After nostrification: how do you get into the Ärzteliste and the right to practise in Austria?

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In short

If you studied medicine outside the EEA, the Austrian Medical Chamber says you usually have to nostrify your degree at an Austrian university first. Only then can you be entered in the Ärzteliste, the Chamber's list of physicians, and that entry is required before any medical work in Austria. For it, the Chamber checks among other things that you are trustworthy, fit in terms of health, speak enough German and live in Austria lawfully with access to the labour market. With the nostrification decision and the other requirements in place, you can be entered and start work as a doctor in training.

Why nostrification alone is not enough

The MedUni Vienna Merkblatt says it in so many words: nostrification on its own does not give you the right to practise medicine in Austria. The Austrian Medical Chamber adds that every doctor must be entered in the Ärzteliste before starting any medical work.

You can only be entered if you actually work as a doctor in Austria, and you apply for the entry before that work starts.

• Nostrification in Vienna: the procedure step by step

The general requirements

The Austrian Medical Chamber lists these general requirements for practising medicine:

1. full legal capacity in everything that concerns practising medicine
2. the trustworthiness needed to carry out a doctor's professional duties
3. the necessary fitness in terms of health
4. sufficient knowledge of German
5. lawful residence that comes with the right to work

The documents the Medical Chamber asks for

Three documents must be no older than three months when you apply for entry: the certificate of good standing, the criminal record extract and the medical health certificate. You submit the application to the Austrian Medical Chamber, and the regional medical chamber (Landesärztekammer) of your federal state advises you on it.

According to the Austrian Medical Chamber's information sheet, the documents usually include the following, as originals or certified copies and, where needed, with a certified German translation:

1. proof of citizenship and, if you are from a third country, of lawful residence with access to the labour market
2. a certificate of good standing from each country where you worked as a doctor for more than six months in the last five years
3. a police certificate or criminal record extract from your home country and from each country where you lived for more than six months in the last five years
4. a medical health certificate
5. your training records and, where it applies, your nostrification decision
6. your employment contract, a confirmation from your employer or an assignment to start work
7. proof of sufficient German

• Austrian Medical Chamber: starting medical work in Austria (PDF, in German)

Proving your German

The Austrian Medical Chamber says you usually prove sufficient German by passing the language exam of the Austrian Academy of Physicians. To register for that exam you need a German certificate at level B2, and that certificate is valid for ten years. Do not confuse it with the nostrification application, where MedUni Vienna's Merkblatt asks for proof of at least level C1.

The Chamber says the language exam can be waived, for example if you can show three years of work in health care in German or a completed degree taught in German.

• German for nostrification: C1 and the Medical Chamber's language exam

Starting as a doctor in training

Once nostrification is complete and you have the decision, the Austrian Medical Chamber says you can be entered, provided the other requirements are met, and start work as a doctor in training. Training you have already done abroad can be credited by the Austrian Medical Chamber after nostrification.

Rezeptierkunde (prescription writing) and forensic medicine are among the exams you must have passed by then. MedUni Vienna prescribes them whatever your Stichprobentest result, according to its Merkblatt; the Medical University of Innsbruck names them for every candidate who passed the Stichprobentest.

• Specialist and general practice training: credit for training abroad
• Rezeptierkunde and forensic medicine: the two mandatory exams

German terms you will meet at the Medical Chamber

The Chamber's information sheet is in German. These are the key words:

1. Ärzteliste: the list of physicians kept by the Austrian Medical Chamber
2. Österreichische Ärztekammer (ÖÄK): the Austrian Medical Chamber
3. Landesärztekammer: the medical chamber of a federal state, which advises on the entry
4. Ärztin/Arzt in Ausbildung, also called Turnusärztin/Turnusarzt: doctor in training
5. Strafregisterauszug: criminal record extract
6. Gesundheitszeugnis: medical health certificate
7. Berufshaftpflichtversicherung: professional liability insurance

Your next step

Free sample

Frequently asked questions

Read more

• C1 proof for Vienna
• Medical German exam (FSP)
• The right contact

Guides to nostrification in Austria

• Nostrification in Austria: how do you get a foreign medical degree recognised in Vienna?
• Stichprobentest in Innsbruck, Vienna or Graz: what is tested and how do you prepare?
• Nostrification exam dates in Austria: when are the SIP, Stichprobentest, Rezeptierkunde and Gerichtsmedizin?
• Rezeptierkunde and forensic medicine: why are they part of every positive nostrification decision?
• Pharmacology for the Rezeptierkunde exam in Vienna: what is tested and how do you prepare?
• German for doctors in Austria: when do you need C1, and when the Medical Chamber's language exam?
• SIP 4a and SIP 5a in Vienna: which exam parts do nostrification candidates take?
• Nostrification in Innsbruck: which exams come after the Stichprobentest?
• Nostrifying a medical degree in Austria: how long does it take and what does it cost?
• Specialist or general practice training in Austria: does your training from abroad count?
• Stichprobentest and SIP while working: how do you plan your preparation?

More short answers

• Where are the exam announcement and the exam calendar published?
• What does exam registration for the SIP, Rezeptierkunde, Gerichtsmedizin and the Stichprobentest need?
• What does “eliminiert” mean in the SIP result and feedback?
• When is it known whether the SIP is held as MC or KAF?
• Stichprobentest: what do the MedUni Vienna and Innsbruck deadlines say?
• SIP, Stichprobentest, Kenntnisprüfung: what is the difference?
• What does the MedPrüf free sample include?

Sources

• Österreichische Ärztekammer, Informationen zur Aufnahme der ärztlichen Tätigkeit in Österreich, read on 19 October 2026
• MedUni Wien, Merkblatt Nostrifizierung Humanmedizin, read on 19 October 2026
• Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Ablauf der Prüfungen nach positivem Stichprobentest, read on 19 October 2026
• Anlaufstelle für Personen mit im Ausland erworbenen Qualifikationen, Infoblatt Nostrifizierung Humanmedizin, read on 19 October 2026