• Introduction about Gleichwertigkeit
This article explains how to directly get the Approbation after doing the Fachsprachenprüfung in Germany = Getting “Gleichwertigkeit”.
• What is the Kenntnisprüfung?
All foreign medical doctors who want to work in Germany as doctors (= get a German permanent medical license – die Approbation) need to do a medical language exam (🇩🇪 eine Fachsprachenprüfung). We explained this exam here: “Fachsprachenprüfung (FSP) – Medical language exam – إمتحان اللغة الطبية“. After passing this exam, you can work in Germany (with Approbation or Berufserlaubnis)! No complex exams like the 🇺🇸 USMLE, 🇬🇧 UKMLE/PLAB, 🇦🇺 AMC or 🇨🇦 MCCQE.
Graduates from universities from non-EU/EFTA countries (list of EU/EFTA countries) need sometimes to additionally do the following exam:
• Who exactly should do the Kenntnisprüfung?
The answer depends NOT on your nationality, but on where you studied medicine:
| 🇪🇺 EU/EFTA countries* 🇪🇺 🇮🇸 🇱🇮 🇳🇴 🇨🇭 | Non-EU/EFTA countries (also known as third countries – 🇩🇪 ein Drittstaat) 🌍 |
| You do NOT need to do this exam. 🥳🎉 Therefore, you do not need to continue reading this article. See the steps for you in the this article | You might need to do this exam. Please continue reading. |
• What can I do to avoid doing this exam?
If you requested your university curriculum to be studied (🇩🇪 Gleichwertigkeitsverfahren), it might be judged as equivalent (🇩🇪 gleich). Then is said that your medical studies/curriculum are “recognized” and you will then be treated like 🇪🇺 EU/EFTA graduates. This mean, you only need to do the medical language exam (🇩🇪 die Fachsprachenprüfung).
Some graduates from certain universities are known to “almost always” get a recognition of their curriculum/medical studies after this process (for example, graduates from most of the 🇯🇴 Jordanian universities). So, before applying for this process, ask graduates from your university and in Facebook groups about their experience (you can ask from now in our main group). Exactly you should ask:
1. If they got a recognition of the curriculum: yes or no
and
2. In which of the 16 German medical license authorities (🇩🇪 die Approbationsbehörden) did they get the recognition
and
3. The curriculum of which year did they use
⚡⚡Be careful:
- The curriculum might be judged equivalent in the medical license authority in Berlin but not in Hamburg or in Bavaria. Therefore, ask in which authority was the curriculum of your university recognized.
- Some graduates from old batches in your university might have gotten their curriculum recognized, but if the university curriculum was later changed, it might not be longer recognized.
So be careful. Applying for this recognition process costs money (around 600-1500 Euros), but more importantly, it takes between 2-12 months. So, you would lose your time waiting. Instead, you could apply for the approbation in a medical license authority where:
(1) The medical knowledge exam is easy
(2) You can work with a temporary medical license (🇩🇪 eine Berufserlaubnis) in the German state until you do the exam. Usually, for 1-2 years. Here we explained the differences between it and an Approbation (link).
(3) The German state where you can work with the the Approbation is highly populated (and hence, has more hospitals). For example, the state of the Saarland has a population of <1 million, whereas the state of North Rhine-Westphalia has more than 17 million.
An good choice would for example be in the state of Lower Saxony (🇩🇪 Niedersachsen) or in the state of Bavaria (🇩🇪 Bayern).
Why Lower Saxony? The exam is relatively easy, you can work with a temporary medical license for up to two years and the state has many hospitals as it has a population of 8 million, which is almost like that of Switzerland.
Or simply ask in social networks what the best state in your situation might be 😊 (you can ask from now our main group).
• What happens after I apply for the Gleichwertigkeitsverfahren?
You will get an answer. Either your curriculum is:
| Equal (🇩🇪 gleich) 🥳 | not equal (🇩🇪 nicht gleich) ☹️ |
| Congratulations. You are treated now like EU/EFTA graduates. You only need a medical language exam (🇩🇪 die Fachsprachenprüfung). (You do not need to read this article any longer. The steps for you are here except step number 9) | What happens then? Please read the following article: “🇩🇪 Non EU/EFTA graduates: What could I do if my medical studies were judged to be not equal (🇩🇪 nicht gleich)” |
• More questions about the Gleichwertigkeit?
If you have the slightest doubt about a certain point or do not understand any information, ask at any time in the main group of our community “Facharzt JETZT” on Facebook and Telegram (groups will appear as a folder). We remind you that this article is a guidance article to help you understand things and you should not rely solely on it. You should always return to the official websites. 😊
Want to learn more? Questions?
Join JETZT (🇺🇸 now) all of our groups & ask what you like
(On mobile phone: The links are at the end of this page/ On PC: On the right side)