Working as a doctor in Switzerland: getting your diploma and specialist title recognised

Your route to Switzerland in six steps

You may only practise medicine once you are entered in the Medical Professions Register (MedReg) and have the language skills your work requires (Art. 33a MedBG). You are entered when your diploma is recognised.

1. 1

   Recognise your medical diploma

   Application to MEBEKO, Education section (Ressort Ausbildung).

2. 2

   Recognise your specialist title

   A separate application to MEBEKO, Postgraduate Training section (Ressort Weiterbildung), if you hold a specialist title; it may go in the same mailing.

3. 3

   Prove your language skills

   Proof at level B2; on request, MEBEKO enters your language skills in the MedReg.

4. 4

   MedReg entry and GLN

   With its decision, MEBEKO enters you in the MedReg and assigns you a Global Location Number (GLN).

5. 5

   Licence to practise

   Required as soon as you work under your own professional responsibility; whether you need one as a resident doctor depends on the canton.

6. 6

   Registration and residence

   Registration with your municipality of residence and a residence permit, or a cross-border commuter permit if you live abroad.

TakeCare takes care of steps 1 and 2 for you: we handle the entire recognition process with MEBEKO, submit the application and cover the cost of recognition.

Who decides: MEBEKO at the FOPH

MEBEKO (Medizinalberufekommission, the Federal Commission for the Medical Professions) is an extra-parliamentary federal commission for the university medical professions. Its secretariats are based at the FOPH. The Education section recognises diplomas, the Postgraduate Training section recognises specialist titles.

It decides on foreign diplomas and titles where an international treaty governs mutual recognition. For Germany, Austria, Italy and France, that treaty is the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU (FZA). With a diploma from a neighbouring country you are in good company. Figures from MEBEKO's annual report:

diplomas in human medicine recognised by MEBEKO in 2024

3,228

postgraduate titles in human medicine recognised in 2024

1,595

of all postgraduate titles recognised in 2024 came from DE, AT, FR and IT

around 87%

MEBEKO is located at Schwarzenburgstrasse 157, 3003 Bern. It can be reached by phone on Fridays from 8 to 11 a.m. on +41 58 462 94 83. According to its status notice (as of 10 July 2026), replies to e-mails currently take up to ten weeks.

The EU route: automatic recognition of your medical diploma

Through Annex III of the FZA, Switzerland has adopted EU Directive 2005/36/EC. Under its Article 21, basic and specialist medical training listed in Annex V that meets the minimum requirements is recognised automatically. According to the FOPH, no additional conditions may be imposed if your training differs from Swiss training in duration or scope.

A recognised diploma has the same effect as the Swiss federal diploma, and a recognised specialist title the same effect as the corresponding federal postgraduate title (MedBG). Recognition applies without any limit in time or place, including for cross-border commuters.

Diploma and specialist title: two applications, two decisions

The medical diploma and the specialist title are two procedures, each with its own form, its own fee and its own decision. The documents may, however, be submitted in a single mailing. You can apply for the specialist title before the diploma is recognised, provided the diploma application is enclosed.

Only the postgraduate titles in human medicine listed in MEBEKO's supplementary form 1.1 (Zusatzformular 1.1) are recognised; MEBEKO describes this list as exhaustive. If you hold several specialist titles, you can have each of them recognised; each application has its own fee. Important for billing later on: a recognised EU specialist title does not guarantee the same billing options under basic health insurance as in the issuing country.

Which documents MEBEKO requires

For direct recognition of the medical diploma, MEBEKO requires:

• the application form, dated and signed
• a certified copy of your passport or identity card, not a foreign national's permit; if your eligibility is based on marriage, also your spouse's identity card and the marriage certificate
• a current, signed CV
• a certified copy of the diploma in its original language

For the specialist title, the same personal documents apply, plus the application form for the postgraduate title, a certified copy of the specialist diploma and supplementary form 1.1. As the medical diploma, MEBEKO requires a specific document for each country:

