Medical studies in Germany

During the past years I have been receiving a steady flow of inquiries regarding the options for foreigners to study “MBBS” at German universities. I am setting “MBBS” in quotation marks because Germany, like most countries outside the Commonwealth, does not know an MBBS or bachelor-level medical degree. In the US, for example, you have to complete a bachelor degree first (usually in the natural sciences) before you are eligible to join medical school, which awards you an advanced degree.

Germany and, for that matter, the other countries of continental Europe have their own traditions of medical education. Most of them have never introduced the bachelor / master pattern for medical studies and are not planning to do so in the near future. Few countries – for understandable reasons – want to leave the training of future doctors in the hands of university committees or local examiners. Centralised state exams and country-wide approbation procedures for medical practitioners are, therefore, the rule.

There are no bachelor or master degrees for applied medicine in Germany; however, there is a medical doctorate. In contrast to some other countries (like the US), students in Germany can join medical school directly after finishing their senior high school (i.e. after 12, previously 13 years) – assuming their excellent marks make them eligible. Applicants from outside the EU usually have to attend a one-year "bridge course" (so-called “M-Kurs”), which is offered by selected universities to close the gap between the German senior high school certificate ("Abitur") and the school-leaving certificates of other countries.

Medical training in Germany takes a minimum of six years, including two pre-clinical, three clinical and one practice year as an assistant doctor. The good news is: There is a quota for international medical students at German universities (roughly 8 percent of all seats) and fees are not higher than for other subjects. So, medical studies in Germany are quite affordable compared to most other countries. The bad news is: Medical education is fully taught in German language.

So, before anybody starts thinking about studying medicine in Germany, the first question should be whether she or he is willing to invest considerable time and energy into learning this not-too-easy language. Many have done it, and the rewards are considerable. The standard of medical education in Germany is high (just like that of medical technology), and German-trained doctors are welcome wherever they go. Apart from that, German medical degrees have also been among the first to be recognised in India. For those wanting to stay on after their studies, ample opportunities are waiting. Germany has a rapidly aging population, and some parts of the country are already experiencing a shortage of young doctors.

Chris

germanstudycentre@gmail.com

Indian students still a tiny minority

Roughly 5,000 Indian nationals are presently studying at German universities. What may sound a lot, is actually very little. The numbers of students from other take-off countries like China, Russia and Turkey are in the five-digit range. Considering the fact that Indians make up a meager 2 percent of Germany's international student population of approximately 250,000, Stefan Weckbach, German Consul-General in Chennai, sounds overly optimistic when he told the Indian daily "The Hindu" that "Germany is a sought-after destination for higher learning" in India. In this context it has to be said that the German consular representations in India have often not been very encouraging, to put it mildly, in their dealings with study applicants from the subcontinent. No wonder then that many promising candidates, supported by their English fluency, have looked for greener pastures elsewhere...

From other parts of the world, students continue to flock in steadily growing numbers to Europe's economic powerhouse. Up till now, Germany has withstood the European debt crisis quite well, which is reflected in strong domestic demand and a buoyant job market. Many academics in India, who - for understandable reasons - have traditionally been oriented towards the English-speaking world, will probably be surprised to hear that Germany has the most internationalised student population of all countries. According to Prashasti Rastogi, DAAD representative in New Delhi, 12 percent of all students at German universities are foreign nationals. Whether India can keep up with its main competitors in the developing world like China and Brazil will also depend on the country's ability to better tap Germany's high-tech potential in the future and to send more of the best students there for an advanced research-oriented education.

Chris
germanstudycentre@gmail.com        

German students go “east”

No, when students in Cologne, Hamburg or Munich jokingly talk about the “Far East”, they do not refer to China, Japan or Korea. What they mean is the eastern part of present-day Germany which – before the Wall came down – used to be a somewhat remote and inaccessible place for most West Germans. These times are long past, and many regions of the former German Democratic Republic have become outright “tiger states”.

Dresden, Leipzig and Magdeburg – to mention just a few – are some of the East German cities that have developed very dynamically during the last decade. The eastern part of Germany can boast of some of the oldest and most highly reputed universities of the country.The quality of education and research was generally very good under communist rule but much of the physical infratructure was outdated and in need of repair.

Since unification the government has invested billions into the modernisation of East German universities. Some, like the one in Leipzig, have received full new campuses. Others were equipped with state-of-the-art libraries, laboratories and computer centres. The housing situation for students has always been better in East than in West Germany, where the government depended too much on the private market. The student hostels from communist times by now have all been modernised and offer accommodation which is both comfortable and affordable.

More and more young people from West Germany are deciding “to go East” for higher studies, being tired of overcrowded lecture halls, poor professor-student ratios and expensive housing in some West German cities. It is a well-known fact that many universities in the East offer a better support infrastructure for international students (like pick-up services or mentor programmes) than their West German counterparts, making them particularly attractive not only for West German “migrants” but also for their fellow students from around the world. 

Nevertheless, some international students, especially from outside Europe, are still wary about studying in the eastern states of Germany, having heard about instances of racist violence. In fact, during the early 1990s some parts of East Germany seemed to be turning into “no-go areas” for foreign-looking people. Fortunately, this trend has been stopped by a combination of awareness building and strict law inforcement. Nowadays, there is little that international students have to be afraid of. Public security is generally very good throughtout Germany, day and night.

