How do I apply for medicine in Germany?

[evaluna]

hey everyone,
I have just graduated from high school here Australia and I've been planning to further my studies in the field of Medicine in Germany. I've been browsing thru websites of different German universities but they don't really provide all the information that i need. Hence , i was hoping that German med students , especially those originally from Australia (with an Australian high school certificate) can help me with the application procedure. First of all , how do i get in?? Am i allowed to apply for the medicine course without any German language qualifications? I understand that i will have to enrol in a studienkolleg first , but do i apply to the university before or after i sit my studienkolleg exams? Any feedback regarding this will be of much assistance to me , and is much appreciated as i have been trying to get further information but to no avail...

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[mikbal]

hey you are new here like me

nice to hear that you want to study medicine! I am a medical student from Turkey it is my 3rd semester. If I am not mistaken you want to study in Germany , hmm I ll be in Germany next year for 2 semesters and I m looking for somenody from Germany to get some info. actually I have met a friend in this site I wrote and I am waiting for answer. did you chose any university? I have heard some promissing things about Koln, Teubingen and Berlin medical schools I ll share with you if I get new info and you write to me please

nice to meet you and you may send me private messages if you want talk more about this topic

 

[med_heidelberg]

Actually all of the information you need is on the university websites (naturally in german). Other foreign students have figured all of this out before, so it is certainly possible.

I dont know any details about the Studienkolleg, but you have to pass the appropriate language exam to get a spot in a German medical school.

Which schools are you interested in? Perhaps I can look on the school websites again.

 

[mikbal]

hey med_heidelberg!

could check websites of medical schools for me? I wanna to learn which lessons do you have in 3rd course. especially Teubingen, Köln and Berlin universities. danke schön!

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Actually all of the information you need is on the university websites (naturally in german).

All the more reason for me to major in German as an undergrad.....

 

[med_heidelberg]

hey med_heidelberg!

could check websites of medical schools for me? I wanna to learn which lessons do you have in 3rd course. especially Teubingen, Köln and Berlin universities. danke schön!

What do you mean by 3rd course? 3rd Fachsemester?? Im not familiar with those schools' medical curricula, although I did do research in Tübingen. I mainly applied to schools in Southern Germany. I suggest you go to the medical faculty website, find the email address or phone number for the Studienberater or Studiendekanat and contact them personally. Explain your situation and they will be glad to help you out.

 

[mikbal]

What do you mean by 3rd course? 3rd Fachsemester?? Im not familiar with those schools' medical curricula, although I did do research in Tübingen. I mainly applied to schools in Southern Germany. I suggest you go to the medical faculty website, find the email address or phone number for the Studienberater or Studiendekanat and contact them personally. Explain your situation and they will be glad to help you out.

yes thank you I ll try to do it with my poor german

 

[vexa]

Hi there,
I am a German medical student in the 5 th year ( university of Würzburg ).
Unfortunatly I cannot give you a lot of info about how to get in as a foreigner but I could tell you how the course is structured, what exams you have to pass....
The only thing I have heard about getting in as a non-German is that you have to come to Germany, enrol in another subject ( eg chemistry ) and than you are able to take part in a German exam. If you pass that you can apply for med school. I do not know whether this is really correct - but it heard it from a guy from Israel who managed to get in.
Best wishes

 

[med_heidelberg]

As vexa mentioned, you can gain admission to another subject and then switch to medicine (Quereinsteig). This is only possible is a study spot is available, and you can expect a lot of competition with this.

You can also apply directly to medicine, and you will have to take a language exam for that. There are very few spots for foreigners and the competition is immense, I think Ive stated that elsewhere. Not to discourage people, but studying medicine in German as a foreign language is not for the weak of heart. Its difficult because you are working with a handicap, but once you start to suceed and even surpass your German peers who do it in their native language, you begin to feel better and have more confidence in your skills.

However i would only recommend this path if you have lived in a German speaking country for at least a year so you are familiar with the language and the culture. Things are quite different here. The exams are notoriously difficult, it is not unusual that half the class will fail the first time around. Also anatomy exams are oral in front of the cadaver and half of the board exam is oral and three hours long.

