MEBEKO Switzerland: Recognition, Exams and Fees

• MedReg: the federal register of the university medical professions, with an entry for every recognised, federal or registered diploma and postgraduate title.
• Diplomas in human medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and chiropractic.
• Postgraduate titles (Weiterbildungstitel), such as specialist titles, from EU and EFTA states and from third states.
• Language entries: language skills proved at B2 or above, recorded in MedReg on request.
• Psychology professions are handled by a separate commission, PsyKo; tertiary-level health professions by SERI through recognition.swiss.

• For registration of a non-recognisable diploma: your diploma entitles you to practise under professional supervision in the issuing state.
• For registration: your training was at a university or higher education institution of recognised equivalent level and meets the minimum requirements for hours and years of theoretical and practical teaching.
• For indirect recognition: your third-state diploma is already recognised by an EU or EFTA state, respecting the minimum training requirements of Directive 2005/36/EC at the first recognition.
• For indirect recognition: you, or your spouse, are a Swiss, EU or EFTA national.
• For indirect recognition: you have unrestricted practice rights in the recognising state, and at least three years of clinical experience there or in Switzerland within the last five years.
• For direct admission to the federal exam in human medicine: at least 36 months of clinical work in Switzerland at full time (full exam), or at least 60 months (theoretical multiple-choice part only).
• For a language entry: B2 in the relevant language, shown by a certificate no more than six years old, training in that language, or three years' work in that language within the last ten years.

Check your route with the route finder

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   1. Choose the procedure

   Read MEBEKO's page for diplomas from third states and decide between indirect recognition, registration and acquisition of the federal diploma. Using the wrong form costs time and fees, and a cancelled application costs at least CHF 800 to restart.
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   2. Download the form in a national language

   Forms and guidance are only available in German, French and Italian. Each diploma needs its own form, though all diplomas should be sent together in one envelope.
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   3. Certify your documents

   Send officially certified copies, not originals; MEBEKO lists the accepted certifying bodies on each form and does not return documents. Documents can be in German, French, Italian or English, or translated into one of these by an official translator.
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   4. Post the application

   Send everything to MEBEKO at the FOPH in Bern in a single postal delivery. MEBEKO does not accept applications by email or in person. MEBEKO sends an acknowledgement by email, usually within 3 to 4 weeks.
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   5. Formal check and first invoice

   After a formal check MEBEKO sends a first invoice; it continues once that is paid. Payment is by bank transfer only, in one instalment. In some cases MEBEKO needs an individual assessment by the commission and tells you separately.
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   6. Second invoice and decision

   When everything is complete and the conditions are met, a second invoice follows. After payment the procedure is closed: you receive the decision (Verfügung) by registered post, an identity card where applicable, and your MedReg entry and GLN.
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   7. Language entry

   Apply for a language entry at the same time or later. It is processed and invoiced separately, at CHF 50 to 100 per language. It is not compulsory, but it helps employers and cantons, who must check your language skills.
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   8. Cantonal permission and, later, the federal exam

   With your registration, ask the cantonal health authority about working under supervision. If you are aiming for the federal diploma, apply to MEBEKO's training section for exam admission at least 6 to 8 weeks before the 31 March registration deadline; a registration decision does not entitle you to register for the exam.

• Federal examination in human medicine, full

  Open to graduates of a Swiss master's programme, and by direct admission to third-state graduates with at least 36 months of full-time clinical work in Switzerland. The whole examination must be taken and passed.

• Federal examination in human medicine, theoretical part only

  With at least 60 months of full-time clinical work in Switzerland, MEBEKO admits you directly to the theoretical part only: a multiple-choice examination made up of two sub-examinations.

• Federal examination in dental medicine

  Either after a Swiss master's degree in dentistry, or by direct admission after completing an accredited Swiss postgraduate programme of at least three years towards a federal specialist dentist title, confirmed by the SSO's office for postgraduate dental training.

• Federal examination in chiropractic

  Admission requires 60 ECTS credits in an accredited Swiss programme and a degree from a foreign programme on the list of the Federal Department of Home Affairs. The request costs CHF 800 to 1,000, with exam and diploma fees billed later.

• Pharmacy and veterinary medicine

  For these professions MEBEKO describes study at a Swiss university, where the university decides on credit for previous studies and on admission.

• MEBEKO does not set an English requirement. What counts for practice is the language of the canton where you work, and MEBEKO can record your proven language skills in MedReg.
• A language entry needs at least B2, proved by an official CEFR certificate no more than six years old, signed and dated, naming the test centre and showing results for writing, reading, speaking and listening.
• Alternatively, a degree or postgraduate training in the medical profession completed in that language counts; what matters is the language of the training, not of the certificate.
• Three years of work in the profession in that language within the last ten years also counts.
• The language entry is optional, but employers and cantonal authorities must verify language skills and some cantons are stricter.

Estimate your total cost

• Acknowledgement of receipt: by email, usually within 3 to 4 weeks of your file arriving.
• Processing: usually several months, currently up to 5 months from the acknowledgement, according to MEBEKO.
• Schedule published on 29 September 2026: registrations received December 2025 to February 2026 in the third quarter of 2026, February to June 2026 in the fourth quarter, and June to October 2026 in the first quarter of 2027.
• Federal exam: registration closes on 31 March of the exam year; ask for an admission decision at least 6 to 8 weeks before.
• Email support: replies currently take up to 6 weeks, and MEBEKO says calls and emails do not speed up processing.

1. 1FOPH: Gesuch einreichen für ein Diplom der Medizinalberufe aus einem Drittstaat
2. 2FOPH: Gesuche einreichen für ausländische Abschlüsse der Medizinal- und Psychologieberufe
3. 3FOPH: Submit applications for foreign qualifications (English overview)
4. 4FOPH: Medizinalberufe, Meldung von Sprachkenntnissen
5. 5FOPH: MedReg register of medical professions
6. 6SIWF: Swiss Institute for Medical Education