctors, dentists, pharmacists and midwives.
If the draft law were to be approved by the Bundestag and Bundesrat, it should significantly speed up the approval process for foreign medical professionals who seek to work in Germany.
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Direct knowledge testing
At present, foreign medical professionals undergo detailed equivalence assessments comparing their foreign degrees and training against German standards before they can begin working in Germany – a process which can be costly and take months or even years.
In future, these document-based equivalence assessments will be replaced with "direct knowledge testing" (in other words, a practical test).
READ ALSO: Germany recognises record number of foreign qualifications
Midwives are also set to benefit from further simplifications. In future, they will be able to choose to waive document-based assessments entirely and either take knowledge tests or complete adaptation courses.
These changes, intended to reduce the administrative burden on applicants and authorities, are also expected to save nearly €16 million a year.
Digitisation
The draft law allows for the electronic transmission of documents and data exchange between authorities, replacing previously mandatory paper submissions.
Additionally, the law introduces legal provisions to enable the federal states to coordinate regarding licencing procedures, which should streamline cross-state recognition.
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In 2024, the number of foreign doctors working in Germany reached a record 68,000 – an increase of nearly seven percent on 2023, according to the German Medical Association. This figure translates to more than 15 percent of all doctors in the country.
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