Step 8: Workplace and salary
Workplace
As soon as you have successfully passed the admission test (Approbation), you will move to the city where you will work as a hospital doctor. You will have finally reached your destination and will be licensed as a doctor in Germany.
Since you received your employment contract with German clinic at the beginning of the program, you may begin working. We will be happy to assist you with advice and practical assistance during your settling-in period.
Specialist training
Your opportunities for are not yet over when you start working at the clinic. This is where you start your further training as a German specialist (professional title “Weiterbildungsassistent”).
For this specialist training, the education received in your home country can be credited so that this education period is becomes shorter.
There are 52 medical specialties in Germany, and thus considerably more than in many other countries. Based on your training certificates, we can assign you to a German specialty in the program.
Normally, specialist training takes 5 or 6 years. As a rule, a maximum of 24 months can be credited, so that we generally speak of 5 years of training as a German specialist.
Salary and taxes
German hospital physicians are usually paid according to specified rates. This means that the income for salaried physicians is bindingly defined by a higher-level framework agreement.
The yearly starting salary for a hospital physician (“training assistant”) who is not yet a specialist is around 54,000 €. In addition, there are allowances for night and weekend shifts. These may well amount to an additional 5,000 – 6,000 € per year.
Most taxes and duties are so-called “payroll taxes” for health, pension, and unemployment insurance as well as income tax, which are automatically deducted from your salary.
The German tax system generously rewards families with children: Married couples with children pay less tax and their salary is higher.
But there are a number of other special rules that apply to your travel, education, or other expenses that reduce your income tax.
As a rule of thumb, single people get about 60% of their salary while married people with two children get about 68% of their salary.
Read more about the German tax system here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Germany
Step 7: Hospitation, further education, and training
Further medical training
Medical training begins on the seventh month of your stay. The focus is on the particularities of medical practice in Germany.
You are already a doctor with professional experience. Nevertheless, everyday practice differs from country to country. We will instruct you in the special requirements of medical documentation, quality assurance, and IT in the German healthcare sector.
"Repetitorium" - Preparation for the license to practice medicine
With the “Repetitorium”, the repetition of medical expertise, you will continue to prepare yourself in order to pass the exam that will allow you to obtain your licence to practice medicine in Germany. This part of your training is also carried out by the Kolping Bildungswerke Paderborn.
"Hospitation" (observation) with your future employer
During the entire period of your training, you will sit in on the clinic with your future employer. You will not only get to know your colleagues and everyday life in a German clinic. Your employer will provide you with a mentor who will assist you during the internship, as well.
Step 6: German lessons in Germany
German lessons in Germany
Here we go! The six-month intensive German language course begins. You will go to school every day and learn German very intensively. This also includes monthly intermediate examinations in which your progress and performance will be tested.
The German lessons will be conducted by the renowned “Kolping Bildungswerk Paderborn” and will take you up to language level C1 to TELC.
You should be able to communicate spontaneously and fluently with patients and colleagues, as well as understand and reproduce complex texts and technical discussions on medical topics.
This will be tested in the language test. You must pass this external examination, because it is a prerequisite for your further training and thus your employment as a doctor in a German hospital.
Technical language examination
Subsequently, you will register for the medical language examination. In order to be admitted as a physician (Approbation), you must have the knowledge of the German language required for working as a physician.
As a rule, the specialist language examination takes place before a commission of three examiners, two of whom are doctors. In the examination, a doctor-patient interview (anamnesis) is conducted.
One of the examiners assumes the role of the patient. This is followed by written documentation of the medical history and a treatment plan. For the third part, a doctor-doctor interview is simulated.
The members of the examination board jointly evaluate the examination according to a uniform, structured criteria and inform you of the result immediately after the examination.
Step 5: German online course, visa, and relocation
Visa and relocation
Upon signing the contract and with your consent, Medical Bridge Germany begins the process for the entry visa for you. We make sure that all documents are complete and sufficient. As a rule, you will be able to travel to Germany approximately 4-8 weeks after signing the contract.
Online German Course
During the waiting period until your visa is issued, you will take part in an online German language course up to level A1. The course will give you an initial listening and reading comprehension of the German language. Finally, you will take a German exam for level A1.
Moving to Germany
Once you have your visa, we will organize your move to Germany. Strictly speaking, you are moving to the northwest of Germany. There, in the immediate vicinity of the training institute, you and up to 3 other program participants will move into the shared apartment for the duration of your training.
During the introductory week we will familiarize you with life in Germany. Together with you, we take care of all administrative formalities, such as police registration. We will equip you with a laptop, mobile phone, insurance, a German bank account, and a monthly ticket for local public transport.
