Specialist or general practice training in Austria: does your training from abroad count?

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In short

Yes, in part. The Austrian Medical Chamber says training you did abroad, specialist training for example, can be credited after nostrification if you apply to the Chamber. It checks your certificates for equivalence and issues a decision on the credit (Anrechnung). The exam for general practice or for a specialty is mandatory in every case, the Chamber says. According to the advice centres' information sheet you can also start training in Austria without any credit, but waiting times differ from one federal state to another.

Nostrification comes first, then the credit

If you finished your degree in a third country, the Austrian Medical Chamber says you must first nostrify it at an Austrian university (there is an exception after recognition in an EEA state, explained below). Only then do you apply to the Chamber for credit for your training abroad. The Chamber checks your certificates and records against the Austrian training regulations for doctors.

The advice centres' information sheet says the Chamber's training commission (Ausbildungskommission) is responsible, and that you need detailed confirmations of your training and work, such as the Chamber's evaluation forms and confirmations from the hospitals where you worked as a doctor.

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

What a credit changes

According to the advice centres' information sheet, practical training periods can be credited in part, and the remaining parts have to be made up. You receive a decision (Bescheid) on the credit. A credit can shorten the training after your degree (postpromotionelle Ausbildung) in Austria; how long that training is depends on the specialty you choose.

You do not have to wait for a credit to start. The information sheet says you can begin training in Austria without one, but warns that waiting times depend on the federal state.

The exam at the end of training

The Austrian Medical Chamber says the exam for general practice or for a specialty (Sonderfach) is mandatory in every case and comes before you are awarded the diploma. The advice centres' information sheet makes it explicit for every former nostrification candidate: a theoretical and practical exam once the training after the degree is complete.

Austria's Business Service Portal (Unternehmensserviceportal) now uses a new title for the general practitioner: specialist in general and family medicine (Fachärztin or Facharzt für Allgemeinmedizin und Familienmedizin).

• SIP, Stichprobentest, Kenntnisprüfung: what is the difference?

Another route: recognition in an EEA state

If the credential for your basic medical training was issued outside the EEA but has already been recognised in an EEA state or Switzerland, you are licensed to practise independently there, and you can show at least three years of actual and lawful medical work there, the Chamber says your training may, in some cases, be recognised without nostrification. If you do not meet these conditions, you nostrify your degree.

• After nostrification: getting into the Ärzteliste

German terms in the training rules

The Chamber and the advice centres write in German. These are the words to know:

1. Anrechnung: credit for training you did abroad
2. Ausbildungskommission: the Medical Chamber's training commission, which assesses your records
3. postpromotionelle Ausbildung: postgraduate medical training in Austria, after the medical degree
4. Sonderfach: a medical specialty
5. Lizenzierungsprüfung: the licensing exam at the end of that training
6. Evaluierungsbögen: the Chamber's evaluation forms for your training

Before any of this: the nostrification exams

Before a credit come the Stichprobentest and the supplementary exams. MedPrüf has question banks of curated practice questions for the Stichprobentest, for SIP 4a and SIP 5a, and for Rezeptierkunde. They are not official exam questions.

• Studying while working: how to plan your exams

Your next step

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Frequently asked questions

Read more

• The right contact
• Understand exam names

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?
• After nostrification: how do you get into the Ärzteliste and the right to practise in Austria?
• 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
• Anlaufstelle für Personen mit im Ausland erworbenen Qualifikationen, Infoblatt Nostrifizierung Humanmedizin, read on 19 October 2026
• Unternehmensserviceportal des Bundes, Ärzte: Qualifikation und Anerkennung, read on 19 October 2026