ÖVP health spokesman: Structured dialogue at EU level will benefit our health system in the long term
Vienna (OTS) – “Austria is one of the most attractive study and university locations for international students in the EU, especially in medical subjects. However, many graduates from the fields of medicine, psychology or dentistry then return to their home country. This is what happens in our country to serious personnel shortages in the health system,” said ÖVP health spokesman Abg. Josef Smolle, who therefore welcomes the structured dialogue about this “asymmetrical mobility” called for by Education Minister Martin Polaschek. Measures such as an EU-wide definition of minimum study places per EU member state or a country of origin principle, i.e. only those EU citizens who also have access to one in their home country, receive a study place in Austria.
In 2019, the proportion of international students in Austria was 21 percent. That’s more than one in five students at a university in Austria. The highest level of newly admitted international first-year students was 41.4 percent in the 2023/24 winter semester. “Even if the promotion of student mobility is a basic requirement for an open European higher education area and Austria trains a disproportionately large number of doctors compared to the population, a solution should be found for this strong demand for studies from abroad,” Smolle is convinced. He justifies this, among other things, with the displacement effects caused by the numerus clausus regulation in Germany in human medicine, dentistry, psychology, veterinary medicine and, in the future, probably also in psychotherapy. “A third of the approximately 12,000 participants in the medical entrance test come from the European Union, primarily from Germany, and only just under two thirds come from Austria.”
This asymmetric mobility – that is, the fact that a disproportionately large number of foreign students complete their entire studies in a host country and then emigrate again – is not a specific situation between Austria and Germany, but also affects Belgium and France and other European countries with a common language and relatively open higher education systems. “For this reason, it is important to start this dialogue at the European level. This would also relieve the high pressure on the health system, caused for example by retirements or the desire for a better work-life balance,” concluded the health spokesman. (Ending)
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