ECFMG Certification and Approbation

[Meedicine]

Hi Everyone,
I have done medical school in non-EU, in Middle East, and I have an ecfmg certificate after passing all the USMLE exams. I am considering doing residency in Germany as I have already good german language skills and it is easier in Germany to get into competitive specialties.
My question is: It is known that now we need to get an Approbation in order to get an unrestricted license to practice Medicine in Germany. The USA medical graduates receive directly an approbation because the US medical degree is considered equivalent to the german one. If a foreign medical graduate gets the ECFMG certification in USA, and also an unrestricted License to practice Medicine in USA, will he receive directly the german Approbation (on basis that he already made his degree equivalent to US one) or there is a possibility that he will do the Knowledge Test?

I wish you can help with this topic. If you also have information about Plabs and the Australian Board exams, and wether they can help you get an approbation in Germany, please do not hesitate to help.

Your Friend

[MacMoneysac]

What about your "good german skills"? Suche mal im Forum, da gab es schon ähnliche Anfragen. Ansonsten kannst du hier schauen:

http://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/de/index.php (Anerkennung, wer sucht sie nicht? Gibt's in Deutschland leider nur auf Antrag ;-) )

[dantheg]

The quick answer is no. In order to get an Approbation you need to have the legal basis to work in Germany - ie a permanent work permit or be an EU or German citizen. If you only have a limited work permit you would not be able to get an Approbation. The other thing you need to have in order to get the Approbation is the education. The main thing this encompasses is what school you went to. If you went to a German or EU school then the requirement is fulfilled. I have also heard that if you went to a US medical school they will consider the educational requirement fulfilled. Having an ECFMG certificate does not matter as this is not a diploma from a university.

Now you also know that getting an unrestricted license to practice in the US usually requires 2-3 years of residency, right? But being licensed in the US has no influence about you getting an Approbation in Germany.