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Polaschek calls for minimum places for medical studies

Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP)

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP) wants to take action against imbalances in the training of doctors and is striving for a European solution. He said at an informal meeting of EU education ministers in Brussels on Friday that Austria offered a disproportionately high number of places. The minister proposed minimum numbers of study places per country. Countries that do not offer enough places would then have to support others financially.

Another option would be to reintroduce the so-called country of origin principle. "This system already existed in the past," says Polaschek. "Before Austria joined the European Union, German students, for example, could only study in Austria if they could also prove that they had a place to study in Germany." However, introducing such a regulation unilaterally is currently not possible under European law.

The same applies to the current quotas: 95 percent of medical study places for EU citizens, 75 percent for people with an Austrian school-leaving certificate. These had been negotiated with the Commission as part of a lengthy procedure and could not be increased unilaterally by Austria.

Quotas also conceivable in other fields of study
The Minister can also imagine an EU regulation in some areas other than human medicine, such as dentistry or veterinary medicine. However, he does not want "a general regulation". "We have a few areas where we have a great need for qualified people in many countries." With regard to countries that offer fewer study places, it is therefore "only fair that these training costs, which naturally arise, are also borne in part by these countries", said Polaschek.

ÖVP Secretary General: Doctors are being "sucked away" from abroad
Support for Polaschek's initiative comes from the ÖVP. Its Secretary General Christian Stocker is also calling for a "professional obligation for trained doctors in Austria". The Austrian Medical Association also welcomes the proposal. "We train more than enough doctors in Austria to meet our own needs," said its President Johannes Steinhart. "But graduates are being 'sucked away' from Germany in particular, where far too few doctors are being trained."