Bavaria adds German doctor exam places
Bavaria’s added knowledge-exam places may shorten the queue, but foreign doctors cannot book them directly. Your licensing office assigns the exam date.
Ahmed Quteishat
Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
Bavaria’s added knowledge-exam places can shorten your wait. But you cannot book one yourself. The licensing office handling your full doctor licence application assigns your exam date.
This matters because Bavaria has had a long queue for the medical knowledge exam. The wait on the exam route grew from 6 to 21 months in a Bavarian parliamentary answer.
Who runs the extra exam places?
The Bavarian authorities organise the medical knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung). The exam takes place at approved exam sites with 3 examiners and a real patient.
The added places are part of the state’s exam capacity. They are not a private course or a second waiting list.
No hospital can sell you an earlier date. Your licensing office keeps the list of applicants.
That office sends the invitation letter when an exam place is available.
Who benefits first?
Doctors with a complete file benefit first. The office needs your passport, degree, transcripts, home licence, good standing certificate, criminal record extract, medical certificate, and language papers.
A missing paper stops the office from moving your file forward. A good standing certificate and medical certificate must each be no older than 3 months when you submit them.
Doctors already waiting for an exam date are the clearest group to benefit. New applicants benefit later because more dates clear older files first.
Do not wait without preparing
The knowledge exam is one day with a real patient and 3 examiners. It tests internal medicine and surgery, plus emergency medicine, pharmacology, imaging, and legal questions.
You have 3 attempts in total. Use the waiting time for patient presentations, German case reports, ECG practice, and oral questions with another doctor.
A temporary work permit (Berufserlaubnis) lets you work as a doctor for at most 2 years in total. It does not remove the need to pass the knowledge exam for your full licence.
What to do now
- Email your Bavarian licensing office: “Is my file complete for knowledge-exam scheduling?”
- Ask which paper is still missing, then send that exact paper by the requested method.
- Keep your passport, good standing certificate, and medical certificate current before the office asks again.
- Study with one full patient case each week, including history, examination, report, and handover.
Stand: 2026-10-20. This is a guide, not legal advice. Every German state has its own rules, and rules change. Check with your state's [medical chamber (Landesärztekammer)](https://www.bundesaerztekammer.de/aerztekammern) before you act.
Ahmed Quteishat — Assistenzarzt, Innere Medizin (Berlin) · Founder of Klaro
Ahmed built Klaro after watching how much of a doctor's move to Germany gets lost in paperwork rather than medicine.
