• Translations

🇩🇪 Hospitation, die

🇺🇸 Training/clinical attachment/observership

فترة تدريب

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. 😊

• 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 food card (🇩🇪 eine Essenkarte) to eat in the cafeteria of the hospital for free.

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• 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

• Take part in the rounds

• Do history taking and physical examination: This is the most important thing that you should concentrate on, because this is the perfect simulation for the exam and you 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 important 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.

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• 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. In fact, 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, 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 normal hospitals.

Another argument for speaking good German before applying for a Hospitation is that, as briefly 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.

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• Is a German medical license (die Approbation or die Berufserlubnis) a must 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?).

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• 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.

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• How to apply for a Hospitation?

We explained that in the most detailed article on the internet. It is for free:

🇩🇪 How to apply for a Hospitation?

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