Together with their supporters from the business and wider communities, representatives of University Medicine Oldenburg have conveyed the region’s call for more medical school places to Minister Falko Mohrs.
An oversized doctor’s coat, suspended in front of the state parliament in Hanover, caught the attention today not only of politicians who wanted to stretch their legs during the lunch break of the ongoing plenary session. This unusual display accompanied the handover of a total of 19,643 signatures from people in the north-west to Science Minister Falko Mohrs. As part of the campaign ‘Doctors don’t just fall from the sky’, they are all calling for more medical school places in Oldenburg. In doing so, they are backing the appeal by University Medicine Oldenburg (UMO) to the state government to take the region into account at the upcoming budget retreat this weekend and to finally provide adequate funding in the draft budget.
“The large number of supporters shows that people in the region are concerned about their medical care – particularly in rural areas,” said University President Prof. Dr Ralph Bruder. “We want to, and can, alleviate the impending shortage with highly trained doctors. To do so, however, we now finally need the adequate financing announced back in 2022 in the governing parties’ coalition agreement. This is a prerequisite for us to be able to create additional medical school places – as the state government itself is calling for.”
Specifically, the UMO requires a phased increase in the annual state grants from the current 36.3 to just under 62 million euros. This sum also includes around 10 million euros, which is intended to compensate the partner hospitals for their involvement in the training of trainee doctors. This budget is necessary to enable a total of 200 people per year – rather than the current 120 – to gain access to medical studies from the 2026/27 winter semester onwards. Higher student numbers mean a greater need for teaching space. Consequently, the demands on the state government also include financing for a teaching building, which, according to current plans, will cost around 83 million euros. Furthermore, the second construction phase of the planned research building, costing 84 million euros, has not yet been financed.
In just two months, the petition launched by the UMO quickly gained numerous supporters – including the Weser-Ems Rural Women’s Association, the Oldenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce, several districts in north-western Germany, the region’s hospitals and more than 200 practices from the UMO’s teaching practice network. They all called for people to take part in the campaign “Doctors don’t just fall from the sky”. Representatives travelled to Hanover to hand over the collected signatures to Minister Mohrs.
“The people of the north-west have once again demonstrated how strongly they support their university medical centre – this impresses us greatly and bolsters our resolve in our commitment to this shared cause,” said Prof. Dr Hans Gerd Nothwang, Dean of School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He appealed to the state government to listen to the UMO and the people of the region. “State politicians must take people’s concerns about their healthcare seriously and now work with us to ensure that we tackle the shortage of doctors. We are ready,” said the Dean.