 

[ALUMed]

Dear Evaluna, Mikbal, and anyone interested in studying medicine in Germany,

in case you are wondering which some of the best German medical schools are, here's a list of good ones (I'm sure I will draw some flak for this, but I will list the ones often appearing in the top group in newspaper and periodical rankings, such as Der Spiegel, and which score high on the CHE research ranking):

- Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg
- Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg
- Ludwig Maximilians University Munich
- Technical University Munich
- Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen
- Charite Berlin (joint Humboldt and Free University of Berlin program)

I'm not sure about the others, but there's plenty of English information on the application site for the University of Freiburg (www.medizinstudium.uni-freiburg.de)
Good Luck!

 

[mikbal]

hey thank you very much! Alumed and wexa!

oh I am a student of Erasmus I have 3 choices to study Koln , Teubingen and Berlin. especially I wanna know morea bout this schools and I ll be in 3th year what kinda lessons do I have to study there??

I ll be appriciate with your help

 

[ALUMed]

Hey Mikbal,
Tuebingen and Berlin are better medical schools than Koeln, if you can, I would try to get into Berlin, as it has Europe's largest university hospital (the Charite). The curriculum varies slightly from university to university, so I can not tell you for sure which classes you will have, but I am in my third semester in Freiburg and I have general pathology, microbiology, virology, immunology, general pharmacology, medical history and ethics, and epidemiology. Good luck with everything!

 

[mikbal]

hey Alumed!

thanks for answer yea I can choose tübingen or berlin. I wrote both of them and I only got answer from Charite! oh could you tell me please how old are you if you in your 3rd year at medicine faculty? I am 18 and I dont how old are my classmates haha see you!

 

[ALUMed]

Hey Mikbal,

wow , you're pretty young, you must have been very good in high school! I am 22 and most of my classmates are between 22 and 24, though it is not entirely uncommon to be a little older as well. Which university in Turkey are you studying at? All the best

 

[mikbal]

Hey Mikbal,

wow , you're pretty young, you must have been very good in high school! I am 22 and most of my classmates are between 22 and 24, though it is not entirely uncommon to be a little older as well. Which university in Turkey are you studying at? All the best

hi ALUmed!

yep I am a bit young I hope my next classmates will love me like a little brother it will really interesting! oh I am stuying at Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University and it is the best.

oh nearly forget I wasnt bad in high school

ok take care, my friend!

 

[Sarah in UK]

hey im Sarah, i live in England but actually have German Nationality. I want to study Medicine in Germany, but seriously dont know how or when i can apply. Since i am actually German nationality it should be easier but hey its really not lol. Erm... can any1 help??

Also does any1 know can u study medicine in Germany in English?
Thnks
Sarah xx

 

[prefontaine]

Nein, aber ich kenne eine medizinische Universitaet in England, wo in deutsch unterrichtet wird!!!

hey im Sarah, i live in England but actually have German Nationality. I want to study Medicine in Germany, but seriously dont know how or when i can apply. Since i am actually German nationality it should be easier but hey its really not lol. Erm... can any1 help??

Also does any1 know can u study medicine in Germany in English?
Thnks
Sarah xx

 

[f_w]

German nationality is not the deciding factor, having finished high-school inside or outside the EU space is the deciding factor for the question whether you have to go through the general match mechanism or whether you are allowed to apply as an international student.

 

[mousebyte]

hey everyone,
I have just graduated from high school here Australia and I've been planning to further my studies in the field of Medicine in Germany. I've been browsing thru websites of different German universities but they don't really provide all the information that i need. Hence , i was hoping that German med students , especially those originally from Australia (with an Australian high school certificate) can help me with the application procedure. First of all , how do i get in?? Am i allowed to apply for the medicine course without any German language qualifications? I understand that i will have to enrol in a studienkolleg first , but do i apply to the university before or after i sit my studienkolleg exams? Any feedback regarding this will be of much assistance to me , and is much appreciated as i have been trying to get further information but to no avail...

sorry, but you have got to be kidding

you need first to have the grades to be accepted in Australia, and have an excellent knowledge of German (pass the DaF)

I have been working in Germany at a hospital for my speclialization

oh and if you qualify in Germany your degree isn"t accepted in Australia, you have to sit the exam that auslanders have to sit, you have 2 chances, and it is very hard

