Medically-Related Study Opportunities Abundance Remains Moderate in Thuringia - Thuringia faces a limited capacity in its medical schools.
In a recent evaluation by the CHE (Centre for Higher Education Development), it was revealed that regions with a medical faculty tend to have a higher density of physicians. This trend is significant in light of the ongoing physician shortage. However, Thuringia, a state in eastern Germany, finds itself in a unique position, with a limited capacity in medical study places compared to other German states.
The University of Jena, Thuringia's only state-funded training facility for future physicians, offers 286 study places. Four years ago, the university increased its capacity for medical studies by 10 percent. Yet, compared to states like North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, each with over 2,000 medical study places at multiple university locations, Thuringia's offering appears modest.
The reason for this disparity lies in the smaller and less internationally oriented research and higher education environment in Thuringia. Compared to East German cities like Leipzig or Dresden that boast stronger interdisciplinary research environments and closer ties to technology and business sectors, Thuringia's capital, Erfurt, lacks a large, internationally competitive research landscape. This impacts its ability to expand medical education capacity.
Other East German states or cities, such as Dresden with TU Dresden and Leipzig, have more prominent scientific hotspots with high-tech linkages and interdisciplinary research, which support larger medical faculties and study places. In contrast, Thuringia's relatively smaller research and innovation ecosystem translates into fewer medical study places compared to states with stronger academic medical centers and healthcare industries.
The CHE evaluation, based on data from sources such as the Federal Statistical Office and the German Medical Association, also highlights the University of Greifswald and Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as traditional universities. Interestingly, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has the highest number of medical study places per 1,000 first-year students, at 75, while Thuringia ranks last among federal states that offer state-funded study programs in human medicine, except for Brandenburg and Bremen.
In an effort to address the physician shortage, a preliminary quota for applicants who commit to working in underserved regions of Thuringia for at least ten years after graduation is being prepared. As of 2023, there were 15 medical study places per 1,000 first-year students in Thuringia, while in Saxony, it was about twice as many, and in Saxony-Anhalt, it was three times as many.
While the search results did not provide explicit data on the exact number of medical study places in Thuringia or detailed policy reasons, the comparative context suggests that the scale and focus of academic medicine and biomedical research infrastructure play a key role in limiting the state's capacity. Further research may uncover additional factors influencing this discrepancy.
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