• GermanyZeugnis über die Ärztliche Prüfung (certificate of the state medical examination), not the Approbationsurkunde; no certificate of conformity with the Directive (Richtlinienkonformitätsbescheinigung) needed.
• AustriaUrkunde über die Verleihung des akademischen Grades Doktor/in der gesamten Heilkunde (Dr. med. univ.), the certificate conferring the academic degree; no certificate of conformity needed.
• ItalyFrom 3 April 2020, the Attestato di conformità issued by the Ministero della Salute in Rome confirming the Laurea magistrale in medicina e chirurgia abilitante all'esercizio. Before 2 April 2020, this Attestato or the Pergamena of the Laurea together with the Pergamena of the Abilitazione. The Pergamena of the Abilitazione must not have been issued by the university.
• FranceDiplôme de fin de deuxième cycle d'Etudes médicales or Diplôme de formation approfondie en sciences médicales; only if you have neither, the Diplôme d'Etat de docteur en médecine. If you submit the latter, you complete the additional form for recognition of the specialist title (DES) and enclose a certificate of conformity.

If you only have a provisional confirmation of your diploma, you additionally need a certified certificate of conformity, whatever the country. For certification and sending:

• Official documents only as certified copies, never originals: MEBEKO does not return any documents.
• Certification may be done by notaries, diplomatic missions, municipal, city and district administrations, courts, and the issuing authority for its own documents. Certifications by translators, interpreters, welfare organisations, parish offices, health insurers, the post office, banks and hospitals are not accepted, nor are self-certifications.
• Documents in languages other than German, French, Italian or English need an official translation into one of these languages.
• The application goes to MEBEKO only on paper, by post; not by e-mail and not in person.

What recognition costs and who pays for it

The fee ranges are set in Annex 5 of the Medical Professions Ordinance (MedBV). Where your invoice falls within the range depends on the work involved. The MedBV applies an hourly rate of CHF 90 to 200, depending on the grade of the person processing your application.

The invoice only comes once the application is complete and has been checked, and it is paid in a single bank transfer, not in instalments. After a discontinued application, a new one costs at least CHF 800. Not part of recognition: the language entry, which MEBEKO invoices separately, and the cantonal licence to practise, for which the canton charges its own fees.

TakeCare covers the cost of recognising your medical diploma and specialist title with MEBEKO. All our services are free of charge for you as a jobseeker (Art. 9 AVG).

How long recognition takes

MEBEKO does not give a binding deadline. In its FAQ it currently states up to six months for the diploma and up to five months for the specialist title, counted from when the acknowledgement of receipt is sent.

Applications are processed in the order they are received and cannot be expedited. Because the invoice only comes after a complete review, what counts is a complete file on first submission. Once your payment has been booked, MEBEKO sends the decision, only on paper by registered mail, and at the same time enters you in the MedReg.

In TakeCare's experience, the entire recognition process takes around three months. That is a figure from experience, not a commitment.

Language skills: level B2 and how to prove it

Art. 33a MedBG requires the language skills needed to practise. The MedBV describes them in functional terms: understanding the main content of complex texts and communicating spontaneously and fluently with native speakers in your field. The FOPH equates this with level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

You can prove your language skills in three ways (Art. 11c MedBV):

1. 1with an internationally recognised language diploma that is no more than six years old
2. 2with medical studies or postgraduate training that you completed in that language
3. 3with three years of professional experience as a doctor in that language within the last ten years

For your studies, what counts is the actual language of instruction, not the language of the certificate. If German, French or Italian is your main language, meaning the language you master best and think in, you submit a self-declaration that you have written, dated and signed yourself. What matters is your main language, not your nationality; in case of doubt, MEBEKO may request further evidence.

MEBEKO accepts a language diploma if it certifies at least B2, is no more than six years old, is signed and dated, names the examination location or test centre and shows writing, reading, speaking and listening separately. It does not keep an exhaustive list of certificates.

You can apply for the language entry in the MedReg with your recognition application or separately via the online language tool; MEBEKO examines it in a separate procedure and invoices it separately. In its FAQ, the FOPH describes the entry as not mandatory. Its page on the revision of the MedBG states, by contrast, that the language skills of all university medical professionals must be entered. Your language skills are checked in any case: by your employer if you work under supervision, by the canton if you work under your own professional responsibility.

