Guide to work as MD in Germany .Part I : This Guide in principle is for medical students and Physicians who finish their study of Medicine in non-EU Countries who wish to work and do post-graduate Degree in Germany and based solely on my personal experience as MD graduated from Iraq,that is why it could be not suitable for everyone but may be beneficial. 1- The Language the German Language is very difficult one, even if you have the capabilities to master English or French,still German language is difficult and one of the reasons is the big difference between spoken and written daily usage of the language,you should bevery talentedto acquire good level(B2) to work as Doctor.I get level B2 in 10 months. but to be competent in communication skills and understanding (some Dialect) you need more than this. personally i live in Germany since 02.02.2008 but still after nearly 20 months feels sometime difficulties when it comes to writing or documentation in work,so before everything else you should learn the Language efficiently before thinking in working in Germany.you should also learn the Medical German Language because the pronunciation and writing in work is little bit different from English or other Languages.There are many ways to learn the languages in addition to books and school and give you some tips:a- try to watch some German TV series with subtitle in German(through Teletext) you will learn many words in short time and also learn how the German communicate with each others.b- get a German girlfriend.c- think German: try to reset your Brain-HD to think like a Germanand be full confident of yourself even if you make mistakes at beginninguse any method to learn the language very fast because its the only difference between you and a German Doctor,and when you will be able to master the language there will be no one could make a comment on your communication skills rather than your work. in the next parts I will talk about my personal experience and impression about German medical authorities,German medical License , German medical system, Private institutes which teach integration for doctors from outside Germany and many things more... So Stay in Touch and watch my subsequent parts in this Guide.Doctors will have more lives to answer for in the next world than even we generals.Napoleon Bonaparte Part 2 Guide to work as MD in Germany.Part 2 : As I write in the first part after you finish B2 level in Language in Goethe Institute or in any other institute (Euro-schule..VHS etc) you need to master German medical language which need about 15 days and there is wonderful book called(Medizinische Fachsprache leicht gemacht) it’s very cheap and very beneficial and I used personally and you could buy it from Amazon website and its intended for Physicians who want to work in Germany. Once you feel that your capabilities in language is good regarding Verbal communication and you are able to express yourself clearly and you could use the German medical terms in average way(still you could use sometimes in matter of difficulty English medical terms) then you are fit for the next step. You should start to read about German medical system…there is a lot of articles in English in Wikipedia which throw very good spotlight about this issue like: 1-Medical Insurance 2-types of hospitals 3-medical hierarchy 4-medical specialization 5-Hospital finance You could also postpone these information later if you do not have enough time. Once you have the legal status to stay In Germany whether Through marriage, Asylum , immigration or a Study exchange program then you should contact (Landesgesundheitsamt)Depend on where you live, In which state in Germany( there are16 State) and get information about the requirement to get a permission which is usually limited to work as( Arzt) it’s called beruf-erlaubnis and it’s different from Arbeit erlaubnis, and there are many differences between each state in Germany.For example I live in Baden-Württemberg and its considered to be one of difficult states of Germany because the requirement to work, that you should be examined in one of Universities in 4 main branches in Medicine (Internal Medicine and Surgery (obligatory) and two additional branch) in my case Pathology and Pharmacology but some time you my get Medical chemistry or Medical staticsAnd this is called Gleichwertigskeitprüfumg.In some other states like Bayern for example you do not need to do this examination,it depends on the official person who will decide to give you this permission or not and there are no guidelines for these officials to decide which one deserve permission based on his medical qualification and which one do not deserve because he or she lacks the equivalent German medical Standard.Still a lot of doctors who finish their study outside EU choose to settle in Bayernbecause it’s easy way to get work there in Rehabilitation Centrumor elsewhere because of fear from the examination (you have only 2-time chance to perform this examination, and if you failed you will never be able to work in Germany as M.D) personally I prefer the BW systembecause if you pass this exam you will be equal to any M.D graduated from German Medical university.Still in Bayern you need to do this examination in order to get approbation to get unlimited permission to work for life as M.D and this also applied to all other states in Germany.I will write complete chapter about how to prepare yourself for this examination optimally but for now I will write about my biggest failure which cost me 6 monthmedical doctors to Germanydelay before I get my first Job and this is the private Institute to prepare and integrate immigratingIt always seems impossible until it’s done.Nelson Mandela Guide to work as MD in Germany.Part 3 This part is about my personal experience in private institute which offer service like integration and preparing Non-EU MD to find their way to work in the medical field in Germany as physicians, Surgeon, nurses or pharmacist etc… This is absloute personal experienceIn 2008 after finishing 3 months non-paid work as( Gast-Arzt in Chirurgie in MVZ in BW) and in order to prepare myself for the Gleichwertigskeit Prüfung , I started to look for private institute to develop my language communication skills and better understanding of the medical German system and after short surfing in internet, I found 2 institute:1-http://www.mibeg.de/ in Sachsenring 37–39 50677 Köln2-http://www.via-institut.de/ in NürnbergI read both websites and all information and services they offer, and then I ask some people about both institutes and mostly they recommend mibeg in Köln.Still I take the stupid decision to go to Nürnberg why?a-Because