Qualification as a medical specialist takes place in the appropriate registered clinics under the supervision of physicians qualified to engage in training and instruction. Those training in a medical specialty are issued with a work contract that gives them the status of resident physician. The trainee must apply personally to the relevant clinic for a residency. Lists of physicians and university clinics offering resident training can be found under:

Landesärztekammer Hessen
Im Vogelsgesang 3, 60488 Frankfurt am Main
Postfach 900669, 60446 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: (49) (69) 97672-0
Fax: (49) (69) 97672-128
email: laek.hessen@laekh.de

Foreign physicians require a professional permit (or approbation), and may also need to secure a work-permit. The agency in the State of Hesse responsible for the granting of such permits is:

Hessische Landesprüfungs- und Untersuchungsamt im Gesundheitswesen
Walter-Möller-Platz 1
60439 Franfurt am Main
Tel: 0049 69 156 7712

This also applies in the case of approbation for short-term residencies (3 to 6 months at the invitation of a colleague or clinic).

The EU ruling on free movement generally allows physicians from member-states of the EU to obtain a medical approbation, or at the very least a professional permit, if they can show that they are or will be working at a medical facility in the State of Hesse. Physicians from non-EU countries can obtain a medical approbation only upon meeting special preconditions.