FAQ Academic healthcare professions | Education AbroadProfessional licence

Professional licences are usually applied for by persons who have completed their training in a third country. If you have completed your training in the EU, an EEA state or Switzerland, please apply directly for a licence to practise.

Please note:

Working within the framework of a professional licence may be helpful in preparing for the knowledge test.
If you have trained as a doctor, you will benefit most from the professional licence if you are working in the field of internal medicine or surgery.

Licence to practise

Are you planning to work permanently and without restrictions in Germany after completing your studies in human medicine, dentistry, pharmacy or psychotherapy abroad? Then you will need a special professional licence - the Approbation.

Professional licence

It is also possible to apply for a professional licence to work temporarily and with restrictions in the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy or psychotherapy. However, this is only valid for a period of 2 years and is restricted to non-independent and non-managerial work under the supervision or guidance of a licensed practitioner.

In the field of medicine, a professional license is generally only granted if an application for Approbation is submitted at the same time.

No, with a professional licence you cannot work in your profession without restriction. The professional licence is restricted to non-independent and non-managerial work under the supervision, guidance and responsibility of appropriately trained staff. This includes doctors, dentists, pharmacists and psychotherapists who have a licence to practise or are allowed to practise their profession without restrictions.

With a professional licence, you cannot undertake further training as a specialist doctor, as you do not yet have proof of equivalent training. A licence to practise is required for this.

The professional licence is valid for the federal state of Baden-Württemberg for a period of two years and is therefore limited in time. A shorter or longer period cannot be chosen when applying for a licence. An extension of the professional licence beyond two years is generally not provided for. With a professional licence, you can decide for yourself whether you want to work for the full two years or for a shorter period.

A change of employer within Baden-Württemberg does not have to be reported to the Stuttgart Regional Council.

No, if you want to work permanently in your profession in Germany, you will need a licence to practise. For this reason, you should always apply for a licence to practise.

However, you can also apply for a professional licence at the same time. This will allow you to work in your profession (with restrictions and for a limited period of time) even before your licence to practise is granted.

However, activities within the scope of the professional licence are not a prerequisite for obtaining a licence to practise.

Job confirmation
If you have submitted an application for a licence to practise, you will need a concrete confirmation of employment from an employer as proof (prima facie evidence).

Doctors must use Annex 3 (pdf / german) for this purpose.

For other healthcare professions, informal proof (e.g. specific job confirmation or employment contract) is sufficient.

In the field of human medicine, this is generally no longer possible.
A professional license is only granted if an application for Approbation is submitted at the same time.

Exceptions are possible only in well-justified individual cases – for example, for temporary assignments during scientific events.
Therefore, please always submit an application for Approbation together with your application for a professional license.
 

[Translate to English:]

Without a suitable job confirmation (form, pdf / german) we cannot examine your application for a professional licence.

Once we have received all the necessary documents including the application, we will review the application.

IMPORTANT: 
A professional licence will only be issued if you have successfully passed the specialist language examination (exception: in the field of psychotherapy).

The professional licence can then be issued after a successful examination.

We endeavour to process applications quickly, but ask kindly for your understanding that due to the large number of applications, processing times may be somewhat longer.

No, you do not need a professional licence for a work shadowing placement, as no medical activity may take place during a work shadowing placement.