I have 2 sisters who live in Nürnberg and both offer me accommodation and free hot meals, and all the 5 stars service for hotels. (Mama-Hotel)b-I was mistaken because I thought that since both institute are licensed from government in each state then there will be no difference in the standard of education and that was completely wrong.So I choose theVia-institutebased on these 2 facts. I send E-mail to the Institute Director about my request to join his Institute and he replied very nicely and send me all information through E-mail and invite me to a meeting with other students from different nationalities for Info-tag(information day) before the beginning of course which consist of 2 modules(2month plus 3 months) you could see the information on his website.I contact the work-Agent in my region (Arbeit-Agentur) and they were very nice and they accept to finance all the cost of the private institute whatever I choose in order to get a job as (Arzt) as soon as possible although I do not receive any financial support from the German authorities and they pay all the financial requirement to the institute and the study begin.The first Module 2 months:About 30 students from 7 nationalities with different level of language skills and different medical standard in small room equipped with a beamer which is most of the time is defected and an old notebook belong to the Ice Age.The lectures divided between German medical language, German language, and how to write your C.V and how to apply for a Job.For the German medical language it was very primitive non structural and waste of time for nothingyou could substitute it with the book for German medical language which I mentioned it in Part 2 of this Guide and I am sure every normal average physician could master the whole German medical language in matter of 2 weeks if he read the book for 2 hours a day.The German language lecture (in which the institute offer the ability to prepare for B2 level)Was one of the worst I ever had, I learned the language in what is called (volkshochschule) VHS and I get B1 levelbefore I joined the Institute and it was 100 times better than the lectures in this institute.The worst part was how to write CV and how to apply for Job and the strategy in applying for job and the job interview etc…The director of institute used about 20% of the time in both modules (5 months everyday approximatly 8 hours ) to give us lectures about this theme although to get a medical job in Germany is very easy if you are qualified enough and have similar standard to German doctors and there are many readymade formula which you could easily modified it to fit your individual case(i did it personally and get a job from the first interview), it was more than 80 hours of talk, and the reason for this lengthy lectures was not because it’s so difficult but because it was just time filling procedure because hiring a professional medical lecturer in the important fields(like Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics and Gynecology..etc) which you will need it in your preparation for the Exam or start work will cost the institute more money and at end it will decrease the income of institute.And you could imagine 80 hours for what is called CV writing, job application and 4 hours only 4 hours for Gynecology and may be less as I remember.More than 90 % of us as students regarding the fee of institute was paid by work-agent which means we did not pay any cent for the institute personally (including me) but still its painful not only regarding the money but also the time I wasted personally in this institute and the problem I realized these facts only after I was engaged in the second module.I understand every learning process (although I came from a Third world country) as process of active opinion exchange when it comes to positive criticism between the students and the lecturer.In the case of institute director it was very different, he takes a very criticism personally and he will not response friendly when someone ask him question like I ask him one day when he was talking about how successful his institute is , if he has statistics regarding this matter? because as he mentioned that he supply many hospitals with doctors who graduated from his institute, he tries to escape the answer but I insist if he has a numbers…numbers(cause I believe in numbers) he react angrily and change the subject.One of the shocking thing which happened to me and may be to other students that one of the lecturer bring her Dog with to the lecture room, it was a nice dogand personally I like dogs but not in the lecture room, Do you believe it???It will give you an example about how serious some lecturers!!!!But to be Objective there were 4 lecturers although they have may be only 12 hours, they were nice and competent.the second module was also not very good as he promise and personally I started not to attend the rest of his lectures about CV writing…also I did not go with groups where he often used one whole day to make a trip to the old city of Nürnberg, visiting Reha-CentrumOr visiting Pharma-industery… etc waste of time.Naturally all (except one for personal reason)of us graduated from his institute, no one could not pass both exams in both modules and the question is how many of us will be able to pass the (Gleichwertigskeitprüfung)and how many will get works and when? I do not know!!!Personally I was successfully pass the Gleichwertigskeitprüfung after the end of the VIA course in 3 months and I did not get any benefit from the course when I estimate the time which I spend it in this course, and I am only thankful for these 4 lecturers because I get from them in 12 hours which is more worth than approximately 600 hours of nothing.My advice is : I do not recommend this institute for any non EU or even EU medical doctors who wish to prepare himself to work as doctor in Germany.P.S if you need further information about my personal experience in this institute feel free to mail meI will write a complete article about this institute in Arabic, German and Russian languages for other colleagues who do not understand English.And I will ask my 2 friends to inform me about mibeg institute in köln because they have both a positive experience about it, then they could help.one last thing if someone did not study medicine or health science , I do not believe he or she will be able to run any institue teaching medicine or anything close to medicine. “Medicine makes people ill, mathematics makes them sad, and theology makes them sinful” Martin Luther
what are the guidelines for an eu medical graduate ? , could u plz brief on that , would really appreicate it ty...
