• Translations
| 🇩🇪 Hospitation, die | 🇺🇸 Training/clinical attachment/observership |  فترة تدريب |
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• This article is a guide to enhance your understanding of the topic; however, it should not be your sole resource. Always consult official websites for the most accurate and up-to-date information (you can read our full disclaimer here).
• What is a Hospitation?
Period of training in a hospital for medical graduates or medical students. It could be for one day or up to months. Usually, it is not paid. But in some cases, you get free accommodation (🇩🇪 eine kostenlose Unterkunft) (or for a little amount of money). Moreover, sometimes you get a free food card (🇩🇪 eine Essenkarte) to eat in the hospital cafeteria.
• Is a Hospitation in Germany possible for medical students from outside Germany?
Yes! In this article and the article about how to apply for a Hospitation, we wrote many tips for medical students for the application process.
• What can a doctor/student do during a Hospitation?
A male doctor doing a Hospitation is called “🇩🇪 der Hospitant” and a female doctor is called “🇩🇪 die Hospitantin”. So what can a “🇩🇪 Hospitant/Hospitantin” do during his/her “🇩🇪 Hospitation”?
• Take part in the morning report and different meetings of the department
Examples of meetings
• Radiology meeting (🇩🇪 die Röntgen-Besprechung): One of the radiologists will explain for example for the whole team of neurology or internal medicine the images that were done the day(s) before
• Tumor conference: Interdisciplinary discussion (involving many specialties) of some patients like cancer patients or surgical patients (for example, carotid artery operations)
• M & M conference (Mortality and Morbidity): This is a great thing in Germany. They discuss cases where medical or organization mistakes were made and patients were harmed because of that! To avoid such mistakes in the future, of course.
• Take part in the rounds
• Do history taking and physical examination: This is the most important thing that you should concentrate on because it is the perfect simulation for the exam and can dramatically improve your German. Our tip: Choose old patients because they have time and often like to talk a lot.
• In seldom cases, they might be allowed to withdraw blood; but many say this is not legal. So, please learn this in your home country. This tip and other tips are explained in this article: “🇩🇪 Improving CV before and after coming to Germany“.
• Do the informed consent discussion (“🇩🇪 das Aufklärungsgespräch). This is very essential for the exam. Please do that a lot 🙂
• What is obviously allowed is talking to the workers in hospitals. Be nice to the nurses. From them, you can learn a lot. As I was a Hospitant, I used to remain until 8 pm talking with the nurses, helping them a bit, and trying to understand their work.
• Is there a minimum language level to be accepted?
No! But the better you speak German (and that you have a certificate as evidence for that), the higher your chances of being accepted. Many hospitals offer Hospitation to potential doctors who could begin a residency in a few months. The hospital aims in the Hospitation to get to know the candidates better and choose the best of them.
For medical students applying for training during their medical school, the German language is not that important (but of course, it is a great plus, and it would help you to profit more from the training and your stay in Germany). University hospitals usually accept a lot more medical students than regular hospitals. The language of teaching medicine in Germany is always and in all hospitals in German.
Our recommendation for your German language level:
Facharzt JETZT!
– Medical students: A1 level is enough, but the higher, the better.
– Medical doctors: At least B1.
Another argument for speaking good German before applying for a Hospitation is that, as mentioned above, you can profit from the Hospitation because even in university hospitals is the teaching language and rounds “always” in German. Our suggestion for medical graduates is that they have at least the B1 level before applying for a Hospitation.
• Is a German medical license (die Approbation or die Berufserlubnis) necessary for acceptance?
No! If you have a medical license, particularly a permanent one, you can start working! Do not waste time in a Hospitation, particularly if you do not want a high-demand specialty (Article: Which specialties are easiest or hardest to get in Germany?).
• How early should you start applying for Hospitation?
About 4 to 8 months before your desired date for beginning the Hospitation. If you get a positive reply, sometimes the hospitals cancel the Hospitation later on. Therefore, do not stop sending emails, when you receive an acceptance.
• How to apply for a Hospitation?
We explained that in the most detailed article on the internet. It is for free:
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