The pandemic brought to light the shortage of medical staff living in Luxembourg and dependence on workers living in the greater region.

According to a survey conducted by Alem in November 2019 with 230 medical students and assistants, only one third of the participants were willing to complete their specialised medical training in Luxembourg.

The willingness to return to Luxembourg after their studies, however, decreased gradually.

While 95% of students in the first two years want to return to work in the grand duchy, that proportion fell to 70%-75% in the last two years. "We can therefore assume that a total of 30% of young doctors will not return to Luxembourg to work as doctors in the future," Alem concludes in its report.

The most popular country in which to study medicine is Germany, especially for its “good atmosphere”, followed by France, Austria and Belgium.

Developing medical training in Luxembourg

67.8% of the participants would be willing to pursue a licence to practice medicine in Luxembourg, the survey found. But of that proportion, 40.4% would work locally only if they could not secure a place abroad, while 13.9% would choose Luxembourg on condition that a master's degree is offered.

Regarding future working conditions, the majority of participants prefer to work in a hospital or a community practice and favour fields of study that offer a better balance between private and professional life.

Following the study, and in order to retain talent in Luxembourg, Alem calls for the creation of a medical school with a complete medical study in Luxembourg, the extension of specialised medical training in Luxembourg, the creation of a university clinic, the adaptation of the health system to offer innovative and quality treatments, and regularly updated medical demographics.

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu