Important & common terms related to working as a doctor in Germany

Table – Tabelle – جدول

💡 Some terms have an extra explanation about them. Therefore, they appear as links.

🇩🇪 Begriff (Deutsch)🇺🇸 Term (English)المصطلح
🇩🇪 Absage, die🇺🇸 Rejection/negative reply رفض
🇩🇪 Anmeldung, die🇺🇸 Residence registration الأنميلدونج (تسجيل مكان السكن) = الملدنة
🇩🇪 Approbation, die🇺🇸 Permanent medical license الأبروباتسيون (مزاولة المهنة الطبية الدائمة)
🇩🇪 Arbeitserlaubnis, die🇺🇸 Working permit تصريح العمل
🇩🇪 Arbeitszeugnis, das🇺🇸 Employment references/work certificates شهادات خبرة
🇩🇪 Ärztekammer, die🇺🇸 Medical Association نقابة الأطباء
🇩🇪 Assistenzarzt < Facharzt < Funktionsoberarzt < Oberarzt < Leitender Oberarzt < Chefarzt🇺🇸 Resident < specialist < senior physician < consultatnt < Head of Department مقيم > أخصائي > أخصائي أول > إستشاري > رئيس قسم
🇩🇪 Beglaubigung, die🇺🇸 Authentication of documents تصديق الوثائق
🇩🇪 Berufserlaubnis, die🇺🇸 Temporary medical license البيروفس إيرلاوبنيس (رخصة مزاولة المهنة الطبية المؤقتة)
🇩🇪 Bescheid = Defizitbescheid = Feststellungsbescheid = Anerkennungsbescheid = Ziwschenbescheid🇺🇸 Notification about missing documents البيشايد: الرد بما يخص الوثائق الناقصة
🇩🇪 Drittstaat/Drittland, der/das🇺🇸 Third country
(NOT Third World country)
دولة غير ألمانيا أو دول الإتحاد
الأوربي أو السوق الأوربية المشتركة
🇩🇪 Eingang (Eingangsbescheid), der🇺🇸 Receipt (confirmation of receipt) اينغانغ: إستلام (تأكيد إستلام)
🇩🇪 Facharztausbildung, die🇺🇸 Medical residency (Specialization) الإقامة/فترة التخصص الطبي
🇩🇪 Facharztprüfung, die🇺🇸 Board exam إمتحان التخصص الطبي/امتحان البورد
🇩🇪 Fachsprachenprüfung (FSP), die🇺🇸 Medical language exam امتحان الفاخ شبراخه أو امتحان الفاخ (امتحان اللغة الطبية الألمانية)
🇩🇪 Führungszeugnis, das🇺🇸 Police clearance certificate شهادة عدم محكومية/لا حكم عليه/عدم وجود سجل جنائي
🇩🇪 Gleichwertigkeit, die/“Gleich” bekommen🇺🇸 Equivalency of medical studies القلايش (الاعتراف بالشهادة الطبية أنها مماثلة للشهادات الألمانية)
🇩🇪 Gutachtung/GutachterExpert opinion, assessment, evaluation report/expert or assessorتقييم/مقيم
🇩🇪 Hospitation, die🇺🇸 Training in a hospital فترة تدريب
🇩🇪 Kenntnisprüfung (KP), die🇺🇸 Medical knowledge exam امتحان الكنتنيسه (امتحان المعرفة الطبية)
🇩🇪 Kündigung, die🇺🇸 Resignation إستقالة
🇩🇪 Praktische Jahr (PJ), das🇺🇸 Internship year سنة الإمتياز
🇩🇪 Prüfungsprotokoll (Protokoll), das🇺🇸 Writing the exam questions you had كتابة أسئلة امتحان عملته
🇩🇪 Stelle, die🇺🇸 Position/job وظيفة
أو تكتب شتيلة
🇩🇪 Vorstellungsgespräch, das🇺🇸 Job interview مقابلة عمل
🇩🇪 Zusage/Einstellungszusage, die🇺🇸 Promise/commitment وعد بالتوظيف

🇩🇪 Absage, die🇺🇸 Rejection/negative reply رفض

If someone applied for a job and he was not accepted for it for the position (🇩🇪 eine Stelle):

Er hat eine Absage bekommen = He got a rejection

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🇩🇪 Anmeldung, die🇺🇸 Residence registration الأنميلدونج (تسجيل مكان السكن)

We explained this term in detail in a separate article.

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🇩🇪 Approbation, die🇺🇸 Permanent medical license الأبروباتسيون (مزاولة المهنة الطبية الدائمة)

Without it, you cannot work as a medical doctor in Germany and earn money. An exception is if you have a Berufserlaubnis, which is a temporary medical license.

Here is a detailed article about the differences between Approbation and Berufserlaubnis:
“🇩🇪 Approbation vs Berufserlaubnis: Can I work as a doctor with Berufserlaubnis? Yes, but…”

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🇩🇪 Arbeitserlaubnis, die🇺🇸 Working permit تصريح العمل

This is like a working permit from the “Ministry of Labor” in Germany. They do not have this Ministry in Germany, the authority that gives this permit is called “the Agency for Employment” (🇩🇪 die Agentur für Arbeit). Your employer (hospital or clinic) is going to do the application for you once they accept you to work with them.