Tchus

 

[mousebyte]

i had a good website link

aber mein Flugzoig fliegt bald. und ich kann nicht es finden.

aber es ist auf english


you should note that the German and Australian systems are dufferent

ｔｈｅｒｅ　ａｒｅ　ａｌｒｅａｄｙ　ｍａｎｙ　Ｇｅｒｍａｎ　ｍｅｄｉｃａｌ　ｓｔｕｄｅｎｔｓ　ｗａｎｔｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｔｏ　Ａｕｓｔｒａｌｉａ　！

 

[mikbal]

hey im Sarah, i live in England but actually have German Nationality. I want to study Medicine in Germany, but seriously dont know how or when i can apply. Since i am actually German nationality it should be easier but hey its really not lol. Erm... can any1 help??

Also does any1 know can u study medicine in Germany in English?
Thnks
Sarah xx

hey! are you a medical student in England? I m a medical student from Turkey and I ll be studying in Germany next year as a student of Erasmus Student Exchange Programme.. by the way I think it would be a bit difficult for you if you are already a medical one in Engliand so teaching systems are different if I m not mistaken.. anyway all I can say is this.. I hope I could help you.. Good luck

 

[HappySmile]

http://www.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/AAA/english/info_hd_main.htm

this is my university's English site. It gives a good orientation.

It used to be easier for foreign students to get into school. Eversince 2004 or 2005 (memory fails me) entry procedures changed (I used to be in the student union and followed that process), so I'm not quite sure anymore how regulations are.

[email protected] is the email address of Heidelberg's medical student association. Most universities have a "Fachschaft" and they should be able to help you out if the student secretaries are not of help.

Be aware that all teaching is in German. Heidelberg also offers a German language course, but medical school will be tough without sufficient language proficiency.

 

[Oracle78]

ehm..

i also study in heidelberg currently and i accidentally met an australian last year that wanna start to study medicine here.

she did her high school in australia and could study medicine without further visiting the studienkolleg. but i must say that she is fluent in german.

i dont think that it's possible to study medicine without a good until very good language proficiency.

so good luck and sorry for the late reply...

 

[f_w]

If you can proove sufficient length of schooling (e.g. US highschool + 2 years of college) AND proficiency in the language (e.g. by passing the language test or with a Goethe institute diploma), you can enter directly without going through the studienkolleg.

 

[Dr.One]

If you can proove sufficient length of schooling (e.g. US highschool + 2 years of college) AND proficiency in the language (e.g. by passing the language test or with a Goethe institute diploma), you can enter directly without going through the studienkolleg.

is this true if you have been educated in the USA but are an EU citizen? i moved to america when i was 14 and recently moved back to england and all my qualifications are american.

 

[f_w]

is this true if you have been educated in the USA but are an EU citizen? i moved to america when i was 14 and recently moved back to england and all my qualifications are american.

Your status as to whether you have to apply in the general applicant pool or wheter you are allowed to apply to individual schools directly is determined by where you graduated high-school.

 

[leorash007]

m really interested to do fellowship in orthopedics from Germany.
i have completed my mbbs and presently doing my internship.
Kindly advise me how to go through the exact procedure,
i will be highly obliged to you.
thanks and regards

 

[amberleigh]

http://www.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/AAA/english/info_hd_main.htm

this is my university's English site. It gives a good orientation.

It used to be easier for foreign students to get into school. Eversince 2004 or 2005 (memory fails me) entry procedures changed (I used to be in the student union and followed that process), so I'm not quite sure anymore how regulations are.

[email protected] is the email address of Heidelberg's medical student association. Most universities have a "Fachschaft" and they should be able to help you out if the student secretaries are not of help.

Be aware that all teaching is in German. Heidelberg also offers a German language course, but medical school will be tough without sufficient language proficiency.

Is medical studies in german medical schools are four years long? because i am thinking of what if getting through the master in molecular medicine first which is english is the language of instruction then while in that program learn german and then apply to german medical schools. i don't know just a thought. i found this molecular medicine program in university of ulm that is taught in english, and its 1.5 years, not that bad. well only if im really desperate to go to any german medical schools. whats in germany anyway, why people so desperate to go there, when i don't think germans want anybody there who cant speak their language. isn't that obvious in not offering medical studies in english.

