One in ten doctors in Malaga province is from outside Spain

Argentina and Germany are the countries with the highest numbers of doctors practising in the province

Ivan Gelibter

Friday, 19 January 2024, 13:34

Malaga is one of the most cosmopolitan provinces in Spain, a melting pot of nationalities that is also reflected in the number of foreign doctors practising, both in private and public medicine. In fact, ten per cent of all doctors have been born outside Spain, and most of them are from outside the European Union.

Asked about this issue, the president of the Malaga College of Physicians, Pedro Navarro, considers it to be a “good solution” and stressed that all the doctors who practise in the province, regardless of their nationality, are “magnificent professionals”.

According to official data from the Malaga College of Physicians, there are a total of 10,127 doctors in the province, which includes the Costa del Sol, of whom 941 are foreigners (496 men and 445 women), with 588 being non-EU citizens. Argentina leads this category by far with 184 registered doctors. Colombia (65), Venezuela (64), Cuba (60) and the United Kingdom (30 doctors).

Of this group 482 are general medical doctors, with 106 having a recognised speciality. Of the latter, the main ones are Family and Community Medicine (26), Obstetrics and Gynaecology (10) and Paediatrics (7).

There are 353 foreign doctors practising here who are European Union citizens, coming from Germany (83), Italy (51), Netherlands (31), Finland (27) and France (26). Of these doctors ,139 are general doctors and 214 have a recognised speciality.

In the case of doctors from the EU, through the Bologna Process, the qualifications are recognised automatically.

In the case of doctors from outside the EU, the process is a little more complex. As well as the medical degree they also have to have their speciality recognised. In many cases these specialist qualifications are not compatible (due to an inability to officially certify specific knowledge acquired), hence the large numbers of general doctors compared to consultants from outside the EU.

The increasing presence of non-EU doctors has a lot to do with the drift of the health situation in general and with the waiting lists in particular which is forcing the Andalusian regional government to take action. On 5 December the Junta exempted from the nationality requirement specialist medical personnel and non-EU foreign nursing personnel who can be hired by the Andalusian Health Service.

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