Information for doctors from abroad

Have you completed a medical degree abroad and would like to work as a doctor in Germany? Then you should apply to the Behörde für Arbeit, Gesundheit, Soziales, Familie und Integration (Sozialbehörde), Amt für Gesundheit - Landesprüfungsamt für Heilberufe, Postfach 760 106, 22051 Hamburg - for a licence to practise medicine or a professional permit. Only then are you allowed to work as a doctor in Germany.

What is the difference between a licence to practise medicine and a professional permit? A licence to practise medicine is issued for an unlimited period and is valid throughout Germany. A professional permit is temporary and restricted to a federal state, sometimes also to a specific job.

For information on the requirements for a licence to practise medicine or a professional permit, please contact the Landesprüfungsamt (State Examination Office) on the above link. Here you will also find all the necessary forms and a list of all the documents you need to enclose with your application.

To be able to work as a doctor in Germany, good German language skills are important. The Landesprüfungsamt may therefore ask you to take a specialist language test at the Ärztekammer Hamburg for a licence to practise medicine or a professional permit to be granted. You can find the relevant information here:

• Information on the Specialist Language Tests

The Landesprüfungsamt may also ask you to prove your medical expertise in an examination. This is known as the Knowledge Test. You can find further information here:

• Information on the Knowledge Test

Once you have received your licence to practise medicine or professional permit, you need to register as a member of the Ärztekammer Hamburg (Hamburg Medical Association) in the medical register if:

• you work in Hamburg as a doctor or
• you are resident in Hamburg and do not work as a doctor

You can find information about registering here.

Once you have registered with the Ärztekammer Hamburg, you can have your work abroad partially or fully recognised as further training to become a medical specialist abroad (EU or third country recognition). To do so, you need to submit an application to the Ärztekammer Hamburg.

• Application for recognition of work abroad (in accordance with WBO 2015 (Regulation on Further Education) + new WBO 2020) (in German)
• Application for accreditation of EU medical specialist qualification (in German)
• Application for third country recognition (in German)
• Application for Recognition of Qualifications (in English)

With the Anerkennungs-Finder / Recognition Finder of the German government’s information portal for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications, you can obtain important information on the procedure in German and English.