There are currently 56 German dentistry and 650 general medicine students studying at our School. With the two new collaborations recently established for the German-language medical and dental training, another 17 German students can gain admission and support from the next academic year. Professor Péter Than, Chairman of the German Program Committee, told us about the significance of the new agreements.
Written by Rita Schweier
"The German-language training has a solemn tradition at our School. We must remember Professor Róbert Ohmacht, who played a major role in it, and dr. Balázs Sümegi, who launched and embraced the program as a former dean. Our work is based on their activities, constantly adapting to the changes in our environment. The situation of self-funded, foreign-language training in Hungary has changed in Europe in recent years. We have serious competition in the eastern region, but the number of opportunities for students to choose from private universities is also growing in Germany and Austria, which is the greatest challenge for us right now. As these places have mostly English-language training and we teach in German during the entire training, we have managed to maintain our advantage, but the amount of tuition fees also confirms the competitive situation. There are cheaper training opportunities in Eastern Europe than ours," said dr. Péter Than, adding that the German Program is now a well-established educational and administrative system that only needs minor adjustments from time to time.
According to the German Program Committee chairman, the number of applicants has decreased slightly in Hungary in the last few years. The reason is unknown; the pandemic may have contributed to it, and the conditions for getting admitted to medical training in Germany have been simplified. In the current situation, they must strive for stable collaborations. Their partners provide training to students through the education of the Medical School in Pécs, which has a strong reputation in Germany today. The candidates they select and sponsor will return home to carry out a specific task. The driving force behind this is the shortage of physicians in Germany, which is especially noticeable in smaller, rural towns.
A great example of collaboration is the agreement with the Saxonian association of general practitioners, which has been active for eight years. Two years ago, the Saxonian Ministry of Health also joined the collaboration, and they admit forty students to the German Program every year. According to Dr. Péter Than, this is a fixed and stable collaboration, the selection of students is based on a set of criteria established by the international partner. Applicants' knowledge and skills are screened at the Medical School in Pécs, although they are usually high-performing young people.
Seeing the success of the Saxonian collaboration, the association of dentists from the Saxony-Anhalt region (Kassenzahnärztliche Vereinigung Sachsen-Anhalt) approached our School to sign an agreement on dental training, which was signed in January. The news arrived the other day that they now have seventy applicants, but they can only admit 12 students in addition to the current number of students. Based on the Saxonian model, after completing their training, they will also return home to work as general dentists, in return for which the association covers the costs of their training. Fortunately, the expansion coincides with the handover of the new Dental Education Center. The modern building and its infrastructure provide an excellent background for practice-oriented training, which is a major attraction of the Medical School in Pécs because there are far fewer opportunities for practical work in Germany.
Dr. Péter Than reported on another novelty, an agreement concluded through a colleague of Hungarian origin who works in Germany and has been working closely with our School for years. As a chief physician and head of education at the Marienhaus Kliniken GmbH hospital chain, he contacted the German Program with an offer. They would help train five students by paying half of their tuition fees for them to work in the hospital chain in various fields after graduation.
According to Dr. Péter Than's conclusion, from 2022, in addition to the traditional German-language education based on individual application and funding, three special scholarship programs will run at the Medical School in Pécs, covering the training of 45 German general medicine and 12 dentistry students. In terms of the number of students admitted for the first year - which is 170-180 students - this is a significant proportion because it represents one-third of the number of students. We are talking about well-screened, skilled, and motivated young people who take learning seriously. It is also in the interest of the collaborating partners because this is how they can get a return on their investment.
"There is a future for reliable collaborations because there is a lot of eventuality in individual applications. The Saxonian model is well-established and provides great stability for us," said Dr. Péter Than, who stated that maintaining the quality of German-language education and the reputation of the diploma received here are important goals. It requires constant work and attention, for which positive feedback from students and German employers gives motivation and faith.