Step 4: Information day and contract
Information day
On the second day, an information day on all legal and organizational procedures, such as language training, medical training, examinations, admissions, and Visa procedures, will take place for the selected candidates.
Legal consultancy
We will have the legal aspects of the contract explained to you in detail by a lawyer. He will gladly answer your questions on site in your native language.
Contracts
After the Information Day, you will receive two contracts. Please return the signed contracts within 14 days.
- Contract to participate in the Doctors Bridge program
- Contract with your future employer
The first contract states your obligations and ours under the Doctors Bridge program. The second contract is an employment contract with a hospital, which guarantees that you will be allowed to work in Germany after successfully completing the education and training program. The employment contract includes the condition that you must pass the necessary examinations in order to begin working.
You will then have plenty of time to reconsider your decision. You can send us your questions by mail or phone at any time. We are at your disposal!
Step 3: Assessment Center
Invitation to the Assessment Center
If you receive our invitation to the assessment center by email, please confirm your participation promptly. Please understand that you will have to pay your own travel expenses.
Please remember to bring your original school and university degrees, references, etc. with you. You will also need your passport for identification on site.
Schedule during the Assessment Center
After the welcome, you will take various tests which will provide us with information about your behavioral and professional skills. We check your medical knowledge, your ability to work as part of a team, your ability to learn a language and/or your German knowledge.
The medical knowledge and linguistic capabilities exams are taken digitally with the help of tablets, which allows us to ask each candidate different questions and to evaluate the results immediately with our assessment software. Further tests, such as team skills, take place in a group.
This is followed by an interview via video conference with your potential employer, a German hospital, represented by two doctors. Of course, the interviews will be conducted in your native language with the help of an expert interpreter on site.
The decision makers from the German hospital and the team from Medical Bridge Germany then analyze and discuss the results. You will be informed on the same day whether you have been accepted into our program. With this confirmation, you will receive an invitation for the information event on the next day.
Step 2: Application platform
Application platform
As soon as you receive the access data for the application platform, you will be asked various questions about your personal and professional backgrounds, your hobbies, and your health.
Please take your time to answer these questions carefully, as these will allow us to get to know you better and determine whether Doctors Bridge is the right match for you.
We also ask that you upload a number of documents. These include school and university degrees, the study book from your medical studies, additional professional documents, and references from your previous jobs as a doctor. If you come across any troubles while uploading your documents, we will aid you as best we can.
Of course, your personal information, data, and documents will be treated absolutely confidentially and will not be passed on to third parties. It is also important to note that your application does not bind you to any obligations.
Important documents
Please upload the necessary documents pertaining to your education and medical career as a PDF or JPG.
These documents are mandatory, as the German authorities require these for professional recognition. Once you have provided all of the specfied documents, we will start with their examination.
The documents you submit will be treated absolutely confidentially and will not be passed on to third parties.
You will need to upload the following documents in high resolution in either PDF or JPG format
- Diploma or certificate of completion of professional education
- Proof of professional activities and continuing education
- Academic records from university
- Approbation / License
After a successful performance at the Assessment Center, the following additional requirements will be required:
- Valid passport
- Certificate of good standing
- Police clearance certificate
- Birth certificate (apostilled)
- Certificate of marriage, divorce, or name change (apostilled)
Admission of your application to Doctors Bridge Germany
Once you have submitted all of the required information, your application is complete. The evaluation of your application by our staff can then begin.
Our staff will evaluate your suitability for our program based on your information and documents. If they are complete, and you meet our requirements, we will confirm your application.
We will then inform you whether you are a candidate for our program and invite you to a two-day assessment center in your region. Please keep in mind that the assessment center may take place a few weeks later since we will still be evaluating additional candidate.
Step 1: Registration
How to register to work as a doctor in Germany
If you are interested in participating in our program, click the registration button above or this link and enter your basic information (you will leave this website and be taken to our application platform). Immediately afterwards, you will receive an email with your access data to enter the platform.
Before applying, please keep in mind that this program entails a year of intensive language and medical training, as well as various examinations prior to working as a doctor at a hospital.
Basic requirements for your participation in Doctors Bridge
Here you will find a list of the basic requirements that you must meet in order to be selected for our program. Knowledge of the German language is not necessary but will greatly help you get a good start. Financial means are not required for your participation in the Doctors Bridge program.
- You hold a professional degree in medicine
- You have at least 3-4 years of work experience
- You are ready for one year of intensive education in Germany
- You possess high linguistic intelligence
- You are open-minded
- You have the disposition to integrate yourself into German culture and society
- You are a team player