The German dental sector has spoken openly about the skilled worker shortage for years. What it has been less ready to talk about, until recently, is what an actual solution looks like in practice. Not a policy paper. Not a press release. A real apprentice, in a real chair, learning a real profession alongside a real German team.
In May 2026, the respected German dental journal Zahnärztliche Mitteilungen (zm) published a detailed feature on exactly that. It looked at the work of Alexandra Ponweera, the founder of Advising Professionals, and the practices that have begun training Vietnamese dental assistants through her placement programme. It spoke to the practice owners. It spoke to the apprentices themselves. And the picture that emerged was nuanced, honest, and, on balance, deeply positive.
This article draws on that feature to share what real international recruitment looks like once the brochures and the LinkedIn posts are stripped away.
The Motivation: A Problem That Wouldn’t Go Away
Alexandra Ponweera has spent more than three decades in the medical sector as a dental hygienist. The shortage of qualified staff was not something she read about in a trade journal. It was something she experienced in conversation after conversation, both at work and informally with colleagues over the years. The pattern was always the same: practices needed reliable, qualified professionals, and there were simply not enough of them in Germany to go around.
That recurring conversation eventually became a question. If the talent could not be found within Germany in the numbers required, where else could a practice look? Looking abroad, and specifically toward Vietnam, turned out to be a meaningful answer. Vietnam has a large pool of motivated young people for whom an apprenticeship in Germany represents a genuinely attractive professional future. Bringing the two sides together in a structured way became the foundation of Advising Professionals.
Alexandra’s Role: One Point of Contact, End to End
What practices appreciate most about working with Advising Professionals is that the process is run through a single point of coordination. Alexandra sits between every party involved: the candidate in Vietnam, the language school, the local Vietnamese partner organisation, the German practice, the immigration authorities, and the local support network in Germany.
She accompanies the entire process. That means candidate selection at the start. It means preparing for entry into Germany. It means being present after arrival. It means making sure that every step is structured, transparent, and sustainable.
This is what the brochure language calls “end to end”. In practice it means picking up the phone, answering the questions, attending the appointments, and being there.
How the Process Works
The process is not improvised. It follows a clear sequence developed over time and refined through real placements.
Language preparation in Vietnam. Interested candidates are prepared to German language level B1/B2 at a partner language school in Vietnam, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut. Advising Professionals works closely with the Vision Institut Vietnam, a local partner that operates several schools and gives apprentices access to open B1 and B2 courses.
Selection and matching. Once a candidate is ready, she is introduced to Advising Professionals and then matched specifically to the practices whose needs she fits. This is not a database broadcast. It is a deliberate match.
Coordination and visas. Once a placement is agreed, all the necessary paperwork begins. That includes the regular German apprenticeship contract with the practice itself, the visa application, the credential recognition documents, and every other official requirement.
Arrival and integration. Alexandra accompanies candidates through the practical reality of starting a new life in Germany. Bank accounts. Registration with authorities. The first day at the practice.
What the Candidates Have to Bring
There are clear minimum requirements. Candidates must hold a recognised school leaving certificate. They must have German language skills at B1 to B2 level. And they must be prepared, both academically and practically, for life in a new country.
The financial structure is straightforward. Candidates fund their own preparation up to language level B1. The further B2 course, the visa process, and the journey to Germany are also organised and paid for by the candidate herself. Experience shows that these costs come to roughly 3,000 to 5,000 euros.
Once the apprenticeship begins, candidates receive the same training allowance as any German apprentice. The exact amount, along with additional benefits such as travel subsidies, capital-forming payments (vermögenswirksame Leistungen), and Christmas bonuses, depends on the individual practice and the applicable collective agreement. Advising Professionals is compensated by the placing practice.
The View from the Practices
The most important question for any practice owner considering international recruitment is simple: does it actually work?
The practices interviewed by zm answer that question clearly.
Dr. Stefan Zähringer, practice owner in Malmsheim, Baden-Württemberg, now regularly trains ZFAs from Vietnam through Advising Professionals. He currently has four Vietnamese apprentices in his team, spaced across the first, second, third, and an advanced stage of training. That continuity is itself an asset. It creates stability for the practice and strengthens the team for the long term.
He describes the apprentices as highly motivated, eager to learn, and capable team players. They enrich the practice both professionally and as people. And in his own words, “Für uns hat sich dieser Weg bewährt” (for us, this path has proven itself). He highlights one detail that captures the entire model: his first Vietnamese apprentice is now approaching her final exam and has consciously chosen to remain at the practice afterward. That outcome, he says, validates exactly what Alexandra’s work is built on. The goal is not to fill a seat. The goal is to sustainably integrate a professional who stays.
Carlos M. Mendez, of the IKC-Implantologisches Kompetenz Centrum GmbH/MVZ in Königsbronn, points to something else: the personal accompaniment. Alexandra collected his apprentice from the airport and stayed with her until she reached the practice in Königsbronn. She helped with practical matters on the ground, including opening a bank account. None of this is glamorous work. All of it removes friction from a deeply unfamiliar transition.
His apprentice has integrated quickly, built her own circle of friends, and found a small community. She is progressing strongly in both vocational school and the practice itself. She is structured into the team, supported by the practice’s designated mentor, and being trained exactly the same way any German apprentice would be. “Ein Zugewinn für unsere Praxis” is how he describes the outcome. A gain for the practice. Diligent. Hardworking. A pleasure to have on the team.
