Prof. Winfried Neuhuber, MD, FAU Senior Professor of Anatomy, explains:

“The way there leads you through a study of at least 6 years (12 semesters), during which you grow into this profession. During the first 4 semesters, the so-called “pre-clinic”, you will mainly deal with the scientific and theoretical basics of medicine, such as physics, chemistry and biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, but also medical psychology and sociology. The range of subjects of the entire medical studies and its course are regulated by law in the “Approbationsordnung”. In anatomy you learn to look closely at the structures of the human body and to describe them, either with the naked eye in the dissection course or through the microscope in the histology course. Physiology and Biochemistry teach you the basics for understanding body functions, from molecules to organ systems. In medical psychology and sociology, you learn to reflect on the relationship between doctor and patient, among other things, and also practice interviewing a patient. In the fourth semester, before the “Physikum”, the first section of the medical examination, you learn the simple physical examination techniques and the use of some important examination instruments, for example the stethoscope and reflex hammer. You practice on yourself or on fellow students, but also partly on patients. The learning-intensive preparation time for the Physikum serves to summarize and repeat all the individual knowledge that you have acquired in this pre-clinical study section. The Physikum is held uniformly throughout Germany as a written and oral examination.

By passing the “physics exam”, you prove that you have mastered the basics that are necessary for understanding the development (pathogenesis), recognition (diagnosis) and treatment (therapy) of the diseases of your future patients. In the following clinical study section, which comprises 6 semesters, you will gain an insight into the theory of disease (pathology), the theory of drugs (pharmacology) and all the clinical subjects in which this knowledge is used for diagnosis and therapy, such as internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, ophthalmology, etc.; the variety of medical specialties will meet you, for example, during a walk through your hometown by the practice signs of established doctors. You will study these different subjects in lectures and practical courses at the bedside as well as in “Famulaturen”, apprenticeship periods in a hospital or the practice of a family doctor. Of course, you will also use textbooks, exercises on models and “phantoms” and various computer-based virtual learning methods to solve more and more practical tasks. You will also be increasingly confronted with questions at the border of life and death and learn to think about answers to them. You will also have opportunities to learn about medicine in other cultures and parts of the world by spending time abroad. Since medical school is densely organized, but there is plenty of room for other activities in some semesters and during non-lecture time, you will also have the opportunity to find a topic for a doctoral dissertation to experience for yourself the arduous process of scientific research and discovery.

After these six clinical semesters, during which a large number of individual examinations (written exams) must be taken, the written part of the second medical examination is due, the state examination, which is again conducted uniformly throughout Germany. After successfully passing the exam, you will enter the practical year (PJ), during which you will spend one third of the time each applying, practicing and deepening your knowledge and skills in a clinic for surgery, internal medicine and an additional subject of your choice. After the PJ, you will take the oral part of the state examination as a bedside exam and then receive your medical license. This entitles you to further training in a clinical or theoretical subject of medicine and is the beginning of your fully responsible life as a doctor.”

• Fascination with the scientific basis of human life in health and disease
• Intellectual curiosity with special interest in interrelationships of observations
• Interest in a wide variety of subjects
• Integrity and honesty
• Self-discipline and diligence
• Psychological resilience

Depending on your specialization, you can work as a doctor in the various clinics of a hospital (e.g. anesthesiology, orthopedics) or as a doctor in private practice. In addition, you can also find work, for example, with ambulance and rescue services, in health offices, with large companies as a company doctor and in medical research.