Neuruppin, 11 July 2019

Students of medicine enrolled in Germany and willing to work as country doctors in rural areas of Brandenburg after graduation are invited to apply for a scholarship funded by the Brandenburg Ministry of Health.

Up to 25 students per semester – from October 2019 to April 2021 – will receive a monthly grant of 1,000 € for the duration of the standard study period (75 months maximum, ending with graduation). In return they commit themselves to at least 5 years as a country doctor in rural areas of Brandenburg after graduation and specialisation, either in in-patient or out-patient care or in public health services.

Eligible applicants are students of medicine enrolled at a German medical school entitled to live and work in Germany without legal restrictions.

Preferential treatment in cases of equal qualification will be given to applicants with a higher education entrance qualification acquired in Brandenburg, and medical students at the MHB (or those with an offer to study here)!

Applications may be submitted in writing to the Brandenburg Association of Panel Doctors KVBB twice per year; application deadline for the grant starting in the winter semester is 15 August, and 15 February for the summer semester.

The objective is to ensure high-quality, sustainable and community-based health services for Brandenburg’s rural population. Scholarships, so the idea, can induce medical students at an early stage to envisage work as a country doctor after graduation. Specialisations in high demand are general medicine, paediatric medicine, gynaecology and obstetrics, ophthalmology, ENT, psychiatry and psychotherapy, neurology, and child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Further support options

In addition to this scholarship, there are two further options of support: partial grants and funding to supplement medical specialist training. Recipients of a different type of grant – funded by a community or a hospital operator – may apply for a monthly partial scholarship of up to 500 €. In return they undertake to work as specialists in pre-defined groups in rural Brandenburg for at least five years after completing their specialist training.

The scholarship programme further covers costs of up to 5,700 € for the employment of a doctor in specialist training for the pertinent standard period of 60 months, with funding for 20 positions of this type.

The Brandenburg government has initiated the scholarship programme for prospective country doctors and earmarked the required funds in the budget: 2.4 million € in 2019, 3.3 million € in 2020. The KVBB implements the project which is expected to be continued with 4.3 million € in 2021 and 5.3 million € in 2022.

For details on application documents and additional information on the scholarship programme, see the KVBB homepage: www.kvbb.de/praxis/studium-weiterbildung/foerderprogramm.