Österreichische Ärztekammer (ÖÄK): Registration and Exams

• Ärztinnen und Ärzte in Ausbildung: doctors in training, including the Basisausbildung and general practice or specialty training.
• Ärztinnen und Ärzte für Allgemeinmedizin: general practitioners with an Austrian diploma or an EU-conform qualification.
• Fachärztinnen und Fachärzte: specialists in a Sonderfach, plus additional subspecialties (Additivfächer).
• Doctors authorised under section 35 of the Ärztegesetz for supervised medical work for educational purposes, who must also register before starting.
• Doctors providing temporary and occasional services from another EU or EEA country or Switzerland under section 37, after written notice to the ÖÄK.
• Dentists are registered by a separate body, the Österreichische Zahnärztekammer, which also confirms the need for nostrification in dentistry.

• Full legal capacity, good character and the health fitness needed to practise, under section 4(2) of the Ärztegesetz.
• Sufficient German, normally shown by passing the ÖÄK Sprachprüfung Deutsch unless an exemption applies.
• Legal residence giving access to the labour market for employed and self-employed work, which third-country citizens prove with a residence permit.
• A nostrification decision (Nostrifizierungsbescheid) from an Austrian medical university, or recognition under section 5a(6) for degrees already recognised in the EEA with three years' practice there.
• A certificate of good standing from every country where you practised for more than 6 months in the last 5 years, issued within the last three months.
• A criminal record certificate from your home country and every country where you lived for more than 6 months in the last 5 years, issued within the last three months.
• A medical certificate of physical and mental fitness, issued within the last three months by a GP, internist or occupational physician; if issued abroad, with proof the doctor may practise independently.
• An employment contract or employer's confirmation; for self-employed work, professional liability insurance with cover of at least €2 million per claim.

Check your route with the route finder

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   1. Ask the ÖÄK for the nostrification certificate

   Send a certified copy of your degree in the original language and a certified translation, a CV with your current address and a copy of your passport to [email protected]. The ÖÄK confirms that nostrification is indispensable under section 90(1) of the Universities Act 2002. The AST says the certificate should be no more than one year old when you apply to the university.
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   2. Apply to one medical university

   The ÖÄK names the medical universities of Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck. Pay the €150 fee, which is lost if the application is refused or withdrawn, and include German at C1. You may apply to one university only; applying elsewhere at the same time or after withdrawing is not allowed.
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   3. Pass the sample test and supplementary exams

   The universities hold a joint Stichprobentest in ten clinical subjects; you need 60% in each and get one attempt. You then pass the exams set in your decision as an extraordinary student, always including forensic medicine and prescribing, within the deadline set. The university then confirms full equivalence and the title Dr. med. univ.
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   4. Pass the ÖÄK German exam

   Register with the Österreichische Akademie der Ärzte with a B2 certificate no more than 10 years old and a completed medical degree. The exam is held in Vienna on several dates a year, is pass or fail, and you may retake it as often as needed. Check first whether one of the exemptions, such as three years of work in a German-language health system, applies to you.
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   5. Secure a job and residence

   Registration needs a contract or written confirmation from an employer and a residence permit with labour market access. Doctors in training, general practitioners and many specialties are on Austria's 2026 shortage list for the Red-White-Red Card. Training posts are filled by hospital operators and training sites, and the AST warns of longer waits in some provinces.
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   6. Apply for entry in the Ärzteliste

   Submit the application through the medical chamber of the province where you will work, with proof of nationality and residence, your nostrification decision, good standing, criminal record and fitness certificates no more than three months old, a passport photo and proof of German. Documents go in the original or as certified copies with certified translations. Late certificates are the most common reason for a resubmission.
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   7. Get foreign training credited

   Once nostrified, apply to the ÖÄK under section 14 of the Ärztegesetz to credit postgraduate training done abroad. You need detailed training certificates or the ÖÄK evaluation form, logbooks or operation lists, and proof that the hospital and trainer were authorised to train. The ÖÄK decides within up to four months of a complete file; if you are not yet on the Ärzteliste, the AST lists an administration fee of €425.07.
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   8. Train and pass the Austrian exam

   Complete the remaining Austrian training, starting with the Basisausbildung, which is at least six months from 1 August 2026. You must then pass the GP or specialist exam in Austria; the AST lists €795 or €1,452. Credited time must be confirmed by an ÖÄK decision before the exam's registration deadline.

• Stichprobentest (nostrification sample test)

  A written test held jointly by the medical universities three times a year, for example on 3 February 2027 in Innsbruck, 4 May 2027 in Vienna and 22 September 2027 in Graz according to the AST. MedUni Graz lists 30 questions each in internal medicine, surgery and paediatrics, 25 each in neurology, gynaecology, dermatology and emergency medicine, and 20 each in ENT, psychiatry and ophthalmology, with 60% needed per subject. MedUni Wien requires C1 German and allows a general dictionary but not medical or electronic ones.

• Supplementary nostrification exams

  University exams taken as an extraordinary student, in German. At MedUni Wien they are set within its SIP 4a and SIP 5a exam frameworks, plus forensic medicine and prescribing. MedUni Wien says applicants from 1 August 2026 may also have to write a diploma thesis and pass an oral commission exam.

• ÖÄK Sprachprüfung Deutsch

  Three parts: a patient conversation covering history and treatment in lay language, a conversation with colleagues and medical staff (together 15 to 20 minutes, oral), and a 30-minute written task of at least 100 words for an administration or authority. It is set at least at C1. The 2026 fee is €1,179.65 (resit €589.83) and the 2027 fee €1,213.86 (resit €606.93).

• Austrian GP or specialist exam (Arztprüfung, Facharztprüfung)

  Run by the Österreichische Akademie der Ärzte and compulsory for every doctor seeking the Austrian GP or specialist diploma, including those whose foreign training has been fully credited. Foreign exams cannot be credited since 1 January 2015, except for EU-conform diplomas.

• The ÖÄK does not accept English tests for registration. You must show German.
• The standard proof is the ÖÄK Sprachprüfung Deutsch, which needs a B2 certificate no more than 10 years old to sit.
• Exempt from the exam: three years of work in a German-language health system, a German-language school leaving exam or equivalent, a degree completed in German, GP or specialist training and exam in a German-speaking country, a degree in German language, or an equivalent German exam passed in a country where German is an official language.
• For nostrification, the medical universities require German at C1. MedUni Graz lists ÖSD, Goethe, telc, DSD II, TestDaF level 5, the ÖIF test or a university language centre certificate.
• For section 37 temporary services from the EU, a self-declaration of the German needed for practice is enough.

Estimate your total cost

• Sample test: three dates a year across the three medical universities, each with an earlier registration deadline.
• Supplementary exams: up to eight semesters at MedUni Wien, according to the AST; other universities set the deadline in your decision.
• ÖÄK German exam: several dates a year in Vienna; results within 10 to 14 days.
• Registration documents: certificates of good standing, criminal record and fitness must be no more than three months old when you apply.
• Crediting foreign training: decided within up to four months of a complete application.
• Overall: neither the ÖÄK nor the universities publish a total timeline, and German to C1 must come first.