Pharmacology for the Rezeptierkunde exam in Vienna: what is tested and how do you prepare?

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In short

For the Rezeptierkunde exam of nostrification candidates, MedUni Vienna publishes an overview of study materials covering blocks 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19 and 21 of its curriculum. For the topics it mainly points to chapters of the textbook “Pharmakologie und Toxikologie” by Freissmuth, Offermanns and Böhm, plus in-house materials in the Study Guide. The format is set by the announcement for your sitting. Study along that list, in German, and practise against the clock.

What the announcement says

According to the MedUni Vienna candidate announcement that MedPrüf last checked, the exam has 30 questions with five options each, and exactly one option is the best answer. You get 45 minutes for the 30 questions, then 15 minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet; only what is on the answer sheet counts.

Bring two soft pencils, an eraser and your student ID; a calculator without text memory is allowed. Foreign-language dictionaries and translation devices are not, unlike in the Stichprobentest. Check the announcement for your own sitting.

• MedUni Vienna Rezeptierkunde candidate announcement, edition last checked (PDF, in German)

The curriculum blocks in the study materials

MedUni Vienna's overview sorts the material by blocks of its curriculum:

1. Block 9: basics (pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, the prescription and dosage forms, safe use of medicines), prescription examples, principles of the drug treatment of infections, cytostatics and acute poisoning
2. Block 10: pharmacology of endocrine disorders and of metabolism
3. Block 11: heart and circulation, blood and vessels
4. Block 14: kidney and homeostasis
5. Block 15: sexuality, reproduction, pregnancy and birth
6. Block 18: skin and sensory organs
7. Block 19: brain and nervous system
8. Block 21: movement and performance; pain

• MedUni Vienna study materials for Rezeptierkunde (PDF, in German)

A study route in five steps

MedPrüf's pharmacology question bank holds curated practice questions on pharmacology and Rezeptierkunde. They are not official exam questions. You can translate the explanations into your language, so each German drug term gets linked to the word you already know.

1. Download the overview of study materials and the announcement for your sitting. The overview is an older document; for the material, the announcement points to the study materials on the nostrification page.
2. Spread your study time over the eight blocks, with block 9 as the foundation.
3. For each topic, read the chapters named and the in-house materials in the Study Guide. The overview gives chapters and pages of the textbook's 2nd edition; another edition may differ.
4. Practise one-best-answer questions against the clock until 30 questions in 45 minutes feels routine.
5. Read the questions in German from the start, because foreign-language dictionaries are not allowed in the exam.

Innsbruck: prescriptions instead of multiple choice

If you applied in Innsbruck, the exam is different: you write three prescriptions, which are graded and which you then explain orally, based on a script from the examiner.

• Rezeptierkunde and forensic medicine: the two mandatory exams

Your next step

Free sample

Frequently asked questions

Read more

• Rezeptierkunde (Pharmacology)
• Register for Rezeptierkunde and Gerichtsmedizin
• After the Stichprobentest

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

• MedUni Wien, Prüfung zur Rezeptierkunde: Lernunterlagen für NostrifizierungswerberInnen, read on 19 October 2026
• MedUni Wien, KandidatInnen-Ausschreibung Prüfung Rezeptierkunde, read on 19 October 2026
• Medizinische Universität Innsbruck, Ablauf der Prüfungen nach positivem Stichprobentest, read on 19 October 2026