German Medical School Curriculum

[dreamer517]

Hi! I was just wondering if there is someone that went to medical school in Germany that could provide information on the medical school curriculum. I just need a list of the courses you took each semester. Thanks in advance!

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[rytydy]

Wow- there seems to be an unusual amount of interest in Germany at the moment!!

Medical school here takes 6 years and is broken down into Vorklinik (premed) and Klinik. Here is a general curriculum list- at least the major courses (not all Universities teach in this order):

Semester 1-4: Chemistry, Physics, Anatomy, Biology, Psychology, Biochemistry, Physiology, Histology .....hmmm... I am sure there are some I have forgotten.

Semester 5: clinical basics- Microbiology, Immunology, Pathology, Pathophys, Radiology, Genetics, Pharmacology

Semester 6-9: all the clinical courses- Internal med, Surgery, Pediatrics... etc... (it is a long list with everything you would expect)

Semester 10: "project semester"- time for the Doctoral research

Semester 11-12: Practical year- 4 months each of Internal medicine, Surgery and the field of your choice

This is the curriculum at my school but the order is not standard. The individual courses usually consist of lectures and practical rotations on the wards. The practical year is then similar to internship (though not quite as intense). In addition we are required to do a 3 month nursing internship during the Vorklinik and 4x 1 month Famulatur (like clerkships) during the Klinik. There are both written and oral exams in each course at the end of the semester as well as 2 board exams (one after the Vorklinik and one after the practical year) that are also both written and oral.

Hope this answers your question!

If you speak German, here is the website of the University I went to (LMU- Munich) with more exact details.

www.mecum-online.de

 

[dreamer517]

Hi there!
Thank you so much for all the information!
You are so right-German medical schools have been generating a lot of interest lately. I would love to study there but the only downside right now is the fact that I would need 6yrs. to finish.
I was told that since I already have a BA in Biological Sciences I would be able to get credit for the sience classes I have already taken. So looking at the list you wrote I have most of the classes from the 1st and 2nd year and Immunology and Genetics from the 5th semester. I'm just not entirely clear on whether or not I would be able to take classes from the 5th semester in my first year if I get credit for most of the classes from that year. Do you know if that's possible?
Thanks again for all the help-I really appreciate it

 

[rytydy]

I had the same situation and didn't have to take most of the first 3 semester courses. However, German beurocracy can be really slow- it took about 6 months until they were able to accept/transfer my credits so... start early! even if the course work is accepted it is still hard to take more advanced courses or shorten the amount of time that you study. 6 years seems like a long time but it goes by fast and (especially if you have an easier course load in the beginning) the schedule is less stressful than in American universities. There is time to do other things on the side such as a part-time job to make some money or research/extra-clerkships etc...

I found the biggest advantage (over American schools) is that it is so cheap to study here- It was free but is now about 300-500 Euro per semester at most Universities. There are of course negatives to studying here but I am very happy with the choice I made.

 

[211498]

It depends on your university, but in most cases it's like rytydy already wrote. Cologne, Hannover, Aachen for example do so called "Reformstudiengaenge", the curricula differ from the regular scheme.

The first two years are the so called "Vorklinik" afterwards you take your first big exam called "1. Aerztliche Pruefung" or "Physikum", afterwards three years of "Klinik" start, the last year is the mentioned "Praktisches Jahr (PJ)". After that you take your second big exam, the "2. Aerztliche Pruefung".

I did the Vorklinik in Heidelberg and it went like this:
1. Semester: Anatomy, Chemistry, Physics and "Berufsfelderkundung" (Sorry, I don't know how to translate this, we basically spent 1 day with a family practioner)
2. Semester: Biology, Psychology, Histology
3. and 4. Sem.: Physiology, Biochemistry and "Introduction to clinical medicine"

And the "Klinik" in Bonn so far went like this:
5. Semester: Pathology, Radiology, Clinical Chemistry and Biochemistry
6. Semester: Microbiology and Virology, Hygine, Pharmacology and Toxycology

 

[N90]

thanks all for the information I've got from you
I'm just wondering about the way of teaching
here , in the Netherlands , we are studying PBL way
( small sessions not lectures )

and i have a small question, to be accepted in germans' university is it easy or not enough places for international student ? and the language is it all in Deutch ? because I'm thinking to change my study to germany
need your advice !