ICPF Med / ICPF Med Plus

ICPF MED / ICPF MED PLUS

ICPF(Intercultural Program for Freshmen)-Med/Plus is an equivalence program, designed for Medical doctors from EU, with longterm visa for Germany or for Non EU countries (compare with table below).

The program prepares foreign medical doctors & dentists* for medical language exam (Fachsprachprüfung). The preparation for knowledge exam (Kenntnisprüfung), called MAP Program, can be booked separately.

*Dentists are prepared until Fachsprachprüfung and need to work as assistant dentists to gain enough practical knowledge before appearing for the Kenntnisprüfung.

ICPF MED / ICPF MED PLUS program is offered in two formats:

How to do further specialization in Germany?

Any foreign medical doctor who have completed their medicine studies (minimum 5 years) in a non-EU country must undergo two exams in Germany in order to get recognized as a medical doctors/dentists in Germany. (Exams are conducted by the respective Ministry of Healthcare in cooperation with the concerned Medical or Dental council of that particular state). The exams if cleared successfully is valid across all German states. Candidates doesnt need to repeat the exam(s) in other states.

Exam 1. Fachsprachprüfung:- A language based medical exam where the student’s medical skill is tested via the language).
Exam 2. Kenntnisprüfung: - A Viva exam combined with practicals (depends on the examiners), where the student’s medical knowledge is proofed to see whether his or her knowledge is equivalent to a German medical student (human medizin). This exam is also known as Approbation exam or Equivalence exam.
During ICPF Med coursework itself, students can apply for the Fachsprachprüfung (without having a job offer) in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as they are registered students of the college/university and are living in the state. The Fachsprachprüfung date more or less coincides with the internal exam (Telc Certified) of ICPF Med Program thereby students do not loose time by waiting for the exam date.

Fachsprachprüfung: ICPF Med prepares students for the Fachsprachprüfung (sometimes called in short FSP or FASP). This exam is of 3 parts with each 20 mins. First 20 mins for patient handling i.e. patient-doctor conversation, next 20 mins is to explain to other colleagues i.e doctor-doctor conversation and the final 20 mins is for case sheet writing. The whole exam is in German. Only by passing this exam a foreign medical doctor can gets a temporary work license with which can now start working in hospitals and parallely prepare for the approbation exam (Kenntnisprüfung) or can now continue further to prepare for the exam 2 (i.e Kenntnisprüfung).

Note:
A) the examiners are mostly medical person and the questions would be more related to the medical field than the language component.
B) The Fachsprachprüfung is conducted by each and every German State via their respective Healthcare ministry or Medical/Dental council. So in order to determine which state conducts the exam, it is important to get a job offer from hospital/clinic in that particular state, only then can apply for the Fachsprachprüfung. Also the time taken to get an examination date (4-8 months) & vary from state to state. But there is an exception to the rule if the candidate is living in a particular state for more than 6 months, then can apply for the exam as well as for the Kenntnisprüfung exam without having a job offer.

C) Upon completion of the Fachsprachprüfung its valid across all German states so candidates do not have to repeat the exam if they wish to change the state. Then they need to write only the Kenntnisprüfung in that state.
So in order to pass the exam one needs to be well versed in the German language, should be able express medical terminologies and explain patient, colleagues & write down the diagnosis, should be familiar with the german medical system and the german culture, German history.

This ICPF Med coursework is framed such that foreign medical doctors familiarize with the German health care system, day to day work life as a medical doctor in a German hospital, correspondence among doctors, nurses and patients and with writing of case sheets.

Kenntnisprüfung: The Knowledge Exam or approbation exam is the second exam which a medical doctor or a dentist must pass to gain a permanent license to work in Germany. With this license the candidate can now start the further specialization by working as a assistant doctor. Every hospital can provide certain years of training in a particular field of specialization.

exam art: usually takes half a day and is practical and viva combined. Candidates are asked to examine a real patient at the hospital in the presence of the panel of examiners. Upon completion a viva session is planned where the examiners would be asking questions from any field of medicine.

Medical fields: Student must be well versed in Internal medicine, Surgery, Pharmacology, Emergency medicine, Urology, Clinical pathology etc.

MAP- Medical Approbation Preparation module of ICPF MED is framed so that all the topics which are necessary for the Kenntnisprüfung are covered (Internal medicine, general medicine, surgery, clinical pathology, emergency medicine, pharmacology etc). Note: This is the last module which will be taught to students prior to the exam, as here its very important that the students are well versed in German language and medical terminologies as only then they will be able to understand and pass the exam. As modules are fields based and exams are conducted regularly and no time could be spent on the language or the understanding part of a specific term.
ICPF MED stresses candidates to concentrate on the language, medical terminologies very seriously and also provide family contacts, language evenings, intercultural classes etc.

Dental fields: The following tasks have to be solved on the phantom head: tooth / teeth prepared for crown, polishing, amalgam filling, root canal treatment, filling. Important questions will also arise on prevention, prosthetics and orthodontics. X-ray machine must also be operated and analyzed during the exam and proper instructions to the assistants must be given.

Can I work in hospitals during the coursework?

Starts once the student's are familiar with the basic German and medical curriculum is completed. Students visit hospitals and get direct hands on experience on various matters involved in the everyday life of a Medical doctor (Patient Room, Operation theatre, Hospital System, different fields familiarizing it etc., but they do not handle patients directly or prescribe medicines but can observe during this period). Note Observerships can be provided to students only after the completion of B2 level of General German and the Medical module.

Intercultural module

An important additional advantage is the module of intercultural integration. Quite often students are not aware of the importance of learning how the other culture works. Without knowing patient's cultural background and the history of the nation it is very difficult to warm up to patients. Actually it is very important for communication with Germans, for daily life and overall for prosperous studies and career
Furthermore at the campus in Schwerin, the ICPF Med students get the campus feeling and have higher chances to interact with other students/professors from the other programs & other cultures.

Internal final exam

All students go through the final TELC C1 Medizin exam (here you can add a hyperlink which leads to how IAS College is a TELC Center) which is an indirect preparation for the Fachspracheprüfung. This C1 medizin can also be used if a student chooses to study further masters. For passing the final exam it is necessary to complete each module of the curricula successfully.
In case of foreign medical graduates, the candidate needs to apply for a Ph.D position to a medical university and do his/her Ph.D. Depending upon the field (clinical or non-clinical) a licensing is required to do Ph.D.