Training a doctor for €100,000
Yes, you read that right: €100,000. That is the total fee that for-profit educator EDU charges for a five-and-a-half year education, including a first degree, a masters, a year in a hospital, followed by six months as a trainee in a hospital at the end (see our interview of the week).
That is two to four times lower than the current rate in Europe. And EDU is not in India. It is based in Malta, its training is supervised by Masstricht UMC+ and its trainees are cutting their teeth in German hospitals, including several owned by Helios Fresenius. In our interview, boss Juergen Laartz explains the sophisticated distance learning techniques that EDU has built up (it has almost nothing to do with watching recorded lectures).
Scaling up EDU is the next challenge and the school is looking for new hospital partners in other countries. Laartz, an ex-Mckinsey partner, says he is not in it for the money. His long-term aim is to train tens of thousands of doctors for the global south.
Today, EDU’s 150 students are people who failed to get into public medical school and whose families are prepared to pay or personally willing to incur debt. This is a great example of how a market economy provides the freedom that enables real innovation at a price point that would be beyond the conception of university hospitals in most countries, rich or poor.
We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Max Hotopf or call 0207 183 3779.
