Rigshospitalet Careers, Salaries & Jobs

Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, is run by the Capital Region of Denmark. Its mission describes it as a highly specialised hospital for all of Denmark, with treatment, research, innovation and training at international level.

It has two main sites, Blegdamsvej in central Copenhagen and Glostrup, and traces its history back about 250 years to Det Kongelige Frederiks Hospital.

Clinical work is organised into centres: the Heart Centre, the Neuroscience Centre, the Juliane Marie Centre for women, children and reproduction, the Centre for Cancer and Organ Diseases, the Centre of Head and Orthopaedics and the Centre of Diagnostic Investigation. In Newsweek's World's Best Hospitals 2026 it was ranked 1st in Denmark.

Rigshospitalet's careers page for international applicants is short and firm. Most employees need Danish authorisation and a certificate of registration, and anyone applying for a post with patient contact must be able to make themselves understood in Danish. For some research positions a high level of English may be enough.

The hospital also warns that it does not fill vacancies through recruitment agencies and that you should never pay a fee to be considered. For doctors and nurses from outside the EU/EEA, Denmark's zero quota for 2026 is the bigger obstacle: unless you are exempt, you cannot start the authorisation process this year.

Run by

Capital Region of Denmark (Region Hovedstaden)

Awards and rankings

• Newsweek World's Best Hospitals 2026: ranked 1st in Denmark (Newsweek).

Switchboard

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• Heart Centre

  One of the hospital's six clinical centres, covering heart care.

• Neuroscience Centre

  One of the hospital's six clinical centres, covering the brain and nervous system.

• Juliane Marie Centre

  Care for women, children and families, including pregnancy, birth and fertility.

• Centre for Cancer and Organ Diseases

  Seven highly specialised departments in gastroenterology, urology, oncology, nephrology, endocrinology and haematology.

• Centre of Head and Orthopaedics

  One of the hospital's six clinical centres, covering head and orthopaedic specialties.

• Centre of Diagnostic Investigation

  Departments including clinical biochemistry, clinical genetics, clinical microbiology, and clinical physiology and nuclear medicine.

• Rigshospitalet does not describe an international recruitment programme. Its English vacancies page says most employees need authorisation and a certificate of registration, and that you must meet a language requirement before you can be considered: for a post with patient contact, you must be able to make yourself understood in Danish.
• For research positions, the hospital says a high level of English may be sufficient in specific situations; the job advert will say so.
• All vacancies are advertised, in Danish, and the hospital does not review unsolicited applications. It says it does not fill vacancies through recruitment agencies and warns about scammers who pose as agencies and ask applicants for fees.
• For support with moving, Rigshospitalet points international staff to International House Copenhagen, Work in Denmark, the International Citizen Service and the Capital Region's English job pages on registration and authorisation.

• Danish authorisation. Doctors, nurses, midwives and the other authorised professions need authorisation from the Danish Patient Safety Authority (Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed, STPS). With an education from outside the EU/EEA the route is: approval of your education, the Danish 3 exam (Prøve i Dansk 3) with set grades, for doctors and dentists professional tests in Danish and a course in Danish health legislation, and finally a supervised job for adaptation and training purposes that ends with an evaluation.

• The 2026 quota. STPS has set a quota of zero for doctors from 15 December 2025 to 31 December 2026, and for nurses from 7 October 2025 to 31 December 2026. A doctor or nurse who is a citizen of, or trained in, a country outside the EU/EEA cannot apply in this period unless exempt. The exempt groups include EU/EEA citizens educated outside the EU/EEA, people educated in Denmark, people already legally resident in Denmark, and people with a specific job offer as a specially requested healthcare professional.

• Danish. Doctors, dentists and, from 1 July 2025, nurses educated outside the EU/EEA must pass the Danish 3 exam with at least 10 in oral communication and 7 in reading and in written communication. The pass must normally be no more than 12 months old when you apply.

• Residence permit. The Agency for International Recruitment and Integration (SIRI) issues a residence permit to obtain a Danish authorisation, but says applications from doctors and nurses are refused under the zero quota unless exempt. Medical doctor, chief physician, nurse, nurse with a specialty and midwife are on SIRI's Positive List for People with a Higher Education, which needs Danish authorisation or a receipt showing you have applied.

• Certificate of registration. EU/EEA citizens need a registration certificate rather than a permit; Rigshospitalet lists this alongside authorisation.

1. 1

   Check the quota first

   If you trained outside the EU/EEA, check STPS's quota pages. In 2026 doctors and nurses can only apply if they belong to an exempt group.
2. 2

   Apply to STPS

   If you are eligible, apply to STPS for approval of your education and follow the route: Danish 3, tests for doctors, the law course and an adaptation job.
3. 3

   Learn Danish

   Rigshospitalet needs Danish for any post with patient contact. Plan for the Danish 3 exam grades STPS requires.
4. 4

   Apply to advertised posts

   Find vacancies through Rigshospitalet's job pages (in Danish). Unsolicited applications are not reviewed, and the hospital does not use agencies.
5. 5

   Arrange your permit

   Non-EU citizens need a SIRI permit, for example under the Positive List, before starting; EU/EEA citizens need a registration certificate.