Qualifying to practice psychiatry in Germany

I'm having a hard time finding an answer but I was wondering if anybody knows if I could practice psychiatry in Germany with a degree from an American medical school or if I would need to go to a medical school in Germany.

Would I just need to pass an exam to qualify in Germany, if I was qualified in the states?

What exactly do you mean by "practice"? That people with health insurance coverage can come to you and get reimbursement from their health insurer?

Tom, to "practice medicine" is a commonly used English phrase, meaning to work as a doctor. It has nothing to do with learning or getting better at something. So the question being asked is if a fully qualified US medical doctor with a specialty in psychiatry can just come to Germany and start working as a doctor, or whether he must go to a German medical school and get German qualifications.

I don't know the answer, but suspect that any medical doctor would have to at least do some exams to get German qualifications before being allowed to practice medicine of any specialty in Germany. My cousin became a doctor a few years back in Canada. She immediately did the US exams at the same time so that she'd be qualified to practice medicine in both Canada and the USA. Without those extra US exams she would not have been allowed to work in the USA as a doctor. I think most countries have similar requirements.

But I can't give a definitive answer for German policies since I don't know for sure. Sorry.

I do not know the answer, but I am guessing that your med school could help you with finding it. I do know (having worked with Germans in an American hospital) that it doesn't work the other way around... German MDs cannot just practice medicine in the USA without more training.

My guess, since psychiatry involves a lot of talking, is that at the very least, you will have to become proficient in the German language if you want to work with German patients.

good luck!

You need an Approbation ... regulated by the Approbationsordnung and the Bundesärzteordnung

Sure. What I was trying to say is: There's a difference between "working as a psychiatrist" and "working as a doctor" (because many practicing psychiatrists in Germany actually aren't medical doctors, but "only" have a psychology degree). Furthermore, even if you are a medical doctor, you need a Kassenzulassung if you want to treat people that are insured in the public health system, and a Kassenzulassung can be quite difficult to get. Few doctors can survive based on privately-insured patients alone.

Oh, really? I've never heard of a modern, current psychiatrist who wasn't also a medical doctor. As you know, there's a heck of a huge difference between psychiatry and psychology. As for whether or not a person is allowed to bill the health insurance plan, that is a totally different issue.

In the UK a Psychiatrist has to undergo the same medical degree as all medical doctors and surgeons. Thereafter they have to do 2 years of housemanship. I cannot speak for the USA, but I am sure it is similar.

After the 2 years of housemanship, then they go off to their special areas of interest.

Unless something has changed

OK, did some checking, and here are the rules as applicable in Germany:

If you want to work as a "Psychotherapist", you need either a medical degree, or a degree in psychology, or a specific pedagogical degree.

If you want to work as a "Psychologe", you need a degree in psychology.

A "Psychiater" on the other hand has to be a medical doctor.

(as explained e.g. here: http://www.praxiswagner.de/frage-antwort.htm )

I would think 1st you need to be fluent in German, but good luck. Why not work in UK, there are plenty of people there who are 2 dots short of an umlaut, off-their rocker, and not firing on all 4 cylinders.

As I thought. A psychiatrist must be a medical doctor first, even in Germany.

(deleted due to accidental duplication)

Btw, Miwild's link also contains a subpage that tells non-EU citizens if/how they can work as a medical doctor in Germany:

http://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/page.asp?his=1.109.111.3349

Apparently, there's a difference between being allowed to work as a doctor in the employment of another doctor or hospital, and being allowed to open your own practice (you need an Approbation for the latter, but not for the former).

there's a psychiatrist advertising on TT - Dum, I think. Ask her. She does it in English. Her advert says American clinical psychiatrist.

I emailed her last week and today she replied. Basically all I have to do is get my degrees recgonized by the state and get an Approbation.