Medical School OWL

All state-funded medical study places in Germany are allocated by the Foundation for University Admission. Further information on the admission procedure is also available at hochschulstart.de.

Prospective students and applicants are strongly advised to visit this site regularly in order to be informed about the current application deadlines.

Further information on the selection criteria for the study places to be awarded at Bielefeld University in the central aptitude quota and in the university's selection procedure can be found here.

Since all study places in medicine are allocated centrally via the Foundation for University Admission, the general deadlines of the Foundation for University Admission apply. The deadlines are usually between May and July, and it is important that interested applicants find out in good time which deadline applies to them.

Also to be considered are the deadlines for registration for the Test for Medical Studies (TMS). As a rule, registration is possible from December 1 to January 15. But here, too, the following applies: Interested students should regularly inform themselves about the current dates and deadlines.

In principle, this is possible. It is possible to obtain university admission as a professionally qualified person. The application period for the winter semester is 01.01. to 01.04. of the same year. Click here for more information about studying for vocationally qualified students.

In consideration of prospective students who do not yet have a German university degree, a maximum of three percent of the medical study places are awarded to applicants who have already completed a degree and are thus applying for a second degree. Detailed information can be found in the information brochure of the Foundation for University Admission.

When applying for a second degree in medicine, you have the option of claiming scientific reasons for taking up the second degree. To do so, you will need an expert opinion from the university you name first when you first apply. The expert opinion will be sent directly to the Foundation for University Admission.

Please note the following information:

Application deadlines: Medical studies at Bielefeld University begin each winter semester. The application period is annually in spring to early summer, the deadlines are available at Hochschulstart.de. They are based on your first degree. If you completed your first degree after January 15 of the year of your application, the application deadlines for new high school graduates apply; otherwise, the deadlines for old high school graduates apply.

Commission us to prepare an expert opinion in good time: Applications for an expert opinion and the documents required for this should reach us no later than 6 weeks before the application deadline that applies to you. Otherwise, we may not be able to guarantee timely processing.

Allocation of points in the expert opinion: Within the expert opinion, different point values can be assigned according to the specifications of the Foundation for University Admission, which are based on the scientific justification for the second degree programme. The points are awarded according to strict criteria in which particular importance is attached to past academic achievements (e.g. work as a research assistant, a completed doctorate, the publication of relevant papers). The declaration of intent of a future scientific activity is not a sufficient reason. Please take this into account when submitting your application and submit the relevant evidence to us. You have the possibility to apply for a second degree even without special scientific reasons. In this case, you do not need an expert opinion.

Contacting us and commissioning the expert opinion: Please submit an informal application for an expert opinion, a meaningful presentation of the scientific reasons for a second degree in medicine as well as corresponding evidence to Sarah-Louise Bartscher at studienberatung.medizin@uni-bielefeld.de in electronic form. If you have any questions, please also contact Sarah-Louise Bartscher.

Yes, for the winter semester 2021/22, waiting semesters will be taken into account for the last time as part of the additional aptitude quota. It is expected that five study places at Bielefeld University will be allocated via this quota.

The Foundation for University Admission allows universities to choose from a catalog of criteria when designing their admission criteria. In this respect, previous vocational training, professional activities as well as practical and voluntary activities (which also include the voluntary social year and the federal voluntary service) can be credited in the application.

Which criteria are taken into account at Bielefeld University can be found online here.

 

Those who wish to study human medicine in Germany should in any case take one or more subject-specific entrance tests. Only 30 percent of all study places are awarded by the Foundation for University Admission solely on the basis of the Abitur grade. For 70 percent of the study places, a good score in the entrance test selected by the university can be an advantage. Common study entrance tests are the Test for Medical Studies (TMS), the HAM-Nat and the HAM-SJT.

Bielefeld University includes the Test for Medical Studies in the university's selection process. More information about the application and admission process at Bielefeld University can be read here.

 

Once you have received and accepted an offer of admission from the Foundation for University Admission (hochschulstart.de), you will be sent a letter of admission from Bielefeld University. This will explain the enrollment process and the documents to be submitted.

The medical programme will start in the winter semester 2021/22 with initially 60 students in the first semester.

In the model study programme, both basic science and clinical training components are interlinked from the first semester onward. This makes it easier to link what has been learned and to place patient-oriented care at the center of learning at an early stage. In the Skills Lab, a special simulation environment, students can practice medical activities under controlled conditions.              

Collaboration with other professional groups, attention to diversity and gender aspects in medicine, and digital medicine are also central to the programme - because they will shape the daily work of the future generation of doctors.

Another special feature is the freedom of choice, which is unusually extensive for a medical degree programme - around ten percent of the curriculum is accounted for by the profile areas that students take. Initially, this means specializing in one of five medical-related subject areas, for example in the natural sciences, technology, or the social sciences and humanities. In the second stage of the programme, students take one of eleven clinical specializations and gain even more intensive insights into the day-to-day work of a doctor.

In addition, students have the opportunity to obtain a "Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences" as part of the model course of study. They can choose a natural science, technical or social science and humanities profile. As a first professional qualification, the Bachelor's degree qualifies students to pursue a wide range of non-physician professions in the healthcare sector.

The model study programme in medicine is divided into a first study section with six semesters and a second study section with four semesters. This makes it possible to combine theoretical and clinical parts of the course and to focus on practice from the first semester onwards. The practical year (PJ) is the third stage of study at the end of the programme. Further information on the model course of study can be found here.

Outpatient medicine, in particular general medicine, is given considerable importance in the model study programme in human medicine at Bielefeld University. General medicine teaching content is to be continuously anchored in the curriculum and the outpatient care perspective is to be integrated. In addition, extensive practical assignments in primary care are part of the focus: Students complete internships of at least eight weeks and accompany chronically ill patients continuously over several years.

No, the medical degree programme in Bielefeld is a full-fledged medical degree programme. After successfully completing their studies, graduates can apply for their license to practice medicine. In addition, they can begin any further training as a specialist. However, the focus on general medicine is intended to give students the opportunity to become extensively acquainted with both the outpatient and inpatient sectors and the perspectives associated with them. This will enable them to make an informed decision when choosing a career.

It will not be possible to enter a higher semester in the winter semester 2021/22. The programme starts with students in their first semester of study. No teaching will be offered for higher subject semesters.

The Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences, as the first professional degree, qualifies students for a wide range of non-physician professions in the health care sector (for example, in higher federal authorities, in associations and health care institutions). This can be followed by various master's degree programmes, such as Interdisciplinary Biomedicine, Public Health or Nursing Sciences.

The bachelor's programme also offers medical students an additional scientific qualification. The students choose one of five profiling directions, in which different content-related and methodical emphases are set. There are natural science, technical, social science and humanities profiles to choose from.

The standard period of study is six years and three months, including examination periods (12.5 semesters). The programme is designed as a full-time study programme and ends regularly with the state examination.

According to the licensing regulations for physicians, a nursing service of three months must be completed before the first section of the medical examination (ÄApprO 2002, § 6 Krankenpflegedienst): ÄApprO 2002 - Approbationsordnung für Ärzte (gesetze-im-internet.de)

It is advisable to complete at least part of the nursing service before starting your studies. This provides an insight into the future professional environment and can support the decision for or against studying medicine.

The Approbation Regulations for Doctors regulate the following (ÄApprO 2002, § 6 Nursing Service): ÄApprO 2002 - Approbation Regulations for Doctors (gesetze-im-internet.de)