Be careful: Arbeitserlaubnis is NOT the Berufserlaubnis (see below)

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🇩🇪 Assistenzarzt < Facharzt < Funktionsoberarzt < Oberarzt < Leitender Oberarzt < Chefarzt🇺🇸 Resident < specialist < senior physician < consultant < Head of Department مقيم > أخصائي > أخصائي أول > إستشاري > رئيس قسم

These are the hierarchy levels of doctors in Germany. You start as a resident (🇩🇪 der Assistenzarzt) and you can climb the ladder up to a head of a department (🇩🇪 der Chefarzt). Some words do not necessarily have an exact English translation.

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🇩🇪 Beglaubigung, die🇺🇸 Authentication/legalization/ attestation/ accreditation of documents تصديق الوثائق

If you want more details, we wrote an article about that. The explanation is not short:
“🇩🇪 What is eine Beglaubigung (🇺🇸 authentication)?”

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🇩🇪 Bescheid = Defizitbescheid = Feststellungsbescheid = Anerkennungsbescheid = Ziwschenbescheid🇺🇸 Notification about missing documents الرد بما يخص المستندات الناقصة

If you apply for the approbation and your application is missing certain documents or things that need to be corrected, then the approbation authority will write you a Defizitbescheid (a letter/email containing an explanation about what needs to be corrected).

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🇩🇪 Drittstaat, der🇺🇸 Third country (NOT Third World country) دولة غير ألمانيا أو دول الإتحاد الأوربي

Be careful. It is not meant with this term Third World countries. It talks about doctors who studied not in (1) Germany or (2) EU/EFTA-countries. So they make a third category.

💡 Third countries, like the third ventricle in the brain…


🇩🇪 Eingang (Eingangsbescheid), der🇺🇸 Receipt (confirmation of receipt)  اينغانغ: إستلام (تأكيد إستلام)

When you send your application for Approbation, along with the required documents (see here a complete list of these documents), then you get a confirmation per email and/or by post, that they received your application. This is different from the “Bescheid”. Usually, what is meant with the Bescheid is the Defizitbescheid.

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🇩🇪 Fachsprachenprüfung (FSP), die🇺🇸 Medical language exam امتحان الفاخ شبراخه أو امتحان الفاخ (امتحان اللغة الطبية الألمانية)

🇩🇪 Fachsprachenprüfung (FSP) – The Medical Language Exam

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🇩🇪 Gleichwertigkeit, die/“gleich” bekommen🇺🇸 Equivalency of medical studies القلايش (الاعتراف بالشهادة الطبية أنها مماثلة للشهادات الألمانية)

If you did not study university in a country of the European Union (EU)/European free trade association (EFTA), then you are obliged to do a medical knowledge exam (🇩🇪 die Kenntnisprüfung – KP) except in case you requested your medical curriculum and work experiences to be evaluated through an appraisal process (🇩🇪 Begutachtung) and they were judged to be equivalent (🇩🇪 gleich) to a German medical degree. In this case, you only need to do the Medical Language Exam (Die Fachsprachenprüfung – FSP). We wrote an article about that here:

🇩🇪 Avoiding a medical knowledge exam (🇩🇪 die Kenntnisprüfung) for doctors who studied in non-EU/EFTA countries 🇪🇺

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🇩🇪 Hospitation, die🇺🇸 Training فترة تدريب
https://facharztJETZT.de/hospitation

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🇩🇪 Kenntnisprüfung (KP), die🇺🇸 Medical Knowledge Exam امتحان الكنتنيسه (امتحان المعرفة الطبية)
https://facharztJETZT.de/kp

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🇩🇪 Kündigung, die🇺🇸 Resignation إستقالة

If you choose to leave the hospital:

Ich kündige mich = I resign

If the hospital ended the contract with a doctor:

Das Krankenhaus kündigt den Arzt = They terminated the employment of the doctor

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🇩🇪 Praktische Jahr (PJ), das🇺🇸 Internship year سنة الإمتياز

Praktisches Jahr, oder kurz: PJ. A male doctor who is doing this year is called: “PJ-ler” and a female doctor is called: “PJ-lerin”.

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🇩🇪 Stelle, die🇺🇸 Position/job وظيفة

If you apply for a job, you apply for a “Stelle”:

I apply for a job = Ich bewerbe mich um eine Stelle

When someone asks you what kind of position you got, you answer:

“Stelle als Assistenzarzt/Facharzt/Oberarzt/Chefarzt für die Name_Fachrichung” (z. B. Stelle als Assistenzarzt für die Neurologie).

The ads for jobs are called: “Stellenanzeigne” (Englisch: jobs ads).

https://facharztJETZT.de/job-application
https://facharztJETZT.de/job-promise

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🇩🇪 Vorstellungsgespräch, das🇺🇸 Job interview مقابلة عمل/توظيف

• In the following articles, we explained the job interviews and how you can fully succeed in them:

https://facharztJETZT.de/job-interview
https://facharztJETZT.de/tipps-for-job-interview
https://facharztJETZT.de/common-questions-in-job-interviews-for-doctors-in-germany

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🇩🇪 Zusage/Einstellungszusage, die🇺🇸 Promise/Commitment وعد بالتوظيف

Promise to be hired by a hospital or clinic. In other words, that you would get the Stelle (see this German term above). So, if you applied for a job and in the interview they accepted you, then you get a “Zusage” that you will get the “Stelle” there. The Zusage is either oral or in the form of a letter or email.

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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)

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