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Famulatur (clinical clerkship)

The Famulatur is the compulsory clinical placement in the medical degree. Under the German licensing regulation it totals four months and is completed outside teaching periods between the first and second part of the state medical examination, with at least one month of it in an outpatient setting.

Latin famulus = servant, assistant

clinical clerkship, clinical placement

clinical clerkship

The Famulatur is the compulsory clinical placement in the medical degree and totals four months in Germany. It is completed outside teaching periods and organised in blocks of at least one month.

How the licensing regulation splits it

  • At least one month in a hospital outpatient department or on the ward.
  • At least one month in an outpatient setting, for example a family doctor's practice.
  • The rest is up to you, and can be done abroad.

Famulatur abroad

A Famulatur can be done anywhere in the world. If you study elsewhere in Europe you have a practical advantage here: the professional language is often English anyway, and many students use the time for placements in Germany, in Switzerland or in regions that are interesting for tropical medicine. What matters is that the institution is under medical direction and that a doctor certifies your work.

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