 

[f_w]

Is medical studies in german medical schools are four years long?

It is 6.3 years. Unfortunately this is hard-coded into law and there is little credit for coursework done prior to entering. German higher education doesn't know the separation into undergrad and graduate school. Medical school is entered directly out of high-school or military service.

whats in germany anyway, why people so desperate to go there, when i don't think germans want anybody there who cant speak their language. isn't that obvious in not offering medical studies in english.

German medical schools are provided by the respective states to train physicians for local use. As those local patients for the most part speak either german or turkish, there is no need to train physicians in english. These schools are not in the 'business' of training US candidates who will return to the states after they are done (like some irish and australian schools). If one wishes to take advantage of the essentially free medical education in germany, they'll just have to go through the trouble of learning german first.

 

[amberleigh]

It is 6.3 years. Unfortunately this is hard-coded into law and there is little credit for coursework done prior to entering. German higher education doesn't know the separation into undergrad and graduate school. Medical school is entered directly out of high-school or military service.



German medical schools are provided by the respective states to train physicians for local use. As those local patients for the most part speak either german or turkish, there is no need to train physicians in english. These schools are not in the 'business' of training US candidates who will return to the states after they are done (like some irish and australian schools). If one wishes to take advantage of the essentially free medical education in germany, they'll just have to go through the trouble of learning german first.

Oh okay, thanks for letting me know.

 

[break]

hey every one i really need some help im going to graduate next year and i really want to study in germany for medicine i really want to know if the universities are free or do they have fees because i also have an eu passport. the next thing i want to know is that can i study in english there or i need to know german. do i need to make an entrance exam or not. i really appreciate if any one could help me. oh and by the way what grades do i need to have in order to be excepted

 

[f_w]

hey every one i really need some help im going to graduate next year and i really want to study in germany for medicine i really want to know if the universities are free or do they have fees because i also have an eu passport. the next thing i want to know is that can i study in english there or i need to know german. do i need to make an entrance exam or not. i really appreciate if any one could help me. oh and by the way what grades do i need to have in order to be excepted

I believe that most of your questions have already been adressed within this thread.

 

[Cardiomyopathia]

hey vexa!! hope that u r fine, i am a new member of SDNF and i am doing my medicine from Donestk National Medical university that's in UKRAINE but after that i want to settle up in Germany that's why please give me some information about entrance exam in Germany.

 

[shahrouz]

It is 6.3 years. Unfortunately this is hard-coded into law and there is little credit for coursework done prior to entering. German higher education doesn't know the separation into undergrad and graduate school. Medical school is entered directly out of high-school or military service.
German medical schools are provided by the respective states to train physicians for local use. As those local patients for the most part speak either german or turkish, there is no need to train physicians in english. These schools are not in the 'business' of training US candidates who will return to the states after they are done (like some irish and australian schools). If one wishes to take advantage of the essentially free medical education in germany, they'll just have to go through the trouble of learning german first.

hey guys
i'm Ms polymer enginner in iran. i want to study medicine in germany, i searched germany universities for this. i saw their sites that there are some restrictions in medicine studying ,do you know which restrictions are there?, does any international student apply for medicine course in germany?.
if yes,i have another questions.
1-what is entrance exam for medicine course in germany?
2-is any university of germany is free fee? ,i means about medicine courses for international student.
dank

 

[shaghalat]

i am studying medicine in iran#second year# and i want to come to germany and continue my studies in there
do they accept the courses i've already taken?
what should i do?

 

[DoctorWho1]

it depends on the university if they accept your courses. better ask the university itself.

 

[DoctorWho1]

hey guys
i'm Ms polymer enginner in iran. i want to study medicine in germany, i searched germany universities for this. i saw their sites that there are some restrictions in medicine studying ,do you know which restrictions are there?, does any international student apply for medicine course in germany?.
if yes,i have another questions.
1-what is entrance exam for medicine course in germany?
2-is any university of germany is free fee? ,i means about medicine courses for international student.
dank

1. for medicine studies in Germany you´ll need your A-levels with an average mark of 1,0 to maybe 1,3
2. that depends on the German district you want to go to- for example in Saxony there are still no fees on studies

 

[Gigo]

hello there, i just finished med school and have a chance to go for something like observer in orthopaedics in Saarbrucken, is that place good? (because i have to pay money for this.
plus, can somebody explain me how this works in germany to apply for residency? orthopaedics-traumatology for exaple.

