German Federal Medical Act

What does the Federal Medical Act regulate?

The Federal Medical Act dates from 1961 and remains to this day the fundamental statute of the medical profession. § 1 states that the physician serves the health of the individual and of the population as a whole, and § 2 makes clear that only those who are licensed or hold a practice permit may practise medicine. The most important provision is § 3, which sets out the requirements for licensure: no conduct giving rise to moral unfitness or professional unreliability (§ 3(1)(2)), no physical unfitness (§ 3(1)(3)), a medical degree of at least 5,500 hours and at least six years with a passed state examination (§ 3(1)(4)), and the language skills required for medical practice (§ 3(1)(5)). The former requirement under § 3(1)(1) relating to nationality has been removed, since licensure is no longer tied to a German or European passport.

How are licensure, permit, and withdrawal connected?

§ 10 permits a practice permit for temporary medical practice, generally for up to two years in total. §§ 5 and 6 govern the other side: withdrawal and revocation of licensure, and suspension. What is taught and examined during study is not governed by the statute itself. § 4 authorises the Federal Ministry of Health to regulate this by statutory instrument, and that instrument is the Medical Licensing Regulations. The BÄO is implemented by the individual states, which is why practice and processing times vary significantly across regions.

What does this mean for graduates from EU countries abroad?

Anyone who has studied human medicine in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Malta, or the Baltic states falls under the automatic recognition rules of § 3. A qualification listed in Annex V No. 5.1.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC is treated as equivalent without the authority reviewing the curriculum content. What is then assessed is mainly reliability, physical fitness, and language. For degrees from Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, § 3(3) applies instead, with a review of the standard of training.

What changes in 2026?

The Act on the Acceleration of Recognition Procedures for Foreign Professional Qualifications in the Health Professions was enacted on 22 July 2026 and promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette on 28 July 2026. It enters into force on 1 November 2026 and makes the knowledge test the standard procedure for third-country qualifications. Anyone relying on older information sheets may therefore be reading an outdated version. Which version applies in any individual case is decided by the competent authority.