Migration of Greek Physicians to Germany
skilled migration and therefore needs to be examined according to its specific vocational arena ( Bommes et al . 2004 ). Separate from other financial sectors with fairly different structures are the migration cases within welfare sectors , where the involvement of the state is still transparent .
Physicians in Greece , as a vocational group of highly skilled persons , have also followed the emigration trend described here . It is notable that according to the Greek Medical Association , almost 15,000 physicians have left the county in the last several years ( IS Athens 2016 ). Germany appears to be a highly attractive country for these physician migrants . In 2015 , the Athenian Medical Association alone issued 83 certificates for physicians who had moved to Germany ( Mpouloutza 2015 ). At the same time , Greek physicians form the second-largest group of foreign physicians in the German health sector according to the German Medical Association , numbering 3,017 physicians with Greek nationality in 2015 ( Bundesärztekammer 2015a ). Moreover , there is also a remarkable situation regarding the medical graduates in Greece who intend to undergo their medical specialization training . According to research performed by the Medical School of Democritus University on the perceptions of Greek medical students toward the medical profession , 38 of a total of 111 interviewed medical students would like to undertake their medical specialization training in the German health system ( Labiris et al . 2014 , 205 ). Therefore this article will deal at this point with the plausible question of why so many Greek physicians , and specifically Greek medical graduates , prefer the German health system for undergoing their medical specialization training .
Furthermore , the large demand of health professionals in OECD countries is thought to be a phenomenon stemming from demographic issues — namely , an aging population — which in turn sets the stage for migration ( Raghuram and Kofman 2002 , 2075 ; Bach 2003 , 9 ). Based on shortages , some OECD countries have recruited personnel mostly from less developed countries , e . g . the US from overseas countries ( Pond and McPake 2006 , 1450 ). England ( Clark , Clark , and Stewart 2007 , 3 ) and France ( Bach 2003 , 7 ) followed the same pattern by recruiting medical staff from former colonies . In Germany , according to the European Commission , the shortages of physicians in the German health sector are expected to reach 45,000 in 2020 and 165,000 in 2030 ( European Commission 2012 , 6 ). However , it is interesting that the case of the present article refers not only to two OECD countries and members of the EU , but also to countries both facing demographic problems with ageing populations . In Greece , 20.9 % of the total population was over 65 years old in 2015 , while in Germany the equivalent was 21.0 % ( EUROSTAT 2015 ). Parallel to that , Greece , with 6.3 practicing physicians per 1,000 people , had the biggest ratio of practicing physicians among the OECD countries during 2013 , whereas the same ratio for Germany ( 4.0 practicing physicians ) was above the OECD average ( 3.3 practicing physicians ), but remarkably under the Greek ratio ( OECD 2015 ).
There is an apparent oversupply of physicians in Greece , which is not a new phenomenon , having existed since the 1980s ( Kalamatianou , 1993 , 293 ). But in fact , there is a remarkable disparity in physician density in Greece . Attiki , the metropolitan area around Athens , for example , provides 7.15 practicing physicians per 1,000 people
137