Every 8th doctor now comes from abroad. If you want to work as a doctor in Germany on a permanent basis, you need a German license to practice medicine. To do this, you must have successfully completed a degree in medicine. Different rules apply here in the individual federal states. The decision on this is made by the state medical associations. The state medical association of the state in which you want to work is always responsible for you.

The official minimum requirement is language skills at level B2. Some state medical associations (still) accept B2 certificates from the Goethe Institute or TELC, some now require a language certificate at level C1.

More and more state medical associations have also developed their own language tests (“patient communication tests”) in which professional German is tested in writing and orally.

Even if you may receive your license to practice medicine with a B2 certificate, these language skills are usually not sufficient for daily work in a hospital. Depending on the specialist area (surgery, neurology, psychiatry …), the actual requirements in everyday clinical practice are different: When dealing with patients, you often have to deal with people in difficult situations who may not be able to express themselves clearly. A patient in distress or in a mentally confused state is usually unable to speak slowly or clearly. In the German media, there are currently frequent reports about foreign doctors with poor knowledge of German.

As a result, hospitals are increasingly placing significantly higher demands on the language skills of their foreign applicants than level B2. As a rule, the chief physicians and senior physicians will personally convince themselves of your German language skills during an interview.
The following applies here: The better your knowledge of German – including specialist German – the greater your actual chances of getting a job. A license to practice medicine is no guarantee of an employment contract. The requirements of hospitals in terms of German language skills are tending to increase.

In order to be able to use the German language successfully in your work in Germany, I offer you various courses. I have been training doctors for 3 years, preparing them for a successful day-to-day work in Germany. I offer you the opportunity to communicate better with your colleagues and your patients.

• Standard course (60 daily teaching units of 45 minutes each) – 600,- Euro
• Blitz course (30 daily teaching units of 45 minutes each) – 400,- Euro
• Intensive course (10 daily teaching units of 30 minutes each – 199,- Euro