 

[em1990ice]

Hi there,
I am a German medical student in the 5 th year ( university of Würzburg ).
Unfortunatly I cannot give you a lot of info about how to get in as a foreigner but I could tell you how the course is structured, what exams you have to pass....
The only thing I have heard about getting in as a non-German is that you have to come to Germany, enrol in another subject ( eg chemistry ) and than you are able to take part in a German exam. If you pass that you can apply for med school. I do not know whether this is really correct - but it heard it from a guy from Israel who managed to get in.
Best wishes

Hi there,
I'm Israeli and I really need some information about studying medicine in Germany, i'm not a med student yet, but i want to study medicine in Germany, but the thing is that i don't know who to ask and where to go to get the information I need, and you said that you've "heard those information from a guy from Israel who managed to get in"
so can you help me reach this guy, maybe by e-mail or something? maybe he can help me! please

 

[211498]

You'll have to contact the universities directly, they'll be able to tell you what they need from you, here are some links (similar sites are available from all German Med Schhols):

http://www.uni-bonn.de/en/International_Relations.html
http://www.pressoffice.uni-koeln.de/prospective_students.html
http://www.rwth-aachen.de/aw/zentral/english/Audience/~lt/school/
http://www.studium.uni-freiburg.de/studienbewerbung-en/studienbewerbung-en/view?set_language=en
http://www.uni-ulm.de/en/studium.html

and so on, simply type in "Uni" and the name of the city in google and choose the english version of the site.

Once again, who ever wants to study medicine in Germany should start to learn German as early as possible!!! It takes at least a year of full time training to be fluent in this language and to be able to actually study a subject in this language (which can be VERY difficult).

 

[em1990ice]

Thank you GOMER.. But still I need to contact the Israeli guy that vexa talked about, because I need to know if some organization helped him financially or helped him find some apartment or something, because here in Israel some organizations offer this kind of help, they may also find you a job in Germany. That's why I need to contact him, to see if he got that kind of help

 

[em1990ice]

so vexa do you think you can help me reach the Israeli person you've talked about? I really need this! please

 

[Medicine girl]

Hi!
I am from Mexico and I'm studying German language in Berlin, I want to apply in a year to Charité or other schools in Germany for medicine, I know that first of all I have to do studienkolleg because I am not from the european union, my question is: Is too dificult to be accepted into the Universities?

If you could help me to find some other german medicine universities would be great!!!!!!
Thanks!!

 

[ALUMed]

Hi medicine girl,

here's a list of the German medical faculties (altogether 36):
http://www.mft-online.de/html/mitglieder.htm

You can also get some information on the German medical system in general (I'm not sure how familiar you are with it) on following wikipedia site, which also includes a list of schools:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_school#Germany

Usually, around 8% of medical school spots are given to foreign applicants, but the exact criteria used for admission differ from university to university. You would be advised best, if you picked out a couple of medical schools that suit you and then contact their admissions offices to determine what the application process for the respective schools looks like.

If you're looking for information on the schools, this site may be of some help, although it is a little difficult to navigate and a bit heavy on statistics:
http://www.landkarte-hochschulmedizin.de

 

[thomax00]

Hello there,

I am a Medical Assistant (Military) and have worked in a clinical environment for a little over ten years. Procedures like starting an IV, taking blood samples, assisting with minor surgery, applying and removing a cast, patient screening with the scope of obtaining an impression, DDx or Dx is the realm of my education and practice.

In addition, I have an undergrad degree from a North American university. I majored in Psychology and have graduated in 2004. While I did very well in highschool as far as sciences is concerned (Algebra, Calculus, Physics, Biology and Chemistry) I never bothered to take any of those subjects in university partly because my program curriculum did not require it.

