How To Apply to Med School In Germany

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slight365

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This comes up a lot, is answered explicity, but keeps coming up.

If you want to get into med school in Germany:

You need to learn German. There is no exception. Medical schools in Germany are conducted in German. That's it. There is no rumored medical school in Germany that teaches medicine in English.


Budget up to a year to learn German, and the learning level will be intense. No shortcut schools or computer programs will work. Rosetta Stone will not work. Rosetta Stone is good to use when you know how to speak German already, at an advanced level, and for the beginner, it's only good until you actually need to speak to someone in German and can't because the program doesn't explain how to use German, rather than repeating things incorrectly.

To start, learn the cases inside and out, even if you haven't got a clue how to use them. The next thing is to learn the deklinationen inside and out, even if you don't know how or why they are used. German relies on subtle differences in many cases to make massive differences in meaning and understandability. The schools will say that a minimum of 1,000 class hours are needed to reach C-level, not including self-study time.

You need to usually attain the following levels, which vary by school:

TestDaF: Standardized German Proficiency exam, tests between B2 and C2 (top proficiency) levels. Accepted throughout Germany. Typically C-level is required.

TestDSH: Offered by schools, varies depending on how tough the school wants to make it. Typically, schools will want a DSH3 (top proficiency, 82%), some accept a high DSH2, but be aware, typically, the lower the score, the harder med school will be, especially if the school has oral exams.

-TestDSH is typically not transferable from Uni to Uni.

Goethe ZOP test: Standardized, offered at the Goethe Institutes throughout the world, accepted by most universities and is world recognized. Tests from B2 to C2. This typically satisfies the clause where schools say "or acceptable proof of German competency" outside of their DSH or the DaF exams.

For learning institutes, try to find reputable places, like Goethe, and not small, private schools. The universities also sometimes offer courses that lead up to a DSH or DaF. Typically, schools won't even give one the time of day until they reach B2, which is also the minimum level required for taking the exams.

If you're from the EU, you need to apply through the ZVS. This also includes several non-EU countries of Europe.

Outside of the countries covered by the ZVS, one would need to contact the school directly, and follow their procedure for direct application and find out their dates, requirements, and get your language scores there in time. These are the typical deadlines:

Der Zulassungsantrag muss in der Regel zu einem

Sommersemester am 15. Januar bzw. zu einem
Wintersemester am 15. Juli (Ausschlussfristen)


They can vary from school to school, and some only offer once a year admission.

Typically, schools will require some sort of degree, such as an associate's degree, with advanced courses, at minimum, chem, organic chem, physics, biology, calc, etc. They are not all required in this path, but can be extremely helpful allowing some sort of evaluation of worth to them. It can also be possible to get an Aequivalenzbescheinigung for coursework done already in the home country, provided there is similarity.

Additionally, the transcripts need to be translated and certified by a translator. Especially easy if they are in English. This includes grades, course descriptions, and other information that might be important. The school will then send the info to their verification service and then keep the verification on file.

Here is the listing and ranking of Germany's medical schools by the DAAD:

http://www.daad.de/deutschland/hoch...tml?module=Hitliste&do=show_l1&esb=36&hstyp=1

For the most part, Germany's medical schools are fairly equal across the board, though some are more competitive than others, some offer better situations, better reputation for publications, etc. Regardless, they are fairly equal.

German medical school is typically 6 1/3 years long. The first two years leads up to a comprehensive exam that tests those two years and grants permission to proceed into the next four years of clinical studies. One needs to do three months, in minimum 30 day calendar day blocks of low end, unpaid hospital service before the exam. It is possible to do it in another country, but one must verify it. If one doesn't have these three months, then they will be barred from the exam and moving forward.

One has a choice of coming out as an "Arzt", which means "Physician", rather than the commonly used "Doctor" title. If one wants the "Dr" title, they will have to do a thesis project towards the end of the studies, which will grant them the title of "Dr", so the title will state "Dr. xxxxxxxx Med". The thesis usually makes no difference, but can allow one to do post-doc research overseas, such as in the US. Without it, the person is still a physician, but the exact translation in German is "Arzt". They stick to the older, rigid system of titles, but are being forced into change.

The rest becomes pretty school specific, but I hope what I posted leads people where they need to go, and helps eliminate some of the redundant questions that hits the forum and overflows into completely unrelated threads.

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Is there an application strategy for international students applying for human medicine study in Germany? i.e. How many schools should one apply to? Do some schools favor/allow for international students more than others?
 
#1: The strategy always begins with the language. There is no way around this, and many try to get their foot in the door without the language. One has to be in some language study level that will at least get them towards their certification before application.

#2: One applies to as many schools as they want. However, I think this can hurt the person's chances, as priority is also given to people who live in a particular city. It helps if you're already running your language courses in the city you intend to be at, this way if there are additional prep courses or programs, or paperwork along the way, you're right there.

In my opinion, it helps greatly to be where they are, to call, to show up, etc. In my case, I was called for an interview with only 48 hours of notice.

Not much more beyond that. It's deceivingly difficult now, in fact. Just do really well in the language stuff, as they are really making the standards tougher.

For Americans, schools like Berlin, LMU Munich, and Aachen have a good North American representation. Schools in the east are tougher to get into due to stricter language requirements, but have much less NA representation, favoring (only due to applications) middle eastern, eastern European, and Asian. They do base entrance also on the number from a country or region, naturally, and favor diversity. So even if one is a better candidate than one from another country, if they are the tenth American, they are cut in favor of diversity.

There are many more parameters and spots are extremely limited in each school. They do favors for no one. Simply master the language and be a good candidate.
 
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I have a BA in German, looking into Tuebingen, which permits the US Advanced Placement Pruefung...doesn't give a minimum score though? I have A's in every premedical course from Inor/ORg Chem, bio, phys and biochem.


I realize the first step is passing one of the tests at the required levels.
My question is, does anyone know if any US loans can be used towards the semester fee and living expenses?

Any other advice is welcomed
 
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