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3 reasons against the rural doctor quota. There has been a considerable shortage of doctors in Germany for several years now. There are many reasons for this. Hospitals are counteracting this by recruiting specialists from the Abroad come to work here. But the situation is even more dramatic in rural areas. The number of doctors who want to work as GPs in rural areas is extremely low. This, in addition to the already serious shortage of doctors, is a real problem.
How can this problem be solved?
The rural doctor quota
The federal government has come up with a pretty clever idea for this. It is intended to counteract the shortage of doctors in rural areas by offering young people a place at university that does not fulfil the "normal" recording conditions is subject to. But what does that mean in concrete terms?
This means that you can also without an extremely good Abitur you can get a place at university. Unfortunately, the other side of the coin is that you have to commit to actually working in the countryside after your studies.
Around 10% of the study places can be provided by the respective federal state for rural doctor quota applicants. However, the number of places and the admission requirements vary greatly between the federal states. If you would like more detailed information, please have a look here:
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3 reasons against the rural doctor quota
Let's take a closer look at the main arguments against the rural doctor quota. If you are planning to apply via the rural doctor quota, then these 3 reasons should not put you off! However, it is always important to be aware of all the advantages and disadvantages.
1. the contract
Not surprisingly, this is the biggest minus point of the rural doctor quota. Why? Because you commit to working in the countryside for at least 10 years. Let's do the maths: Start studying at the age of 20, start specialising at 27, become a general practitioner at 32, then commit to working in the countryside for 10 years.
The bottom line is that if everything goes well, you would be "free" at 42. The likelihood of giving up your own practice and moving away is rather low. Of course, you could now think "what happens if I don't honour the contract?".
Quite simply, you have to pay up to €250,000 in compensation. After 11 years of study, during which it is difficult to build up such a fortune, this is not normally an option.
2. your specialist has been confirmed
If you talk to doctors or prospective doctors, they report in 90% of cases that their "desired specialism" has changed quite often during the course of their studies. If you wanted to be a trauma surgeon at the beginning, you might realise after a year that operating is not quite so much fun after all and you are more interested in subjects such as radiology or internal medicine.
The probability that a prospective doctor already knows at the beginning of their studies what kind of specialist they will become later is extremely low! So it may well be that you realise during your studies: "I don't want to be a general practitioner at all". But then unfortunately you have a problem, because you have committed yourself to completing further training as a general practitioner.
3. the conditions of admission
This point can be viewed both positively and negatively. At first glance, it seems that you are sure to get a place if you apply for the Landartz quota. And yes, the Admission requirements are actually much less strict.
BUT demand is so high that there is once again an extreme surplus of applicants. In 2020, there were around 685 applicants for 103 places. In relative terms, these are slightly better chances than in the "normal" Admission procedurebut there is still no guarantee that you will get a place at university.
Conclusion
The rural doctor quota is well thought out, but unfortunately these three disadvantages weigh quite heavily. If you still want to apply, you should be 100% sure that you really want to become a general practitioner. The best thing to do 1-2 internships in a practice in the countryside. This is the only way to get a small insight into the everyday life of a country doctor.
Have these three points put you off? No problem. There are plenty of other ways to study medicine! To make it a little easier for you, we have put together all the ways in which you can Numerus Clausus and get a place to study in Germany as quickly as possible.
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