Parliamentary Evening
Medicine to touch and feel, responsibility for the region: MHB visits Potsdam parliament
Potsdam, 27 February 2026
The Parliamentary Evening at the Brandenburg State Parliament in Potsdam was the right backdrop for the Brandenburg Medical School (MHB) to demonstrate what it stands for: nearness, dialog and active responsibility for the region. After the session on 25 February, MPs got talking to MHB professors, staff and students at themed tables; among the topics were healthcare provision, dental medicine, science and research as well as alumni. Those present learned more about the MHB than just figures and concept papers. The Skills Lab invited interested individuals to take matters in hand: with a simulation manikin, with procedures and the right moves which in real-life situations can be decisive to ensure tranquility, speed and security – learning with head and hand, learning close to people.
Parliamentary president Prof. Dr. Ulrike Liedtke found forceful words for the serious concerns of MHB students that reached her in personal and very specific messages over the past weeks: “Is our study program secured?” “Can I rely on completing my studies here?” or “How will the current difficulties affect our future?” She described the insecurities about state funding as a great strain on prospective physicians, particularly during periods of intensive training coupled with great responsibility.
Reasons for these insecurities were cuts in annual state funding for the MHB from 6.6 million Euro to 5 million Euro originally scheduled for the 2025/2026 budget. Parliamentary debates resulted in a reappraisal, so that funds for 2025 were raised to 6.6 million Euro, and to 6 million Euro for 2026. The Potsdam parliament is obviously aware of the importance of the MHB but nevertheless challenged to ensure reliable and long-term funding for the university. The MHB does not receive basic institutional financing but subsidies earmarked for specific projects and purposes. But a university needs continuity – to finance staff, laboratories, study places and research. If you want quality, you must ensure financial stability.
In his opening speech MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon described how the State of Brandenburg benefits from the university’s commitment. Graduates are generally not obliged to keep the MHB informed of their career details and reliable figures are therefore hard to come by, but scholarships provided by cooperating hospitals are one indicator that many graduates stay in Brandenburg: “At present we know of 122 medical graduates who are active in the State of Brandenburg to secure and improve healthcare provision, which corresponds to about 60% of all our graduates. So I can say with all due caution that the hoped-for effect – to keep graduates in Brandenburg – has in fact materialized.”
Hans-Uwe Simon went on to congratulate Science Minister Manja Schüle on her recent nomination as “Science Minister of the Year”, having been selected as number one in a nation-wide survey of the Association of German Universities (DHV).
Health Minister Britta Müller also gave a strong political signal. Late in 2025 she paid a second visit to the MHB after several years. Joining efforts with district administrator Ralf Reinhardt she tested the childbirth simulator as an object lesson in training close to practice. As an MP from 2014 to 2019, and scientific and – later - health policy spokesperson, she had witnessed the beginnings of the MHB: “During my recent visit I found confirmation that you have done a splendid job with amazing results for the State of Brandenburg. You have created an institution, and this in view of rather moderate public funding.”
“Based on what I have seen, I urge you to continue in the same vein. We stand by your side and support you. We need physicians here in Brandenburg, here on site. I have visited hospitals here, in Rüdersdorf, in Bernau. I have met graduates in outpatient facilities and with resident doctors, in a whole range of settings. Your graduates are in great demand.” Following her latest visit, she placed funds from the national lottery amounting to 50,000 Euro at the disposal of the Skills Lab.
The Parliamentary Evening made impressively apparent what the MHB achieves in the interests and on behalf of Brandenburg: the institution educates much needed physicians, psychotherapists and dentists, conducts research, is well anchored in the region – and has substantial impact. Personal exchange, practical exercises with the Skills Lab and open conversations clearly demonstrated that the MHB has long become an indispensable element of healthcare provision and the university landscape in Brandenburg.
