European Policy Analysis
the medical specialization training in a Greek hospital . Otherwise , unemployment means also no money , right ? But I mean it was not an issue of income .”
Furthermore , the physicians mentioned one more apparent secondary factor during the interviews : the experience with corruption phenomena in Greece . Except from experiences in the health sector , the interviewees had also personal experiences with corrupt civil servants , nepotism and clientelism in Greek society , as well as in different sectors ( education , health , and public services ).
Subjective Motivations Leading to Immigration to Germany
Having presented the main subjective motivations driving the medical graduates away from Greece , this section will give an overview of the subjective factors , which were decisive for the migration of the interviewees to Germany ( pull factors ).
As expected , in accordance with the main push factor of the Greek medical graduates about the limited employment opportunities in the Greek health sector , their motivations for choosing the German health sector are also connected to job-related factors . Those interviewed considered the German health sector to be a very stable labor market , which can guarantee them the opportunity of gaining admission into medical specialization training . For example , a physician , 10 who underwent her medical specialization training spoke about her motivations to work in Germany : “ I came to Germany because I knew that its health sector has shortages of specialist physicians and the issue to start with the training was going to be simple for me .” Apart from the aspect relating to the available vacancies in the German health sector , one interviewee 11 expressed another opinion on this issue , which focuses on the system of employment in the German health system for a medical specialization training . “ In Germany , you do not have a procedure of having exams in order to start your medical specialization training , like in France . In Germany and in Scandinavian countries , the director of a hospital can decide after one interview if he will employ you or not . So I think the issue of choosing the destination country was about the extent of the labor market , the system of employment for medical specialization training and having good knowledge of the language .”
Obviously , the employment opportunities in the German health sector are presented as important factors by most of the interviewed Greek physicians . However , there are also other job-related factors concerning the training stage of the physicians . The quality of the specialization training in the German health sector , which includes highly technological equipment , has been positively evaluated by some , who mentioned this factor , too , as a reason for their decision to migrate . A similar argument is expressed in the following statement from a physician 12 : “ The level of training in dermatology in Germany is much better than the training in Greece . While
8
According to the interviewees a physician who undertakes specialist medical training in Greece gains net € 1,027 monthly , while in Germany , although this depends on the hospital , the monthly wage is at least gross € 4,100 .
9
Interview M1 .
10
Interview W3 .
11
Interview M2 .
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