B2 is a minimum: employers and cantons may require a higher level or more recent proof, even if a language is already listed in the MedReg. Legally, what is required is an official language, not a dialect. According to the Federal Statistical Office, however, 83 per cent of working people in German-speaking Switzerland usually spoke Swiss German at work in 2020. The written language is standard German.

Temporary exception (Art. 11b MedBV): you may work under supervision for a limited period without proof of language skills if patient care requires it, no doctor with the necessary language skills could be found and patient safety is ensured. You must then provide the proof within one year.

MedReg and GLN: your entry in the Medical Professions Register

The MedReg is the public register of university medical professionals in Switzerland. MEBEKO enters you free of charge when recognition is completed and assigns you a Global Location Number (GLN), which is unique and remains valid even after a change of name. The following are publicly visible:

• your GLN, your medical diploma and your specialist title
• your registered language skills
• cantonal licences to practise under your own professional responsibility and any restrictions
• notifications as a service provider for up to 90 days

Employers must check before hiring you whether you are entered in the MedReg and have the necessary language skills. Licences under purely cantonal law do not appear in the MedReg.

Resident doctor or specialist: the difference

All doctors entered in the MedReg may practise medicine in Switzerland. What matters is whether you work under professional supervision or under your own professional responsibility.

Under the MedBG, postgraduate training to become a specialist takes at least two and at most six years, correspondingly longer if part-time. You can start it with a merely registered diploma, but complete it only with a Swiss federal or recognised one.

Once you hold a specialist title, the licensing situation changes. In Geneva you must then apply, and you may no longer work under supervision afterwards. In Zurich, employed doctors with a specialist title in practices and outpatient facilities no longer receive a resident licence; the canton assumes they work under their own professional responsibility and requires a licence of their own.

The cantonal licence to practise

Under your own professional responsibility, you need a licence from the canton in which you work (Art. 34 MedBG). Since 1 February 2020, under federal law this applies to all doctors working under their own professional responsibility, including those employed in a private practice. The cantonal health authorities are responsible; the FOPH also refers you to them. The requirements under Art. 36 MedBG are:

• an appropriate Swiss federal or recognised diploma
• a Swiss federal or recognised postgraduate title, i.e. a specialist title
• trustworthiness, and the physical and mental fitness to guarantee that the profession is practised properly
• knowledge of an official language of the canton

Many cantons have additional licensing requirements under cantonal law, and the rules differ markedly, especially for resident doctors. Four examples:

In Zurich, you submit the application no earlier than three months before your planned start date, and you may only start once the licence has been granted. It is valid for ten years, at most until your 70th birthday; after that, it is granted for a maximum of three years.

A residence permit does not replace the licence to practise. Even with a B permit, you need the canton's licence to work under your own professional responsibility.

Billing through basic health insurance (OKP)

Admission to bill under compulsory health insurance (obligatorische Krankenpflegeversicherung, OKP) is something different from the licence to practise. Art. 37 of the Health Insurance Act (KVG) sets specific requirements for doctors who are admitted as healthcare providers in their own right or who work in outpatient medical facilities. According to the FOPH, if you are employed by a hospital, including in its outpatient department, you do not need your own admission, because the hospital does the billing.

For your own OKP admission, the KVG requires:

• at least three years of postgraduate training in Switzerland (the three-year rule)
• proof of language proficiency in the language of the region where you work, through a language examination taken in Switzerland. Among others, you are exempt if you obtained a medical diploma recognised under Art. 15 MedBG in the official language of that region, for example a German or Austrian diploma for German-speaking Switzerland.

The language level for the OKP is higher than for the MedReg. The ordinance does not name a CEFR level. Zurich and Vaud require C1, and the evaluation report on the MedBG commissioned by the FOPH also refers to C1. Vaud accepts, among other things, a professional diploma from an institution that teaches in French, including a recognised foreign one, for example a French medical diploma.