Dr. Luana Stogl, of Praxis Lieblingszahnarzt in Karlsruhe, came to the programme by chance and made her decision quickly. The reason was the same as everywhere else: a skilled worker shortage that has been ongoing for years. She is now about to meet her two new apprentices in person and welcome them in May 2026. “Wir freuen uns alle bereits” (we are all already looking forward to it), she says. The team is looking forward to it. The outlook is positive.
Three practices, three different settings, three consistent themes: motivation, integration, and a real commercial return on the time invested.
The View from the Apprentices
The candidates’ own voices are equally important, and often the most overlooked part of the conversation.
Ly Nguyen (20), who works as a ZFA at Carlos Mendez’s practice, has been in Germany for five months. She is honest about the early difficulty. At the start, the language was far more than just grammar from a textbook. The biggest hurdle was understanding the rhythm of everyday speech and the colloquial language her colleagues used. It took real effort to lose the inhibition about speaking. Now, she describes the language as a bridge. A way to understand the people around her.
She values the clarity of communication in Germany. You always know where you stand, because expectations are spoken openly. That transparency, combined with respectful behaviour across the hierarchy, made the start easier. The support she received went well beyond the workplace. She was accompanied to authority appointments. When her colleagues noticed she was homesick, they actively looked for Vietnamese contacts nearby so she would have a community. They sought out good Vietnamese restaurants and invited her along for meals. At work, they explain things patiently, step by step. “Ich fühle mich bisher wirklich wertgeschätzt und warm empfangen” (I feel genuinely valued and warmly welcomed), she says.
Nhat Le (23), who works as a ZFA at Dr. Stefan Zähringer’s practice in Malmsheim, is in the final year of her training and will sit her final exam this summer. She is happy to stay at the practice because she feels comfortable there. The team supports her, and she is genuinely grateful for that. Of course, language was the biggest challenge at the start. The mentality and the way people interact in Germany are different from Vietnam, and it takes time to get used to. But her ambitions reach further. She is thinking about further qualifications, including becoming a dental hygienist, and she is even considering studying dentistry one day. There are still difficult moments, mostly around homesickness or uncertainty in speaking. But on balance, the positive experiences outweigh them.
Thi Hong Ngo (36), also at Dr. Stefan Zähringer’s practice in Malmsheim, has been in Germany since July of the previous year. She is candid about how hard the beginning was. The climate, the daily rhythm, the psychological strain, and above all the language. But she believes that is normal. Everyone has to go through such a phase. Over time, life here has become easier. The language is still her greatest challenge. Like many young people far from home, she misses her family. That is unavoidable. As she puts it, you are allowed to feel homesick, but you have to keep learning and working well. She considers herself fortunate to work with a friendly doctor and kind colleagues who are always willing to help. Sometimes it feels like a dream, she says, but she knows she is giving her best. Her goal is to become a confident professional assistant and to communicate securely in German.
Three apprentices, three different ages and stages, three different experiences. But common threads run through all of them: the difficulty of language at the start, the gradual breakthrough, the warmth of the teams who welcomed them, and a clear desire to build a real future in Germany.
The Honest Challenges
A blog post that pretended international recruitment was effortless would be both misleading and counterproductive. The reality is more interesting and more reassuring than the marketing version.
Housing. The single most consistently cited practical challenge is finding suitable accommodation. Rents have risen sharply across Germany. Ideally, an apprentice’s housing should cost no more than 500 euros per month and must include WiFi. Anything more leaves an apprentice financially constrained on a training allowance. Advising Professionals actively supports the search for housing, often beginning with a shared flat (WG) as an interim solution while something more permanent is arranged.
Homesickness. It happens. It would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. Often two candidates start the apprenticeship together, which helps. They are connected. They have someone who shares the same context. And the response from practices, when homesickness shows up, has been genuinely human. Some have invited apprentices to their own homes for the evening. Some have cooked Vietnamese food together. Closeness and care help people settle. The goal, after all, is to keep the young professionals here for the long term.
Real integration difficulties have been rare. That is not a marketing line. It reflects what the practices themselves report. Where difficulties have arisen, they have been practical rather than relational, and they have been worked through.
Why This Approach Works
If you read the zm feature in full, a pattern becomes obvious. The same elements show up in every successful placement, regardless of which practice is speaking or which apprentice is being interviewed.
Structured preparation before arrival. Language at B1/B2, with Goethe-Institut quality where possible, is not optional. It is the foundation everything else stands on.
Selective matching, not volume placement. Each candidate is introduced to a specific practice. This is not a job board.
Personal accompaniment at the moment of arrival. Picking someone up at the airport. Helping them open a bank account. Being there. These small acts dramatically reduce the friction of the transition.
Continuity of contact through the entire apprenticeship. Year 1 through Year 3. Issues that come up are resolved early, not after they have damaged the working relationship.
Genuine care from the employer. This cannot be outsourced or scripted. Practices that succeed with international apprentices are practices that treat them, simply, as members of the team.
Alexandra Ponweera puts it plainly. Both sides are grateful for the opportunity. The practice gains a motivated, qualified, long-term team member. The apprentice gains a professional future in Germany. The model works because both sides have something real at stake and something real to gain.
What This Means If You Run a Practice
If you are a practice owner reading this, the relevant question is probably not whether international recruitment can work. The zm feature, and the stories of Zähringer, Mendez, Stogl, Ly Nguyen, Nhat Le, and Thi Hong Ngo, answer that question on the record.
The relevant question is whether it is right for your practice, your team, and your timeline. That is a conversation, not a brochure.
Get in touch for an initial consultation.
📞 +49 162 382 11 11 ✉ info@advisingprofessionals.com
