Leave trauma surgery after 2 years in Germany

Apply to plastic surgery after 1 to 2 years in orthopaedics and trauma surgery. Staying 4 to 5 years gives you useful surgical work. It rarely removes enough time from your plastic surgery specialist training to make the wait worth it.

A small hospital hiring for plastic surgery likes a doctor who has closed wounds, managed fractures, written discharge letters, and covered night shifts. But the hospital needs a junior doctor for its own ward today. It does not hire you because you stayed longer in another specialty.

Why 4 more years delay you

Plastic surgery training in Germany lasts 72 months under the model rules from the German Medical Association. The state medical chamber writes the final rules for your state and checks your training record later.

Orthopaedics and trauma surgery (Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie) teaches valuable basics. You learn wound care, emergency admissions, X-rays, fractures, and operating room routines. Those skills help during an interview for plastic surgery.

But plastic surgery has its own required work. You need reconstructive operations, hand surgery, burns, breast reconstruction, skin grafts, and aesthetic procedures. Four years treating hip fractures does not replace those months.

What usually gets credited

The state medical chamber decides which months from another specialty it credits. The written decision comes when it checks your training record, not when a chief casually says your years will count.

Most chambers can credit a limited period from another medical field. The exact limit depends on the training rules in your state. Your own operative logbook, employment certificates, and rotation details matter more than your job title.

A certificate that says only “junior doctor in trauma surgery” is weak. Ask your chief for dates, ward duties, emergency room work, operations, and supervised procedures. Keep every certificate before you change hospitals.

What small hospitals want

A small plastic surgery department wants someone who can help on the ward from the first week. Your first 12 to 24 months in trauma surgery can show that you know admissions, drains, dressings, blood tests, and night duty.

After that, the same experience becomes less valuable for your application. A chief sees a doctor who still needs years of plastic surgery work. Starting earlier means you begin collecting the procedures your future specialist certificate actually requires.

When longer trauma work makes sense

Stay longer if you do not yet have a plastic surgery offer. Use that time to build German operating room experience and a strong reference letter. Apply to plastic surgery departments every month while you work.

Stay longer if you want hand surgery or complex reconstruction. Trauma work gives you useful anatomy and emergency skills. It still does not replace a plastic surgery job.

What to do now

1. Apply to plastic surgery departments after 12 to 24 months in trauma surgery.
2. Ask your state medical chamber in writing which trauma surgery months it can credit.
3. Request a detailed certificate listing operations, emergency work, ward duties, and exact dates.
4. Add your wound care, fracture work, emergency admissions, and operations to page 1 of your CV.

Stand: 2026-10-01. 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.