state chamber of physicians

What are the chamber's responsibilities?

The state chamber of physicians issues the code of professional conduct and the specialist training regulations, conducts examinations for specialist recognition, supervises professional obligations, runs ethics committees and expert panels for medical negligence claims, and organises continuing education. In most states it also conducts the specialist language examination for physicians with foreign qualifications. Why 17 chambers for 16 federal states? Because Nordrhein and Westfalen-Lippe have historically been organised separately. The umbrella body is the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), which is not a corporation in its own right but the working group of the state chambers and therefore cannot issue directly binding rules.

When must one register?

In practice it usually works as follows: after receiving the medical licence and on taking up medical practice, one registers with the chamber of the state in which one works. Membership is compulsory and costs an income-related subscription. Moving to another federal state also means a change of competent chamber, and with it different professional conduct rules and different postgraduate training regulations. Anyone who has begun specialist training should therefore clarify the change with both chambers in good time, as transitional provisions and the crediting of periods differ. In many states, enrolment in the physicians' pension scheme also runs through the chamber.

What is important for graduates from EU countries?

Those who studied in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, or Croatia usually deal with the chamber even before receiving their medical licence, as the specialist language examination takes place there. The fee for this varies considerably — for example approximately €420 in Baden-Württemberg and €487 in Brandenburg — as does the waiting time for an appointment. The chamber is also responsible for the subsequent recognition of a specialist qualification obtained in an EU country under Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC — not the licensing authority.

Common misconceptions

The chamber of physicians is not the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung). The chamber regulates the profession; the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung handles contract practice with admissions and billing. And the chamber does not grant the medical licence. That is done by the medical licensing authority of the state, a government body with its own procedure and its own fees.