Border-spanning effort - The CDU is pushing for additional medical study positions in Homburg.
They've put forward a plan in a partnership document to increase the number of spots for human medicine at Saarland University in Homburg. The new spots would be given to students who agree to work in Rhineland-Palatinate or Saarland for at least a decade after they graduate.
Saarland took steps in 2020 to ensure a steady supply of general practitioners in under-served areas with a rural doctor quota. Stephan Toscani (57), leader of the Saarland CDU, believes this move was crucial, but more needs to be done. "A closer partnership with Rhineland-Palatinate is the obvious next step," he says.
Gordon Schneider (48), head of the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU parliamentary group, agrees there's an impending shortage of doctors. "We need to train more doctors to prevent this crisis," he states. But to achieve this, Schneider believes collaboration with Saarland is essential. "The clinical training capacities at the University of Mainz are already at capacity."
Alwin Theobald (56), health policy spokesperson for the Saarland CDU parliamentary group, points out that the lack of study places has caused around 8,000 young Germans to pursue their medical education abroad. He emphasizes, "We can't waste any more time, since training to become a doctor takes at least six years."
Interest in studying medicine is continually high, but applications frequently surpass the number of available spots. Schneider's counterpart from Rhineland-Palatinate, Christoph Gensch (55), stresses the urgency, saying "We have to act fast, as it takes at least six years to become a doctor."
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Source: symclub.org
