Fachsprachprüfung in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: format and fees

At a glance

How the exam works in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

The basic structure of patient conversation, documentation and colleague conversation is explained in our overview of the FSP format. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern the exam is an individual exam on the chamber's premises, in front of a panel of at least two physician examiners. According to the chamber, it centres on „eine simulierte Gesprächs- und Dokumentationssituation aus dem Krankenhausalltag“ (a simulated conversation and documentation situation from everyday hospital work). It runs in four steps:

1. Preparation (45 minutes). First, a member of the chamber's staff explains the procedure for 15 minutes; you may ask questions. Then you read a standardised Aufklärungsbogen on your own for 30 minutes. Reading time before the patient conversation is the exception among the chambers — the only other chamber with brief advance information is Saxony-Anhalt.
2. Doctor–patient conversation (20 minutes). Problem-focused history taking with a simulated patient, a possible suspected diagnosis, a discussion of the further course of treatment — and an Aufklärungsgespräch (informed-consent conversation) based on the form you read. Language focus according to the chamber: everyday German.
3. Doctor–doctor conversation (20 minutes). You present the patient to an Oberarzt (senior physician): history, suspected diagnosis, further therapeutic steps. The examiner may ask follow-up questions. Language focus: medical terminology.
4. Written exam on a computer (25 minutes). You write an Arztbrief (medical letter) in the form of a discharge letter.

Two differences from the standard format matter most. First, informed consent is an explicit part of the exam: you do not only tell the patient what you suspect, you explain a specific procedure with its course and risks — based on a form whose content you have to put into everyday language. Second, writing comes last. By the time you write the letter, you have already presented the case once in medical language and heard the senior physician's questions. At the same time, a whole exam part lies between the patient conversation and the letter; anything from the conversation you did not record is hard to reconstruct by then. The chamber does not say whether or how you may take notes.

The chamber publishes neither a model discharge letter nor marking criteria for the written part. How a medical letter in the FSP is structured is shown in Writing the Arztbrief.

Registration and exam date

You first need an application for an Approbation (full licence) or Berufserlaubnis (temporary licence) at the Landesprüfungsamt für Heilberufe within LAGuS. It is responsible if you are registered as resident in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern or have a job offer from a clinical institution in the state. LAGuS checks your documents, decides whether you have to take the FSP and issues a certificate of admission. Send it promptly by e-mail to the chamber ([email protected]), together with:

• your professional CV,
• your B2 language certificate (or C1),
• proof of residence or a job offer in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

The chamber then tells you your expected exam date; according to the LAGuS information sheet it asks for the fee in advance. It does not publish fixed exam dates.

The fee is €700 (item 2.6 of the fee schedule, valid since 1 January 2025) — the highest amount among the chambers that publish their fee; see the comparison in FSP fees. For providing a new exam date after a cancellation without good reason, the schedule adds €150 (item 2.7).

Applicants from Schleswig-Holstein do not register themselves; their state authority does it for them. The route is described on Fachsprachprüfung for Schleswig-Holstein.

Marking and result

Only language is assessed — „Das Fachwissen wird nicht bewertet“ (medical knowledge is not assessed), the chamber writes. It publishes no marking sheet, points system or pass mark. You learn the result straight after the exam. The chamber forwards it to LAGuS or to the authority in Schleswig-Holstein and sends you a certificate by e-mail and by post within two weeks. The state office then decides on the Approbation or Berufserlaubnis; according to the chamber, a Berufserlaubnis granted in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern after the exam is valid for two years.

There are no current pass rates. In 2017 the chamber reported 391 passes out of 592 exams since 2015, and a success rate a good half higher among participants of its own medical German courses.

Retakes

If you fail, you retake the whole exam, at the earliest after three months; the number of attempts is not limited. Applicants from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern request the retake by e-mail to the chamber, applicants from Schleswig-Holstein through their state authority. The fee schedule lists only the €700 amount for the Fachsprachenprüfung; check with the chamber beforehand what a retake costs. How to use the three months well is covered in Failed the FSP.

Tips for the exam in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Use the 30 minutes of reading as translation work. Consent forms contain technical terms that you have to put into everyday language in the conversation. Prepare one simple sentence for each section of the form. Ask during the briefing whether you may take notes while reading — that is what the 15 minutes are for.

Example — fictional consent form „Magenspiegelung“ (gastroscopy):

The right-hand column means: gastroscopy; a sedative injection that makes you sleep lightly during the examination; a small tissue sample examined in the laboratory; a small hole in the wall of the oesophagus or stomach.

• Explain, don't read out. Under § 630e BGB (German Civil Code), informed consent must be given orally and in a way the patient understands; written documents may only supplement it. Go through the points the law names — nature and course, consequences and risks, necessity, alternatives —, check that everything was understood and invite questions.
• Switch register deliberately. The chamber names the focus of each part: everyday language with the patient, medical language with the senior physician. Saying „Perforation“ to the patient or „Magenspiegelung“ to the senior physician gives away exactly what is being tested.
• Use the case presentation as an outline for the letter. Present the case in the order in which you will write it: reason for admission, history, suspected diagnosis, next steps. Remember the examiner's follow-up questions — they show what might be missing from the letter.
• Practise typing under time pressure. 25 minutes for a complete letter on an unfamiliar computer is tight. Practise German special characters (ä, ö, ü, ß) and full letters against the clock.
• Use the chamber's free material. The ÄKMV offers, freely accessible, a training film („Insult“, stroke) with an accompanying booklet and transcript, plus interactive learning modules such as „Schmerzen erfragen“ (asking about pain), „Aussagen verstehen“ (understanding statements) and „Empathie im Patientengespräch“ (empathy in patient conversations).

Sources

• Ärztekammer Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Fachsprachenprüfung
• Ärztekammer Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Gebührenverzeichnis der Ärztekammer M-V (PDF)
• Ärztekammer Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Kompetenztraining für internationale Ärztinnen und Ärzte
• LAGuS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: Information zur Fachsprachenprüfung (PDF)
• Deutsches Ärzteblatt: Zahl ausländischer Ärzte in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern angewachsen
• Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch: § 630e Aufklärungspflichten