What does Hospitation mean? Benefits & My personal experience. #ForeignDoctors #Germany

Hii friends,

If you are here, then you are a Medical Doctor and looking for further studies in Germany. And you definitely have came across this term called "Hospitation" while reading the blogs related to "Foreign Doctors in Germany" and wondering what does it actually mean, what are its benefits, right time to apply for it and its application process. Here you can read straight-to-the-point info about the same:

• Hospitation: It can be literally translated into "Sitting in on lectures". But as for you and me, it has a completely different meaning. It is basically a short term internship as a Medical Doctor in any Hospital and field of your choice, which can be meant to gain a further instinct and idea about the tasks, working environment, etc., in the specific Hospital or in Germany in general.Or it can be simply meant to experience the German Medical System. There is no need of having any concrete reason behind doing the Hospitation, as you don't really need to specify anywhere, why do you want to do it. There are indeed a lot of other benefits of doing it, which will really convince you of doing it.

• How does it differ from the routine internships/practical year? Is it same as an Internship? 

      Ans: 1. In a given Hospital, Hospitation can be done for only a maximum duration of 3 months.
              2. You normally don't get any stipend during the Hospitation in Germany. But some hospitals do offer you a stipend of about 300 Euros a month and/or may bear your travelling costs from your home to the hospital and/or provide free of charge breakfast and lunch in the hospital canteen.
              3. You can talk to patients, Doctors, other colleagues, ask all the queries you have, participate in the hospital conferences, etc,. But, you are legally not permitted to participate in any caregivings to the patients as you still don't possess a license to work as a doc in Germany. Yet, you may be allowed to do it in case if you win the trust of the Doctors in your department.
              4. Whereas an Internship is mandatory, a Hospitation on the other end is voluntary.

• What is required and when and how can I apply for the Hospitation?

      Ans: You can apply anytime when you have the required German proficiency. Further info on this can be read here. 

Now lets take a look at the Benefits of doing a Hospitation:

1. It is a best way of experiencing the German Medical System. You can have a deep insight in the Trauma center, General ward and the tasks of the Junior Doctors at these stations, Medical Insurance and Rehabilitation formalities in Germany Hospitals, etc,.
2. You will learn a lot of Medical German Language when you go everyday to the Hospital and see what and how the Junior Doctors and the rest of the staff interact with patients and with each-other.
3. You may already get a job offer as a resident in the Hospital. Yes, you will interact daily with a lot of Consultants in your Department and will make a lot of good contacts with them. If they find you proper enough, they may even see you as a next resident doctor for there hospital.
4. You can even get a visa for a Hospitation. Hospital will send you a contract and an invitation letter, on which basis, you can apply for a schengen visa and visit Germany and German Hospital.
5. Above all, you will gain a lot of confidence for your residency job interview, once you have already done a Hospitation anywhere in Germany.
6. You will receive a certificate of completion of the Hospitation, which you may add as an experience certificate in you Resume.

My personal experience:

            I did a Hospitation in a hospital with 300 beds in the German State of Baden-Wuerttemberg. This hospital had a wide range of Medical Departments, but they had a relatively good reputation in the field of Orthopedics. I chose Trauma Surgey (Unfallchirurgie) as my field, as I am interested in this field and wanted to specialize in the same field.

            On the day of Interview with the Chief of the Department, I really was very nervous because since last 1 year I was learning just the German Language and I have forgotten most of the Medicine related things, which I had learned during my medicine schooling. Further, the Chief of the Departments in India (My home country) are mostly very judgmental and short tempered, especially in the field of the Surgery. Regardless, I was determined to experience the German Medical System and learn some German Language. But all my nervousness was completely unnecessary. Most consultants and the Chief of the Departments in Germany are very friendly and down-to-earth in nature, especially with us foreign doctors. The chief of the department in my hospital was in fact very supportive even during my interview. This made me even more confident during my hospitation period. 

            In the first few days, I mostly concentrated on grasping the system how the junior docs were working, learned writing the discharge summery and mostly followed and junior docs. They were also very friendly and always explained me the things again, in case I didn't understand at the first time (Because my German was weak that time). In the next upcoming days, I started slowly showing more enthusiasm in talking to patients and participating in routine things like taking blood samples, changing bandages, taking special histories related to Osteoporosis, actively participate during the ward visit of consultants, etc,. I Spent a lot of time in the emergency department where things are more happening in nature. 

            By the end of my Hospitation of 2 months duration, I had already assisted the consultants in about 20 different operational procedures. Yes, I was even allowed to assist during the operation, which I found impressive. Working with German surgeons in the OT was  completely adventurous. Although, I had rather done a Hospitation in the Internal Medicine department as well and learned a lot more medical German and much more of history taking, medical checkups and command giving during the medical checkups. This could have prepared me very well for the Medical German Language Exam, as most topics in this exam are related to General Medicine. 

            And the best part was being a part of German tradition, that is, bringing self baked brownies for all my colleagues on my last day in the hospital :D


My recommendations:

1. Start applying for the Hospitation once you get a B2 certificate, since you will then be able to speak more German and be able to interact more freely with patients and colleagues.
2. Apply in at least 15-20 Hospitals for it. This will increase your chances of getting accepted in at least one hospital.
3. Choose Internal Medicine if you want to experience German Medical System and learn Medical German in more details. 
4. Choose a middle sized hospital with around 300-500 beds as compared to a hospital with more beds, if you have such a choice. Because smaller size hospitals has less rush of patients and that's why you will get more personal time for learning.
5. "In Germany, be punctual every single day".
6. Be friendly in nature, and not appearing stupid at the same time.

So my friends, this is it for today. In case you have any further query, feel free to write down in the comments section below. I will be glad to answer it. Good luck!