Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Health & Medicine

Germany recruits migrant medics to battle coronavirus

Germany, like most other countries, is in dire need of qualified medical staff to fight COVID-19.

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
March 31, 2020
in Health & Medicine, News, Science

Even if you supplement the number of hospital beds and ventilators, one shortage is impossible to complement: qualified staff.

It’s impossible to train medical workers on short notice so, instead, Germany is turning to one untapped resource that many other countries can use: qualified immigrants.

Image credits: Sangga Rima Roman Selia.

During the 2019 elections in Saxony, the right-wing nationalist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 9.7% of the votes, as the anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic rhetoric won AfD surprisingly many votes.

ADVERTISEMENT

But now, the medical board in Saxony has turned to immigrants to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

In Saxony, the heartland of the nationalist , the regional medical board is advertising for migrant doctors to help tackle an expected rise in cases.

Foreign doctors who do not yet have a license to practice medicine are asked for help through an advertising campaign.

ADVERTISEMENT

Merkel’s 2015 decision to open Germany’s borders to some 1 million migrants fleeing war is a very polarizing decision, but in this case, it might yield advantages. Many of them were qualified workers that still struggled to find a job in Germany due to language or cultural differences.

Now, those migrants who have medical training are called to help. According to Reuters, Shadi Shahda, 29, is one migrant medic ready to help. He has already reportedly jumped at the opportunity.

“I am waiting for their call … I was very happy when I saw that I could do something in the country where I am living.”

Shahda has three years of experience as an ENT (ear, nose, throat) medical resident in Syria, but the language exam he needed to take was canceled due to the coronavirus.

The situation Shahda is in is not unique. Thousands of immigrants in Germany have medical qualifications and over 300 have already responded to the ad in Saxony.

It might be wise for other areas to consider similar schemes. The immediate, most acute shortage, is that of safe hospital beds and respiratory ventilators.

But this is not a short fight, it’s a marathon. Health workers, the ones in the first line of action, are our vital assets, and, in addition to protecting them as much as possible, we need to supplement their ranks as much as possible. The US is now recalling retired doctors and easing immigration for any health workers willing to help the country. Immigrants can potentially serve as a valuable pool of qualified health workers.

In Germany, despite cases surging, the case fatality rate remains remarkably low — a very encouraging sign in what is overall a pretty bleak picture.

Tags: coronavirusCOVID-19germany
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.