During my undergrad years I fell in love with a girl that was to be no more two and a half years later, worked semi-full time with the Army, coached football (soccer) while all of this took a rather serious toll on my marks. I never really did care about marks and I never had the desire to go to medical school. Suffice to say that my academia makes me a very incompetent applicant to any of the North American medical schools.

However, the last four months have been interesting enough that I am now revisiting my thoughts on attending medical school. I have just returned from a four month humanitarian mission (clinical). It was a good experience overall and very fulfilling, I might add, both on a personal level as well as professional. By and large this mission is the source of my dilemma on medical school.

Answers to the following questions will serve as a framework for future and hopefully slightly more educated questions that I am going to pose specific German medical schools.

Given my academia and providing that I pick up German (I speak a little, and also speak several other languages) at a functional level what are my chances of getting accepted into a medical school somewhere in Germany?

What is the status quo of enrollment into the Medical program in Germany as a auslander? What are the steps in applying: application, write/pass the language test and then hope for the best? Also, can I apply to more than one school or is it a centralized application system?

In anticipation of your answers and thoughts I kindly thank you in advance.

Cheers!

 

[autumnsoliloquy]

Hello everyone,

I am from Singapore with outstanding qualifications equivalent to the Abitur (Singapore-Cambridge A levels). I'm planning to apply to many many German medical schools before July this year, but I'm worried about my German proficiency requirement. I have studied German for five years (took it for A levels) but because I have not been studying German for the past year, my placement test at the Goethe Institut placed me at B2.

I'm aware that most medical schools in Germany require TestDAF (C1-2 level). I don't think I can pass this test BEFORE the application deadlines in July.

Can anyone please advise if it's okay for me to send in my A level German and maybe a letter from my German teacher as proof of German proficiency? Will it be enough to at least get me a conditional offer, then take the TestDAF/DSH in Germany before winter sem starts, like around August/September?

I was thinking of flying to Germany this month to take intensive courses but it will be rather inconvenient as I'm applying for local med schools too...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

 

[slight365]

You will have to speak to the counselors directly on this subject. They may require proof of you being in an "approved course" that will run past the application deadline, but end before the semester's opening date. You will have to take the DAF or DSH before this date.

However, this is completely case by case, and they are not obligated to help you at all. And don't even think this is bending the rules because in the places where they can offer this "extension", it's an extremely complicated process and often requires large amounts of tuition and fee money and time to get into these particular courses, along with much administrative work on the ends of the schools and the Auslaender Amt.

Also be aware you need the best possible score on the DSH or DaF. The DSH varies by university, but look for around an 82 for minimum passing in DSH3. The DaF requires an "A" equivalent as well (is that a 3 or a 5? I keep mixing them up) and this is somewhere around a 75 or above.

And believe me, it's not that easy to learn German on this level. There are native German speakers who don't get top scores on the DSH or DAF. Schools here will tell you outright that no less than 10 months to even get close to the DAF level, along with ~500 hours to get to Mittelstufe II and another 300-500 to get to C1-C2. Having taken mittelstufe exams and practice DAF and DSH exams, I have seen how technical they want the student to know German.

 

[JasTer]

Regarding Germany, I've got a question as well. I was thinking about moving to Germany after I'm done with my studies. Has someone done that and can share some information about it? Couldn't really find anything about 401k private pension plans in Germany. So I would really be thankful for any kind of information.

 

[MilleQ]

I noticed that this thread is a bit old, so therefore I am curious to hear if any of you (foreigners) above got accepted to a medical programme at a german university?....and what qualification you had, when you got accepted.

German is not my native language, however I speak/read very good german, but I still think that ZVS is very diffucult to master. So how did other foreign student applied through ZVS? Is there someone who would like to help me with applying to a med. school in germany?

I am 24 years old girl from scandinavia and I have a bachelor degree in medical science, as many already had asked, how big are the chances to get accepted to medicine in germany (as a foreigner)? What University in Germany accept most foreign students? and are there any possibility to transfer courses from my other education in biomedical science?
I have already emailed almost every university in gernmay, but unfortunately did they now answer those questions preciesly.

Hope that you would like to answer my question or send me a mail if you would like to help me.
Thank you...

 

[slight365]

Did you email your questions in English, or in German?