Switzerland: Medical Training - Health Systems Facts

Medical Graduates Per 100,000 Population (2017): 11.2
Nursing Graduates Per 100,000 Population (2017): 100.9
Percent Share of Foreign-Trained Doctors (2017): 34.1%
Percent Share of Foreign-Trained Nurses (2017): 25.9%
(Note: According to OECD, “Medical graduates are defined as students who have graduated from medical schools in a given year.” OECD also notes that data for Austria “include foreign graduates, but other countries may exclude them.”)

Source: OECD (2019), Health at a Glance 2019: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/4dd50c09-en.

“Increasing national capacity for the training of health workers is a high priority in Switzerland, as documented by the inclusion of the objective “more and well qualified healthcare workers” in the Health2020 strategy (FDHA, 2013). In 2010, a Masterplan for training of health care professionals, focusing on non-university based health professionals, was agreed upon by – among others – the FOPH [Federal Office of Public Health], GDK/CDS [Conference of the Cantonal Ministers of Public Health] and OdASanté (SERI, 2010). The aim of the plan is to increase training capacity for nurses and other care professionals in order to overcome the estimated lack of about 4500 nationally trained professionals and to reduce dependency on migrants. In addition, in 2011, the government passed a strategy against physician shortage, calling for the number of physicians trained each year to be increased from 800 to around 1300 (Federal Council, 2011). More recently, the aim has been set to at least 1100 by 2016/2017 (FOPH, 2014f).”

Source: De Pietro C, Camenzind P, Sturny I, Crivelli L, Edwards-Garavoglia S, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F, Quentin W. Switzerland: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(4):1–288.

“There are five medical faculties in Switzerland, located in Zurich, Basel, Bern, Geneva and Lausanne. In addition, students can study for at least parts of their Bachelor of Medicine in Fribourg (all three years) and Neuchâtel (the first year only). Basic training as a physician lasts at least six years. After successful completion of three years of studies, students are granted a Bachelor of Medicine. After three further years (two at university and one in practical training), they obtain a Master of Medicine. Master graduates can then take a final state exam after which they are awarded the Swiss confederate medical diploma. Graduates who hold this diploma are qualified to work under supervision in a hospital or ambulatory care setting.

“The Joint Commission of the Swiss Medical Schools (SMIFK/CIMS) defines learning objectives for medical training at universities. Regulations for state exams of physicians and dentists are issued at the federal level with the inclusion of different stakeholders such as medical faculties, the Commission for Medicinal Professions and the SERI (see section 2.8.3 and FOPH, 2013f).

“In order to be allowed to work independently, physicians have to undertake further training. Training as a ‘practical physician’ takes at least three years after completion of medical studies and is the minimum requirement in order to be allowed to work independently in primary care. Practical physicians have the option to continue their training and to specialize in general internal medicine after another two years of training, with the alternative options of qualifying either as a GP or as a hospital generalist.

“Other specialist training programmes usually take between six and seven years of practice in different hospital departments related to the field of study (Obsan, 2013). Subsequently, doctors are allowed to work independently in hospitals or ambulatory care. There are currently 44 official specializations in Switzerland (Obsan, 2013). After successful specialization, doctors are legally bound to participate in continuous professional education according to a point system (Hänggeli & Bauer, 2010).”

“Training paths and qualifications for nursing and other health care professions have been substantially restructured since the early 2000s (Schäfer, Scherrer & Burla, 2013). Today, a wide range of different paths exist for obtaining different nursing degrees and other health care-related qualifications (see Fig. 4.17 and Obsan, 2013). Depending on their secondary education, candidates may choose vocational (professional) education and training or education at a university or a University of Applied Sciences, leading to different degrees in nursing or care assistance. The Swiss education system distinguishes between different qualifications obtainable at the secondary II level and those obtainable at the tertiary level (see Fig. 4.17). Since 2008, PhD programmes in nursing exist at the University of Basel and the University of Lausanne.”

“Switzerland relies heavily on foreign-trained health professionals (Jaccard Ruedin & Widmer, 2010). In 2013, 29.4% of all active physicians in Switzerland held a diploma from a foreign medical university (Hostettler & Kraft, 2014) and 37% of all specialization diplomas were awarded to foreign-trained physicians. In ambulatory care, the proportion of foreign-trained physicians is smaller than in hospitals: in 2013, 36.3% of physicians working in hospitals had a foreign diploma, while this proportion was 23.1% in the ambulatory sector (FMH, 2014). Every year since 2008, net migration to Switzerland exceeded 1000 physicians (immigration minus emigration of foreign physicians) per year (Obsan, 2012), which is more than the annual number of physicians trained in Switzerland (see section 4.2.3).

“The most important country from which physicians migrate to Switzerland is Germany. Physicians trained in Germany account for 57% of foreign physicians practising in Switzerland (see Fig. 4.15). Physicians trained in France account for about 5% of foreign-trained physicians (FMH, 2014). When looking at the origin of migrating physicians whose diplomas were accredited in Switzerland in 2013, about 42% came from Germany, 18% from Italy, 16% from France and 5% from Austria (FOPH, 2014j). Immigration from Germany, Austria, France and Italy is facilitated by common languages.”

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and several other nations.

Page last updated March 22, 2021 by Doug McVay, Editor.