Hi Maher, it was pretty useful information. Well, I did my MED school from Russia, but I am an Indian citizen. Now I am looking for, post graduation in Germany in Medicine. Presently I am doing my A2 level course in India, so can you please shed some light on the process of getting into german hospitals for Post graduation in various fields. Also, I wanted to know if I could contact you by email if you don't mind. Mine is [email protected] Thanking you in anticipation. Best regards. Sushil
Hi sushil i wish i could share some info , but it was not me who prepared thiz article , im personaly looking for some infor regarding tiz ...... sry m8
Sorry Sri, I have made the corrections...Lets be in touch so that we can help each other if we happen to get any info on it....TC buddy
hey there my dear physicians , I've already sit for my post grade in Spain, but I've realized that It's not tha pleace for me to stay, then I got totally interested to do my post grade in Germany, I really apreciate any information, Thanks so much for sharing your experience, a huge hag from Valencia, España
Hi Maher can you elaborate any information regarding Gleichwertigkeitsprüfung which states conduct this and which wont/ Thank you very much in advance.
Hi Maher Listen, I'm really interested about going to Germany to work as a doctor. So I'd like to stay in touch with you and know a little bit more about you experience. My email is [email protected]. Thank you
السلام عليكم دكتور ماهر أنا حاليا بدرس في آخر سنه في كليه الطب و عندي نيه إن شاء الله للسفر لألمانيا لإستكمال الدراسات العليا و العمل في نفس الوقت هل من الممكن فعل الإثنين في نفس الوقت و ما المطلوب مني قبل السفر ... إتقان اللغه الألمانيه فقط ؟!!!
Hi Maher, thank you for the information, I just had a couple questions regarding the private institute in Koln, I´m a medical student from Guatemala which is also a third world country so I asume I have to take the same steps. I was just wondering if you had any idea about the cost of that institute and how long it took before you are ready to take the test? thank you
I have just followed through the link on your website provided; determination,com where information about American Cancer Society is found with vital portals reviewing case-studies offering procedural guidelines over clinical recommendations conducting examinations including many other surgical references. I think to begin from this point alone strictly qualifies my skills under Biomedical Sciences which I am sure would only need to undergo Practical Clinical Investigations. For example, You can see that even New York Academy of Sciences( Medicine) where I remained constantly attaching lessons continue laying reflection to allow my becoming part of Medical Examining Board which at National Level could mean joining the Medical Association of Zambia which off-course they are very much aware about this matter. I did availed my skills to them through Public Symposium under National Health Research and Development last year, 2013 where earlier it was urged to again became part on Biomedical Council of Zambia, Now, all of this can't do without any professional degree or even simply honorary degrees.But, if impact is to be felt on any sector of community participation ! I think that this is a right moment for University of Zambia to issue proven qualifications, Kingsley,
Thanks, very much I have just began uploading some relevant information here ! Nevertheless, I would like to understand that my Medicine Career is already at Post-Doctoral Level though this is an independent career Path.
Hi friends, I am Dr.Mohan from India completed my graduation from India....I want to have instant access to all other doctors who are planning to go to Germany for education and work.so i am starting a whatsapp group called "Doctors to Germany" those he wanna share doubts exchange information for mutual benefits message me +919989494847 Lets hope best Amigos.
hi maher thank you very much for telling us about your experience , i'm very interested about working in Germany i'm from morocco i'll graduate the next year, i really wanna stay in touch with since i may need some informations and advice, especially since we're both from arabic counties this is my email : [email protected] please accept my request thank you.
hello sir i am doing the B1 level now and an iraqi doctor want to do my post graguation in Germany , some ppl say its very diffecult some say its an easy one . and i wanna do a 3 months as a Gaust Arzt in Germany how can i do that please can i have yr Email to talk further please feel free to E mail me (( [email protected] )). thanks for the info