If you wish to know how higher education in Germany (both East and West) is marketed by the government today, visit the following link and watch the video (in German with English subtitles):

http://chronicle.com/academicDestinationArticle/Discover-Your-Germany/43/?otd=Y2xpY2t0aHJ1Ojo6YWRobHZpZGVvOjo6YWQ6Z2VybWFueSxhcnRpY2xlOmdlcm1hbnktdG9wcy1nbG9iYWwtZ2F1Z2U6OjphZDpnZXJtYW55LGFydGljbGU6ZGlzY292ZXIteW91ci1nZXJtYW55

Chris

germanstudycentre@gmail.com

German universities on internationalisation path

The new president of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Prof. Margret Wintermantel, plans to give an additional boost to the international attractivness of German universities. Those institutions that are prepared to develop new internationally oriented study programmes and, therefore, are particularly successful in attracting foreign students will be provided with additional funds.

Wintermantel seeks to further increase the number of international students in Germany from the current number of 245,000 to 300,000 by the end of the decade. "Winning over foreign students is how we will make friends and partners for the future. What is more, if we fail to increase the number of international students in Germany, we will be unable to maintain our academic system’s excellence in light of demographic changes." The DAAD President pointed out that to attract the best students to Germany would also require making university admissions more straightforward and more flexible and better oriented towards the students’ individual qualifications.

Prof. Margret Wintermantel is former president of Saarland University, one of Germany’s most internationalised institutions of higher education.

Chris
germanstudycentre@gmail.com

(Source: http://www.daad.de/portrait/presse/pressemitteilungen/2012/19484.en.html)

New visa regulations for Indian students

In order to be eligible for a student residence permit in Germany, international students have to prove that they are financially sound enough to finance their stay in the country. At present an amount of roughly 8,000 EUR is considered necessary to cover a student’s living expenses for one year.

Many Indian students from middle-class families opt for educational loans to finance their overseas studies. Previously the German consular authorities in India considered a loan sanction letter from an Indian bank as sufficient to fulfill the visa requirement. Alternatively, proof of a substantial savings account or term deposit was also accepted. When leaving India for Germany, the student had to carry a corresponding demand draft (DD) from his or her bank that could be cashed upon arrival.

Evidence, however, has shown that many Indian students do actually not use this money for their needs but send it back to India as soon as possible in order to save interest on their loans. Hard-pressed for funds, they then end up in a tight corner, having to look for part-time jobs (which are difficult to come by without German language skills) and neglecting their studies.

To remedy this situation, some German consulates in India are making it mandatory for all Indian students to open an account with a German bank at the time of applying for their visa. Required is a so-called “blocked account” which limits the amount of money that can be withdrawn in a certain period of time, thereby, making easy re-transfer of funds to India impossible. Before the student leaves India, the fixed sum of money for the first year has to be paid into the account.

This should not be considered a discriminatory practice. It has long been a standard requirement for students from many other Asian and African countries. There are also advantages for the student: Up till now, many of them had to wait for weeks until the German banks were finally able to cash their DDs. With a blocked account, there is usually immediate access to the money – in a limited amount, though.

Chris
germanstudycentre@gmail.com

Germany faces shortage of skilled labour

In many countries unemployed youth queuing up in front of labour offices is a common sight. Not so in Germany. The country increasingly faces the opposite problem - a shortage of qualified young people willing to take up the occupational challenge in one of the world`s most advanced economies.

According to a recent report in Germany's most popular news magazine "Der Spiegel", experts are warning that the shortage of skilled labour could become an increasingly serious threat to Germany's economy in years to come. Companies in certain industrial sectors are already struggling to fill vacant positions. Demographic developments will only make that worse, as the German population ages and the labor force shrinks.

The government is now debating to ease immigration regulations for highly qualified professionals from non-EU countries even further in order to allow German companies to employ foreign specialists. Earlier this year, a consortium of German foundations and charities set up a cross-party commission to look at the problem. The commission is headed by Armin Laschet, former state integration minister for North Rhine-Westphalia, and former German Defense Minister Peter Struck. Laschet told "Der Spiegel" that "we need to campaign around the world to attract the best minds. That effort already begins, incidentally, with our embassies, consulates and chambers of commerce located abroad."

The commission wants the government to lower bureaucratic hurdles so that companies can hire skilled workers from abroad more easily. In addition, it asks for measures that will make it more straightforward for foreign students to work in Germany and stay in the country after graduation. As of now, non-EU graduates of German university are granted one extra year to find a suitable job in order to obtain a five-year work and residence permit.

Chris
germanstudycentre@gmail.com

Germany’s high-tech state abolishes tuition fees

The German federal state of Baden-Württemberg is home to cutting-edge multinationals like Daimler Benz, Bosch and SAP. It also houses many of Germany’s most higly reputed and competitive universities, some of them several hundred years old and playing in the league of Cambridge and Harvard.

Until this year domestic and international students had to pay 1,000 EUR of tuition years per anno, apart from the usual enrollment fees of around 300 EUR. The new Green / Social Democratic coalition government of the state, recently elected in a landslide victory, has now fullfilled one of its promises voiced during the election campaign and abolished tuition fees from the coming year onwards.

Starting from 2012 you can study in one of the world’s most technologically advanced regions for – literally – peanuts. At least, when it comes to fees. Living expenses, of course, remain a burden on your wallet. You need at least 8,000 EUR per year to survive in the home of Benz and Bosch.

For an overview of current tuition fees in all German federal states please visit the following link (in English):
http://www.studis-online.de/StudInfo/Gebuehren/tuition_fees.php

Chris
germanstudycentre@gmail.com