East Germany Running out of Doctors

Eastern Germany is not just having trouble attracting investors, the region is also suffering under an acute lack of qualified doctors, according to a study released on Thursday. At the moment, there are 609 general practicioners and 224 specialist positions open in the five new German states, according to one of Germany's main doctors associations. By 2010, a large percentage of practicing doctors will have to give up their jobs because of age limits in each of the states. In Saxony-Anhalt, as many as 48 percent of the doctors will no longer be practicing in five years. "Young doctors are nowhere in sight," said an association spokesman.