Experts confirmed that doctors coming from abroad are indispensable for operating the healthcare system in Germany.

The Deputy Chairwoman of the German Medical Association, Ellen Lundershausen, told the German Press Agency (dpa): "Without doctors from abroad, we cannot maintain our healthcare system at the current standards."

According to figures from the German Medical Association, 64,000 doctors holding foreign passports work in Germany. About 80% of them work in hospitals. The association assumes that they often work "above average" in small hospitals and outside urban areas.

The Deputy Chairwoman of the German Hospital Association, Henriette Neumaier, said that these doctors are particularly needed in the states of East Germany, adding: "Without the migration of doctors, healthcare services there would have declined."

In the state of Thuringia alone, according to figures from the regional medical association there, about 25% of hospital doctors come from abroad. The percentage is similarly high in other states in East Germany.

Two hundred medical organizations and associations highlighted the importance of immigrants to the healthcare system. A recently published statement for democracy and pluralism said that "medical and nursing care in Germany cannot and will not do without their contribution."
Overall, about 421,000 doctors work in hospitals, clinics, research institutions, and authorities in Germany.