From dream to goal in twelve years: Bianca Jacobs was one of the first human medicine students at the University of Oldenburg in 2012. After successfully completing her specialist training, she is now one of the first female GPs to have been produced by University Medicine Oldenburg.
Bianca Jacobs has walked through the door of Dr Stefan Krafeld and Ralph Cramer's GP practice in Lohne hundreds of times - but on 10 July this year, she did so for the first time as a specialist in general medicine. This time, the practice team was waiting behind the door with a bouquet of flowers to congratulate the 44-year-old on passing her exam. "I had tears in my eyes," admits Bianca Jacobs.
Almost twelve years of training lie behind her on this day. Jacobs was one of the very first medical students in Oldenburg and is now one of the first to have successfully passed the specialist examination. A long time: "My twins started school in the same year that I started my studies and we all three received a school bag from my father," the doctor recalls. Today, the two 19-year-olds are about to graduate from high school.
Jacobs lives with her husband and three children in Goldenstedt near Vechta. When she wanted to return to her academic appointment as a chemical laboratory technician after parental leave, she didn't succeed straight away. At some point, a recruiter told her that she was overqualified. "Then I thought to myself: then I might as well study medicine. I used to think I was too stupid for that," she says.
Because she didn't have a high school diploma, Jacobs had to take an entrance exam to be allowed to study at a university. She travelled to Hanover three times a week to prepare for it - and was successful. After overcoming this first hurdle, she heard about the new medical degree programme in Oldenburg and shortly afterwards was one of the 40 students who stood out from 1,200 applicants. What followed was anything but a walk in the park: the mother of three commuted almost two hours by public transport from her home to the university in Oldenburg - and back again in the evening. The good grades didn't just fall into her lap. "The question system used to test knowledge in written exams just doesn't suit me," she admits. As a result, she sometimes had to repeat a written exam even though she had understood the content. She graduated in 2019 and began her specialist training at St. Josef Hospital Cloppenburg, Marienhospital Vechta and in the practice where she works today.
Two constants have carried Bianca Jacobs over every hurdle - one of them is her family. "My husband, for example, recorded lung and heart sounds for me to practise on CD and one of the children always took the time when I wanted to examine an ear, for example," says the cheerful woman with the large glasses and black curls. The second constant is Krafeld and Cramer's practice. Jacobs completed her first work shadowing placement there in 2012. "I stood here and immediately knew: I can imagine doing this," she recalls, looking around the treatment room as she did back then. The former student is impressed by how much she can learn from the two experienced doctors and therefore returns to the practice time and time again. "I was allowed to examine patients, take blood samples and vaccinate them - as a student, you can only dream of that," she says.
"The chemistry was right from the start"
The good impression is mutual. "We are a dream team. The chemistry was right from the start," says practice owner Krafeld. He and his practice partner Ralph Cramer have been supporting University Medicine Oldenburg as a teaching practice since day one. They want to give medical students better clinical experience than they used to have themselves. "Back then, we were often treated like pains in the arse and had to be taken care of somehow," says Krafeld. That's why today he tries to let students do a lot themselves and support them in their professional development with regular feedback and coaching. In the case of Bianca Jacobs, this was easy. "She is interested in everything, quickly gets enthusiastic about new things and is incredibly hard-working," says the GP.
In 2025, Bianca Jacobs will join her previous bosses' practice as an equal partner. Being a GP in her own practice - that was her goal right from the start. "The medical profession is great in itself and nothing is better than general practice," she says. "I could never imagine only dealing with one organ, for example." Instead, she enjoys being able to accompany her patients over the long term and places great value on communication. "I always like it best when someone says: 'That was really nice of you to discuss that with me in such detail,'" she says.
As a "country girl", as she calls herself with a twinkle in her eye, she made a conscious decision then and now to work outside the big city. "You have to love country life - with all the compromises that might mean," she says. Those who do so will have no problems working as a doctor in these regions, which are often underserved medically.
Although there is not yet an acute shortage of staff in his practice, Krafeld is glad that Jacobs is now joining him. "It would have been too late to worry about this until we want to cut back in around ten years' time," he says. He can well imagine recruiting more graduates by then, for example in salaried positions where family and academic appointments can be easily reconciled. He and his colleague have always been very satisfied with the students from Oldenburg. "There were many great people among them, and we offered them the opportunity to come back again and again."
