[Home or abroad? Potential effects of political change in Syria on doctors in Germany]

A large number of physicians with a migration background work in Germany. Political changes in their countries of origin might affect the healthcare situation in Germany. In the case of Syria, the consequences of possible emigration of Syrian doctors have already been publicly discussed. The aim of this study was to survey the self-assessment of Syrian doctors in Germany regarding their future professional orientation.

Anonymous exploratory survey among Syrian doctors and medical students. Data collection took place from January to March 2025 using REDCap (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA). The survey was distributed via the Syrian Society of Physicians and Pharmacists in Germany (SyGAAD e.V.), the German-Arab Ophthalmological Society (DAOG e.V.) and all medical student councils in Germany. Information collected included training status, current employment, the timeframe in which respondents could imagine working in Syria, and the reasons influencing their decision-making. The distribution of participants by federal states was assessed descriptively.

191 Syrian doctors, including 92 ophthalmologists, and 41 medical students participated. 91% of the doctors were born in Syria, 83% completed their medical studies in Germany. 41% were younger than 35 years. Of the ophthalmology specialists, 32% worked in hospitals and 66% in practices. Overall, 27% of all participating Syrian doctors could imagine working in Syria within the next five years, and another 35% within the next ten years. Political, religious, or cultural reasons (60%) and family factors (52%) were selected far more frequently than economic (29%) or career reasons (23%). The highest proportion of participating Syrian doctors was in Saarland and the lowest was in Schleswig-Holstein.

The data suggest that Syrian doctors in Germany are predominantly young and mostly trained in Germany. Almost two-thirds could imagine working in Syria within the next ten years. Representative surveys of the regional distribution could help assess the risk of healthcare shortages more accurately. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development plans programs for German-Syrian hospital partnerships that could be beneficial for both countries.