Where there is under-supply, cantons can grant exemptions from the three-year rule until 31 December 2027: for general internal medicine or general practitioner (Praktische Ärztin or Praktischer Arzt) as the sole postgraduate title, and for paediatrics and for child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy. Geneva has limited OKP admissions since 1 October 2022; there, a licence to practise does not guarantee admission.

Special cases: nationality, third-country diplomas, GDR, short assignments

Non-EU nationality with an EU diploma: if neither you nor your spouse holds Swiss or EU/EFTA citizenship, even a diploma from, say, Germany will not be recognised. You can have it registered for CHF 800 to 1,200, provided it entitles you to practise under supervision in the issuing country and the training meets the minimum requirements in hours or years. The FOPH names obtaining the Swiss federal diploma as a further route.

Third-country diploma recognised in the EU: indirect recognition requires all of the following:

• An EU/EFTA state has already recognised your diploma.
• You or your spouse hold Swiss or EU/EFTA citizenship.
• In the recognising state, you have the same unrestricted professional rights as doctors trained there, and the first recognition complied with the minimum requirements of Directive 2005/36/EC.
• You have at least three years of recent clinical experience in the recognising state and/or in Switzerland, dating back no more than five years.

Diplomas from the former GDR (East Germany): they can be recognised on the basis of acquired rights if they have the same legal status as a current German diploma. You must also have actually and lawfully practised medicine in Switzerland and/or the EU/EFTA for at least three years within the last five years.

Short assignments of up to 90 working days per calendar year: if your residence and main professional activity are in the EU, you register via the online portal of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI, SBFI in German) at least 30 days before you start, and again every year. A separate recognition application to MEBEKO is then not needed. MEBEKO checks the diploma and the specialist title for CHF 800 to 1,000 each, and SERI charges a processing fee of CHF 90. Here too, you need sufficient knowledge of the canton's official language.

Residence permit, registration and insurance

As a national of Germany, Austria, Italy or France, you do not need a separate work permit: the canton's residence permit also serves as a work permit. If you meet the requirements, you have a legal right to it under the FZA.

For a job of three months or more, you register with your municipality of residence within 14 days of arrival and before starting work, and apply there for the residence permit. Under the directives of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), this is in principle your responsibility. You need a valid passport or identity card and the written confirmation of employment stating the duration and the workload percentage. You may start work as soon as the cantonal authority has received the application. The cross-border commuter permit is issued by the canton where you work.

• Health insurance: within three months of taking up residence, you take out insurance with a Swiss health insurer; cover then applies retroactively from the date you moved. If you are late, you are only insured from the date you join and, if the delay is inexcusable, you pay a premium surcharge of 30 to 50 per cent for twice as long as the delay, for a maximum of five years. Each family member is insured individually, and in basic insurance every insurer must accept you without reservations.
• Cross-border commuters living in Germany, France, Italy or Austria can take out insurance in their country of residence, by applying to the canton where they work for an exemption within three months of starting the job. A tacit choice is not legally valid.
• Accident insurance: your employer insures you against occupational accidents and, if you work at least eight hours a week for the same employer, also against non-occupational accidents.
• Withholding tax: with an L, B or G permit you are in principle subject to withholding tax (Quellensteuer), which the employer deducts directly from your salary. Exceptions apply, for example, if you are married to a person with Swiss citizenship or a C permit and you both live in Switzerland, and in some cantons to cross-border commuters from France. If you live in Switzerland and earn a gross income of at least CHF 120,000 a year, a tax return is also mandatory (subsequent ordinary assessment).

What TakeCare takes on and what you do yourself

For doctors with a diploma from Germany, Austria, Italy or France:

• TakeCare handles the entire recognition process with MEBEKO for the medical diploma and the specialist title, submits the application and covers the cost of recognition.
• TakeCare supports you with finding accommodation, with insurance and with dealing with the authorities.
• TakeCare places doctors in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland (Romandie) and Ticino.
• All TakeCare services are free of charge for you as a jobseeker (Art. 9 AVG).

What only you can do: sign the application form and the CV, and obtain the certified copies of your documents, for example from a notary or a municipal administration. If German, French or Italian is your main language, you also write, date and sign the self-declaration for your language proof yourself.