Congress. For the first time this year, German was chosen as the congress language at the congress of the Austrian-Arabic Doctors and Pharmacists Association in Vienna - as an invitation to the Austrian colleagues and as a sign of solidarity.
ki. The motto of the 29th congress, which took place in Vienna for the sixth time at the beginning of September, was "Controversies in medicine" - from ophthalmology and infectiology to dentistry and surgery. The special thing: many of the "new doctors" who came to Austria in 2015 presented their skills in their specialist areas in numerous specialist lectures. One of them, Dr. Eyad Kabalan, also acted as congress president. Kabalan came to Austria in 2015 and now not only works as a senior physician in the surgical department at Hollabrunn Hospital, but has also been very active in recent years with courses and information offers for colleagues. The Austrian-Arab Doctors and Pharmacists Association, led by Dr. Tammam Kelani, who came from Syria 40 years ago, has been a central contact point and has been reliably available with important support.
Rocky road to citizenship Almost ten years ago, more than 200 doctors came to Austria with the refugee movement, mainly from the civil war-torn country of Syria. After intensive German courses, the nostrification of their studies with often extensive additional exams and the medical German exam by the Medical Association, many have now arrived in the Austrian health system and are very committed to caring for patients. In many places, they are compensating for the shortage of doctors, as Kelani noted. Nevertheless, citizenship is granted to a very limited extent, although, according to Kelani, most of the new doctors meet the criteria. Kelani appealed to the Vienna city government to speed up the immigration process. As a representative of the mayor and the city councilor for health, state parliament member Peko Baxant showed understanding. The immigration laws are "out of date, inhumane and paranoid", but responsibility lies with the federal government. You can find more information in this one and this one Article.