Who recognises a doctor's specialist title in Germany

Your hospital cannot give you your specialist title. Only your state medical chamber (Landesärztekammer) can, and only after you already hold your German licence to practise (Approbation).

Who actually decides this?

The chamber in the state where you work or plan to work decides. It is the same office that handles your doctor licence, but the specialist title is a second, separate file.

A hospital director can call you a cardiologist on the ward. He cannot put that on your contract as your official title until the chamber confirms it in writing.

EU degree or not: two different roads

If your specialist training is from an EU, EEA or Swiss country, it may be listed under EU rules (Directive 2005/36/EC). Then the chamber recognises it on application, no exam needed.

If you trained in Egypt, Syria, India, Pakistan, Nigeria or anywhere else outside that list, the chamber runs an equivalence check instead. It compares your training table to the German one for that specialty.

Say you never rotated through intensive care during your surgical training. That is a real gap. Then the chamber can ask for an exam, but only on that missing part, not the whole specialty again.

What papers does the chamber want?

• Your German doctor licence (Approbation)
• Passport or ID
• Your full training table, year by year, with rotations named
• Certified copies of your degree and training certificates
• Sworn German translations of every foreign document

How long does the chamber take?

By rule (MWBO §§18 to 19, version 3 July 2026), the chamber confirms your file arrived within 1 month. Once your file is complete, it decides within 3 months.

That clock only starts once every paper is in, translated and certified. A missing translation resets the wait, not the chamber being slow.

Can I work while I wait?

Yes. You work as a doctor the whole time, on your German licence. You cannot write your specialist title on your name badge, your letters, or your email signature until the chamber's letter arrives.

What to do now

1. Get your German doctor licence first: the title application cannot start without it.
2. Write to your state chamber and ask: is my training table enough, or do I need the equivalence check?
3. Get your training certificates translated by a sworn translator before you submit, not after.
4. Ask the chamber in writing which rotations, if any, it usually asks non-EU applicants in your specialty to prove.

Stand: 2026-11-06. 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) before you act.