Application
You submit an application for a licence to practise medicine to the competent authority. You can hand in the application with the documents to the competent authority or send it by post. Do not send any originals. Sometimes you can send the application electronically. The competent body will inform you. The competent office will then check whether your training corresponds to the German training and whether all other requirements have been met.
Automatic recognition
As a rule, the procedure of automatic recognition applies if you started your vocational training after the EU/EEA accession of your country of training. This means that if you also meet all other requirements, your professional qualification will be recognised without an individual equivalence test.
Certificate of conformity
Vocational training courses that you started before the EU/EEA accession of your training state (or that do not correspond to the legal designations) can also be automatically recognised. To do so, you must submit a certificate from the competent authority in your country of training stating that your professional qualification meets the minimum EU standards ("certificate of conformity"). If your professional qualification does not meet the minimum standards, you must provide evidence of your professional experience. You must have worked as a doctor in your country of origin for an uninterrupted period of 3 years in the 5 years preceding your application. This must be confirmed by the competent authority in your country of origin.
Examination of equivalence
If you cannot present a certificate of conformity or do not have enough professional experience, your training must be checked individually. The competent body will compare your professional qualification from abroad with the German professional qualification. The competent body checks whether your professional qualification is equivalent. The professional qualification is equivalent if there are no significant differences between your foreign professional qualification and the German professional qualification.
Possible results of the examination
If your professional qualification is equivalent, your foreign professional qualification will be recognised. The authorities can confirm the result to you in writing. You still have to meet the other requirements and prove your language skills. Then you will be granted your licence to practise medicine.
Are there any significant differences between your professional qualification and the German professional qualification? Perhaps you can compensate for the differences through your professional practice, other knowledge or skills (lifelong learning). You have to prove the professional practice. Knowledge and skills must be certified by an authority of the state in which you acquired the knowledge or skills.
However, it may not be possible to compensate for the substantial differences with this knowledge. The competent authority will tell you what the substantial differences are and why you cannot make up the substantial differences through your professional experience.
The decision of the competent body will also state the level of your training and the level required in Germany. You will then not be allowed to work as a doctor in Germany.
Aptitude test
If your professional qualification is not equivalent and you cannot compensate for the differences, you can take an aptitude test. The aptitude test examines the essential differences of your professional qualification. The aptitude test is an oral-practical examination.
If you pass the qualifying examination and meet all other requirements, you will be granted a licence to practise medicine.
