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Medicine · B2–C1 · 6 units

Medizin

A junior doctor's first months in a German hospital: taking the history, the examination, explaining a procedure, presenting to the senior physician, the discharge letter, hard conversations and the consultation.

Doctors from abroad working in a German hospital or getting ready to — including for the Fachsprachprüfung, the medical language exam.

  1. 1. Die AnamneseB2Take a patient's history in plain German — the complaint, the pain, previous illnesses, medicines, allergies, family and life — and write it up in medical terms.
  2. 2. Die körperliche UntersuchungB2Give clear, polite instructions during an examination, say what you are doing, ask about pain when you press — and write the findings in the style of the record.
  3. 3. Die AufklärungB2Explain a planned examination in plain words — what happens, why, the risks, the alternatives — answer the patient's questions, get consent, and document the talk.
  4. 4. Die PatientenvorstellungC1Present a patient to your senior physician in medical language — one clear opening sentence, the relevant history and findings, the suspected and differential diagnoses, the plan — and end with a clear question.
  5. 5. Der ArztbriefC1Write a discharge letter in the standard structure and phrasing — diagnoses, history, findings, therapy and course, recommendations, medication — and explain the same discharge to the patient in plain words.
  6. 6. Schwierige GesprächeC1Break bad news with empathy and a clear structure, answer a worried relative honestly without false promises, call another department for a consultation, and document the conversation.

The track's words

104 words in its units, and in its word set the words that go with them.

Study the set

Working as a doctor in Germany

  • To practise medicine in Germany you need a licence: the Approbation (the full, permanent licence) or a Berufserlaubnis (a temporary licence).
  • The licence is granted by the authority of the federal state (Land) where you want to work — the Approbationsbehörde; in Bavaria, for example, the ZAABY. It compares your medical degree with German training (Gleichwertigkeitsprüfung).
  • If it finds substantial differences that your work experience doesn't make up for, you prove your knowledge in a Kenntnisprüfung: an oral and practical exam with patient cases, mainly in internal medicine and surgery, of 60 to 90 minutes.
  • In March 2026 the Bundestag passed a law that makes the Kenntnisprüfung the normal route for degrees from outside the EU, while a document-based Gleichwertigkeitsprüfung stays possible. The details are set in the Approbationsordnung — ask your authority which route applies to you.
  • With a degree from outside the EU you can apply for a Berufserlaubnis to work for a limited time without the Approbation, under the supervision of a doctor who has one, and sometimes only in a certain area.
  • German: general German at level B2 is usually required, plus the Fachsprachprüfung, which is oriented at C1 in medical German. In most federal states the Landesärztekammer holds it; usually your authority registers you for it.
  • The Fachsprachprüfung simulates the hospital day. At the Ärztekammer Westfalen-Lippe, for example, it has three parts of 20 minutes each: a history-taking conversation with a simulated patient, a written report of it, and a conversation in which you present the patient to a doctor. This track practises these situations — never with the exam's own tasks.
  • Fees, documents, the order of the exams and the details of the Fachsprachprüfung differ from state to state. Always check with the authority and the Landesärztekammer of the state where you want to work.
Anerkennung in Deutschland — the federal government's portal on recognition Anerkennung in Deutschland — the procedure for doctors (Ärztin/Arzt), here for Bavaria Bundesärztekammer — recognition of medical degrees from outside the EU (in English) Bundesärztekammer — on the 2026 law to speed up recognition (in German) Ärztekammer Westfalen-Lippe — the Fachsprachenprüfung, an example of one state (in German)

Rules change and depend on your state and your case — the official portals and your authority have the last word.