UKE Hamburg Careers, Salaries & Jobs

The Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), founded in 1889, is one of Hamburg's largest employers. Its latest figures show 17,011 staff and 595,326 patients a year, 98,123 of them inpatients and 497,203 outpatients.

Its 13 centres bring together more than 78 clinics, polyclinics and institutes.

UKE's international programmes are for nurses, and they are unusually well developed. Its Akademie für Bildung und Karriere (ABK) runs an in-house adaptation qualification (APQ) that closes the gaps listed in your recognition decision, on five dedicated 'portal' wards with trained practice instructors. While you complete it, you can already work at UKE as a nursing assistant.

UKE also pilots INGA Pflege, a federal model for a work-integrated adaptation course that admits nurses with B1 German. It started with nurses from the Philippines recruited with UKE's partners there, and the second pilot round from January 2025 to December 2028 opens it to nurses from more countries such as Brazil, Turkey and India.

UKE is not covered by the TV-Ärzte for state university hospitals. Its own documents show that it applies the TVöD hospital agreement (TVöD-K) to nurses, and its job adverts state that doctors are paid under the TV-Ärzte/VKA.

Founded

1889

Run by

Public-law corporation (Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts) and member corporation of Universität Hamburg

Leadership

• Prof. Dr. med. Christian Gerloff, Ärztlicher Direktor, Vorstandsvorsitzender
• Joachim Prölß, Direktor für Patienten- und Pflegemanagement
• Corinna Wriedt, Kaufmännische Direktorin

Awards and rankings

• Newsweek World's Best Specialized Hospitals 2026: UKE oncology among the top 25 hospitals in the world, as reported by the University Cancer Center Hamburg

Switchboard

+49 40 7410-0

• Transplantation

  UKE says it performs heart, lung, liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants, therapies that in many cases are only available here in the Hamburg region.

• Neurosciences

  One of UKE's research priorities, alongside cardiovascular research.

• Cardiovascular medicine

  Heart transplantation and a cardiovascular research focus.

• Oncology

  One of UKE's research priorities, alongside bone marrow transplantation in clinical care.

• Infection and inflammation

  A research priority at UKE's medical faculty.

• Emergency care

  Around 128,000 patients a year are treated through UKE's emergency department.

• UKE says it supports nurses with international qualifications in closing any gaps and getting their training recognised. Its ABK runs an in-house adaptation qualification (APQ) with practical training on five portal wards and one five-hour theory workshop a week, during which you are released from ward work. The APQ ends with a competence check based on a real patient case.
• To join the APQ you need a nursing degree (bachelor or master), B2 German and the deficit decision (Defizitbescheid) from the Amt für Gesundheit of Hamburg's social affairs authority, which lists what you must make up. The APQ lasts on average 8 to 12 months, depending on that decision. During the APQ you can work at UKE as a nursing assistant, and UKE offers intensive German courses. Instead of the APQ you can sit a knowledge test directly with the authority.
• INGA Pflege is a work-integrated adaptation course piloted at UKE for nationwide use. It admits nurses with a bachelor's degree in nursing and B1 German, with integrated language training and preparation for the nursing language test that Hamburg has required for recognition since 2023. Nurses were first recruited with UKE's partners in the Philippines; the second pilot round, January 2025 to December 2028, extends access to nurses from countries such as Brazil, Turkey and India.
• UKE describes INGA Pflege as part of a wider project to recruit international nurses, in which it also recruits abroad and qualifies recruits through the APQ. There is no comparable programme for doctors.

• Doctors trained outside the EU, EEA or Switzerland apply to the Landesprüfungsamt für Gesundheitsberufe Hamburg for the Approbation. Hamburg requires general German at B2 and a C1 medical language test, and the Kenntnisprüfung, an adaptation route or a supervised Berufserlaubnis where training is not equivalent.

• Nurses apply to Hamburg's social affairs authority for recognition. Its deficit decision sets what must be made up through the APQ or a knowledge test. Since 2023 Hamburg has required a nursing language test for recognition.

• For UKE's APQ: a nursing bachelor's or master's degree, B2 German and the Defizitbescheid. For INGA Pflege: a bachelor's in nursing and B1 German.

• If you still have to complete recognition, section 16d of the Residence Act covers a residence permit for qualification measures and exams such as the Kenntnisprüfung, for up to 24 months and extendable by up to 12 months, and a recognition partnership (section 16d(3)) that lets you work for a named employer while you complete recognition. Both require at least 'sufficient' German, which section 2 of the Act defines as level A2.

• Once you hold the Approbation, a Berufserlaubnis or full nursing recognition, the usual routes are the skilled worker residence permit or the EU Blue Card (section 18g). Employers can also use the fast-track procedure for skilled workers (section 81a) with the local foreigners authority. None of this is legal advice: check your own case with the German mission and the foreigners authority.

1. 1

   Get your recognition decision

   Nurses apply to Hamburg's social affairs authority (Amt für Gesundheit) for a decision on their qualification. Doctors apply to the Landesprüfungsamt für Gesundheitsberufe.
2. 2

   Reach the German level

   B2 for the APQ; B1 to start INGA Pflege; B2 plus a C1 medical language test for doctors.
3. 3

   Apply to UKE

   When you have your certificates and the authority's decision, apply through UKE's careers site at uke.de/karriere. Questions about the APQ can go to [email protected].
4. 4

   Work while you qualify

   During the APQ you can work as a nursing assistant at UKE and attend weekly theory workshops.
5. 5

   Finish recognition

   Pass the competence check at the end of the APQ, or the knowledge test with the authority, to receive your professional licence.
6. 6

   Visa

   Apply for the visa that matches your stage of recognition at the German mission.

Monthly amounts

• Doctor (Ä1), TV-Ärzte/VKA

  €5,722.05 to €7,355.29

  Years 1 to 6, from 1 June 2026 to 31 December 2026.

• Specialist (Ä2), TV-Ärzte/VKA

  €7,552.19 to €9,698.91

  Rises at years 4, 7, 9, 11 and 13.

• Senior physician (Ä3), TV-Ärzte/VKA

  €9,459.56 to €10,810.95

  Three steps.

• Registered nurse, general ward (P 7), TVöD

  €3,510.30 to €4,305.40

  Steps 2 to 6 from 1 May 2026.

• Registered nurse, specialist areas (P 8), TVöD

  €3,701.21 to €4,488.98

  From 1 May 2026; plus the €141.82 monthly nursing allowance.