Switzerland increasingly dependent on foreign doctors

While the number of doctors working in Switzerland is increasing, the Swiss Confederation is becoming more and more dependent on foreign doctors with each passing year. These are the results of the «Medical Statistics 2021» submitted today by the Federation of Swiss Doctors (FMH).

In the last year, there was a total of 39,222 active doctors in Switzerland, an increase of 1.9% (720 people) in comparison with 2020, stated the organization today in a statement. This increase is mainly due to the rise in the number of female doctors in practice (+694), whereas there was only a slight growth among male doctors (+26).

As a percentage, the proportion of women in the medical workforce rose to 44.9% at the end of 2021, reports the FMH. By way of comparison, the ratio of female doctors in 2000 was only 29.1%.

Of the over 39,500 physicians practicing in Switzerland, 15,077 earned their medical degrees abroad. As compared to the previous year, the proportion increased by 1 percentage point to 38.4%.

This has been a trend for seven years now - in 2014, that percentage stood at 31% - and most foreign doctors, it is specified, come from Germany (51.8%). This is followed by Italy (9.2%), France (7.2%) and Austria (6.0%). In the ambulatory sector,, the percentage of foreign doctors is 36.4%, compared with 40.7% in the hospital sector.

The organization believes that reliance on foreign countries will continue to increase. In 2021, 1118 doctors were awarded a federal diploma. That same year, the Medical Professions Commission (MEBEKO) acknowledged 2,736 foreign diplomas.

The average age of physicians increased marginally to 50 in 2021, but one out of four physicians are over 60. The statistics show that the average age is eleven years higher in the outpatient sector (55 years) than those practicing in the hospital sector (44 years). In 2005, the average age was 52 in the outpatient sector and 40 in the hospital sector.

Among the latter, the further up the ladder one climbs, the greater the decrease in the proportion of female doctors. Women account for the largest proportion of physician assistants (59.5%), and then the figure continues to fall: 49.8% of head doctors, 29.5% of assistant doctors and 15.3% of chief doctors.

Moving forward, the FMH explained in its release, to guarantee the turnover of qualified specialists, it will be necessary to oversee that young female doctors are more effectively represented in these functions.