FAQ Academic healthcare professions | Education AbroadLicence to practice medicine / Academic degree

Have you completed your training abroad and would like to work permanently and without restriction in an academic healthcare profession in Germany? Then you will need a special professional licence - a licence to practise. You can apply for a licence to practise in Baden-Württemberg at the Stuttgart Regional Council.

Corresponding application documents and information

The following laws form the basis for granting a licence to practise for the various professions:

• Federal Medical Code (Bundesärzteordnung / BÄO)
• Dentistry Act (Zahnheilkundegesetz / ZHG)
• Federal Pharmacists' Code (Bundes-Apothekerordnung / BApO) und
• Psychotherapists' Act (Psychotherapeutengesetz / PsychThG)

The Stuttgart Regional Council issues a licence to practise for academic healthcare professions upon application.

Determination of equivalence

As soon as the application for a licence to practise has been fully submitted, we will check to what extent the foreign degree programme is equivalent to the German degree programme in the case of training completed in a third country on the basis of the statutory regulations.

Note on licence to practise psychotherapy: 
Equivalence is checked for all training completed abroad (including EU/EEA/CH).

Examination of further requirements

If the degree programme including the practical phase is classified as equivalent to the German degree programme, additional requirements are also checked. These include: a fully completed training programme in the relevant healthcare profession, health suitability, no criminal record and sufficient German language skills.

We ask kindly for your understanding that longer processing times must be expected due to the large number of applications received. To enable us to process the applications more quickly, please submit all application documents in full.

If all the necessary requirements are met, we can issue the licence to practise.

The professional recognition certificates do not contain academic degrees.

Merkblatt zur Führung ausländischer Grade, Titel und Bezeichnungen (pdf / german)
Information Sheet on the Use of Foreign Degrees, Titles and Designations (pdf)