How A Psychiatry Doctor Rewrites Their CV For Germany

A psychiatry CV and an internal medicine CV can describe the exact same shift. One gets a reply from a German hospital. The other gets a 'Leider' email, because the chief (Chefarzt) scans for organ-system words and finds none.

Why does psychiatry experience look weak here?

Internal medicine chiefs check one thing first: can this doctor manage a sick body. Most psychiatry CVs talk about mood, behaviour and therapy sessions. They never mention the blood draws, ECGs, IV fluids and insulin adjustments that happen on every psychiatric ward too.

The chief is not reading your psychiatry rotation. He is reading whether you can run a general ward alone at 3am.

What should the CV actually say?

Keep the word psychiatry. Do not delete it. Just describe the tasks your hands did, in the words an internist uses.

• Instead of 'patient care on a psychiatric ward', write 'blood draws, IV lines and ECG review on 20 inpatients'.
• Instead of 'managed agitation', write 'managed electrolyte disturbance and dehydration in confused patients'.
• Instead of 'psychiatric history taking', write 'daily monitoring of diabetes and hypertension in psychiatric inpatients'.

What goes in the cover letter?

One sentence that names the body system you want next. Not 'I am motivated to switch specialty'.

Something like: 'In psychiatry I treated diabetes, hypertension and electrolyte problems daily. I want to do that full time, in internal medicine.'

That sentence tells the chief exactly why your years are not wasted.

Does this actually change the reply?

Yes, because the chief is not deciding whether you like internal medicine. He is deciding whether you can manage a ward on day one. Your psychiatry years already show that, if the CV says so in his words.

What to do before you apply

1. List every clinical task from psychiatry in organ terms: blood draws, ECGs, fluid management, insulin.
2. Name the internal diagnoses you treated inside psychiatry: diabetes, hypertension, electrolyte disorders.
3. Write one sentence in the cover letter naming the body system you want next.
4. Keep 'Psychiatrie' on the CV. Frame it, do not hide it.

Stand: 2026-11-04. 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.