AKH Wien Careers, Salaries & Jobs

The Universitätsklinikum AKH Wien is Vienna's university hospital, run by the City of Vienna's hospital group, the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund, together with the Medical University of Vienna (MedUni Wien).

It lists 1,727 beds in 2026, 29 university clinics, 56 operating theatres and a staff of 9,038 in 2025, including 1,632 doctors and 2,620 nursing staff.

For international applicants the AKH has two employers. Doctors who work there are hired by MedUni Wien, which advertises posts for doctors in specialist training in its staff gazette. Nurses and most other health professionals are employed by the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund.

The Wiener Gesundheitsverbund runs #Nurses4Vienna with Hochschule Campus Wien. Instead of agencies it works with partner universities abroad, which teach German alongside nursing; recruits then complete a nine-month nostrification programme in Vienna and start work, first as nursing assistants at B1 and then as registered nurses at B2. It plans up to 600 nurses over five years; the first cohort arrived from Jordan in December 2024. Its English page says no further intake is planned at the moment.

Everyone practising needs Austrian recognition: nostrification of the degree and the ÖÄK German exam and entry in the Ärzteliste for doctors, and recognition plus registration in the Gesundheitsberuferegister for nurses. Allied health professionals such as physiotherapists and radiographers also register in the Gesundheitsberuferegister after recognition, and midwives register with the Austrian Midwives' Board (Österreichisches Hebammengremium).

Founded

1784 (opened as the Allgemeines Krankenspital on 16 August 1784)

Run by

Wiener Gesundheitsverbund (City of Vienna), of which AKH Wien is a business unit (Teilunternehmung), together with the Medical University of Vienna

Leadership

• Dipl.-Ing. Herwig Wetzlinger, Direktor der Teilunternehmung AKH Wien
• Univ.Prof.in Dr.in Gabriela Kornek, Ärztliche Direktorin
• Irene Ausserlechner, MSc, Leitung, Direktion des Pflegedienstes

Switchboard

+43 1 40400-0

• University clinics and departments

  29 university clinics, 35 clinical departments and 2 clinical institutes under one roof.

• Specialist outpatient clinics

  53 general and 356 specialist outpatient clinics, according to the hospital's 2026 structural data.

• Intensive and intermediate care

  16 intensive care and 15 intermediate care units, with 137 intensive care beds.

• Surgery

  56 operating theatres and 11 procedure rooms.

• Teaching and research

  The clinical home of the Medical University of Vienna, whose doctors provide medical care at the AKH.

• The Wiener Gesundheitsverbund recruits nurses abroad through #Nurses4Vienna, a cooperation with Hochschule Campus Wien that works with partner universities instead of recruitment agencies. Current partners are Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Universitas Sumatera Utara and Binawan University.
• Partner universities teach German alongside nursing. Recruits then enter Austria on a student visa, complete nostrification with Hochschule Campus Wien over a nine-month programme with intensive German, and start work: as nursing assistants (Pflegefachassistenz) at B1 and as registered nurses (DGKP) once they reach B2. The whole process may not exceed 24 months.
• The programme pays the flight to Vienna, provides accommodation during studies and free German courses, pays a monthly stipend of €672.64 to €1,217.96 depending on age, and helps with visa and residence matters. The group's English page says no further intake is planned at this time, so check before applying.
• Doctors are not recruited through a programme. They apply to MedUni Wien's advertised posts once they can show a completed medical degree and German at C1, and must be entered in the Ärzteliste to practise.

• Doctors with degrees from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland need nostrification at a medical university. MedUni Wien asks for confirmation from the Austrian Medical Chamber that nostrification is needed, a €150 fee, apostilled or legalised documents and translations by Austrian court-certified translators.

• To enter the Ärzteliste, doctors must pass the ÖÄK German language exam unless exempt; candidates need a B2 certificate no older than ten years, and the exam is set at least at advanced (C1) level. MedUni Wien's job adverts ask for very good German at C1.

• Nurses need recognition of their qualification and registration in the Gesundheitsberuferegister (GBR), which requires B2 German for registered nurses and B1 for nursing assistants. Registration is free and the professional ID is valid for five years.

• A residence permit with access to the labour market, usually the Red-White-Red Card.

• Austria's 2026 shortage occupation list includes registered nurses (Dipl. Gesundheits- und Krankenpfleger/-in), nursing assistants (Pflegefachassistenz and Pflegeassistenz) and doctors in general practice and many specialties. The usual permit is the Red-White-Red Card for skilled workers in shortage occupations: you need a binding job offer paid at least the legal or collective agreement minimum and 55 of 90 points. It is generally issued for 24 months and the fee is €218.

• For regulated professions such as nursing and medicine, formal recognition of your qualification is required. Check your own case with the Austrian representation and migration.gv.at; this is not legal advice.

1. 1

   Choose your employer

   Doctors apply to MedUni Wien; nurses and other health professionals to the Wiener Gesundheitsverbund, which runs the AKH.
2. 2

   Start German early

   B1 for nursing assistant work, B2 for registered nurses and GBR registration, C1 for doctors.
3. 3

   Doctors: nostrify your degree

   Get the ÖÄK confirmation, then apply to one medical university such as MedUni Wien and pass any exams it sets. Then sit the ÖÄK German exam and apply for the Ärzteliste.
4. 4

   Nurses: check #Nurses4Vienna or apply directly

   If you studied at a partner university, apply through it. Otherwise get your qualification recognised and registered in the GBR, then apply on the group's job portal at karriere.gesundheitsverbund.at.
5. 5

   Doctors: apply to MedUni Wien adverts

   Posts are published on MedUni Wien's careers pages and in its staff gazette, with the minimum salary and an online application form.
6. 6

   Get your permit

   With a job offer, apply for the Red-White-Red Card.

• Registered nurse (DGKP), Wiener Gesundheitsverbund

  €3,453.36 a month

  Gross, 14 times a year, as published for #Nurses4Vienna; about €2,340 net according to the group.

• Nursing assistant (Pflegefachassistenz), Wiener Gesundheitsverbund

  €3,019.60 a month

  Gross, 14 times a year; about €2,100 net according to the group.

• Doctor in specialist training, MedUni Wien

  €6,009 a month minimum

  Uni-KV group B1, gross, 14 times a year, as stated in an October 2026 MedUni Wien advert for a post at the AKH.

• Nursing stipend during nostrification

  €672.64 to €1,217.96 a month

  Paid to #Nurses4Vienna students, depending on age.