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Information on the non-medical practitioner license

Heilpraktiker license; application

Description

Anyone wishing to practise medicine without being a doctor requires a license in accordance with Section 1 of the Heilpraktikergesetz. The practice of medicine is "any professional or commercial activity to diagnose, cure or alleviate illness, suffering or physical injury in humans, even if it is carried out in the service of others".

Can be applied for:

  • the general license for alternative practitioners
  • the non-medical practitioner license limited to the field of psychotherapy
  • the non-medical practitioner license limited to the field of physiotherapy
  • the non-medical practitioner license limited to the field of podiatry

The granting of this non-medical practitioner's license requires the applicant to meet certain preconditions, including an examination by the public health department. The alternative practitioner examination consists of a written and an oral-practical part.

Legal basis, guidelines, announcements

Requirements for the granting of a permit

The granting of the permit requires that you:

  • have reached the age of 25
  • have successfully completed at least secondary school (Volksschule or Hauptschule)
  • have the necessary aptitude and moral reliability for practicing the profession
  • have passed the inspection by the public health department (written and oral)

Sufficient command of the German language is required.

Application and documents

You submit your application for the alternative practitioner examination to the district administrative authority (district office or district-free city) that is responsible for the location of your future medical practice, i.e. if you are practising in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen for the first time, to the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district office. If the place of practice has not yet been determined, the application must be submitted to the district office responsible for your place of residence.

When applying, you must submit the following proof and documents:

  • Birth certificate
  • Curriculum vitae - in brief (tabular form)
  • Medical certificate (not older than three months at the time of application) stating that there are no indications that you are unfit to exercise the profession in terms of health
  • Official certificate of good conduct document type "O" (not older than three months at the time of application)
  • Proof of school leaving certificate
  • Possibly proof of relevant professional qualifications

You must also state this when you submit your application:

  • whether criminal proceedings or a public prosecutor's investigation are pending against you
  • whether you have previously applied for a license under the Heilpraktikergesetz and, if so, from which authority
  • whether you are applying for a general non-medical practitioner license or a license limited to the field of psychotherapy, physiotherapy or podiatry.

Review and organization

The examination consists of a written and an oral (practical) part (with the exception of the examination of a license limited to the area of an auxiliary medical profession). The written part is carried out before the oral-practical part. Both parts form a unit; if one part is not passed, the entire examination is deemed to have been unsuccessful.

Dates and location of the written examination:

The inspections are carried out uniformly in Bavaria:

  • on the third Wednesday in March
  • on the second Wednesday in October

You will receive an invitation to the written part of the examination at least three weeks before the date.

The location will be announced in good time. As the Munich Regional Health Authority is responsible for all health authorities in Upper Bavaria, it will also be located in the greater Munich area for participants from Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen.

Oral (practical) examination:

Only those who have passed the written part of the examination will be admitted to the oral-practical part.

The place of examination is the Munich Regional Health Authority (Gesundheitsamt München Land) if an Upper Bavarian district administrative authority is responsible for you.

The same applies to the oral review of limited (sectoral) applications.

 

Contents of the review:

Can be taken from the above-mentioned guidelines, among others

Registration times:

  • for the review in March from 01.07 to 15.12 of the previous year
  • for the review in October from 01.01. to 15.06. of the same year

Note on participant limitation:

For organizational reasons, only a limited number of participants can be admitted to the Heilpraktikerüberprüfung at the Munich Health Office (Land) and thus indirectly also for the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen Health Office. The date on which the application is received by the District Office is decisive for admission. However, it is intended to enable every candidate to take the examination within one year.

 

  1. Review of the general practitioner's license:

The written part of the examination consists of 60 multiple-choice questions. The processing time is 120 minutes. If you have answered at least 45 questions (75%) correctly, you will be admitted to the oral-practical part.

The oral-practical part of the examination is conducted under the chairmanship of a doctor. As a rule, assessors take part in the examination in an expert capacity. The presiding member then decides, after hearing the assessors, whether the practice of medicine by "you would pose a risk to public health or to the patients visiting you".

You will be informed of the result immediately afterwards and, if you fail, you will also be informed of the relevant reasons for the decision. The competent administrative authority will be informed of the result of the review.

Special cases: Applicants with a degree in medicine

For applicants who - without being licensed to practice medicine - have passed the second section of the medical examination in accordance with the licensing regulations for physicians of June 27, 2002, the third section of the medical examination in accordance with the licensing regulations for physicians of July 14, 1987 or have completed training for the medical profession within the meaning of Section 10 (1) of the Federal Medical Practitioners' Act. July 1987 or a completed training for the medical profession within the meaning of Section 10 (1) of the Federal Medical Practitioners' Code, the examination extends exclusively to professional and legal knowledge, including the legal limits of the non-medical practice of medicine.
The examination is only conducted in oral form.

2. review of the Heilpraktiker license limited to the field of psychotherapy:

The written part of the examination consists of 28 multiple-choice questions. The processing time is 60 minutes. If you have answered at least 21 questions (75%) correctly, you will be admitted to the practical oral part.

The oral part of the examination is conducted under the chairmanship of a doctor. As a rule, assessors take part in the examination in an expert capacity. The presiding member then decides, after hearing the assessors, whether the practice of medicine (limited to the field of psychotherapy) by "you would pose a risk to the health of the population or to the patients visiting you".

You will be informed of the result immediately afterwards and, if you fail, you will also be informed of the relevant reasons for the decision. The competent administrative authority will be informed of the result of the review

Special cases: Applicants with a degree in psychology

Applicants who apply for a license limited to the field of psychotherapy and can prove by means of an examination certificate from a domestic university or equivalent institution of higher education that they have successfully completed a diploma or master's examination in psychology and that the subject "clinical psychology" was the subject of this examination are deemed to have proven the required knowledge. An examination by the public health department is not required in this respect. This also applies if proof of equivalent knowledge in this subject is provided in the form of detailed and meaningful documentation of basic, advanced or further training in the field of psychotherapy. Evidence from non-public educational institutions is generally not sufficient to provide the required proof due to the lack of state supervision.

 

3. review of the license limited to the field of an auxiliary health profession (physiotherapy, podiatry):

When submitting the application, the applicant must provide evidence that he or she has successfully completed the relevant training in the federally regulated health care profession.

The review is conducted exclusively orally under the chairmanship of a doctor. As a rule, two assessors are involved in the examination. The presiding member then decides, after hearing the assessors, whether the "practice of medicine (limited to the respective field) by you" would "pose a risk to the health of the population or to the patients visiting you".

As part of the examination, which is limited to the intended field of activity, the applicant must demonstrate that they have sufficient knowledge of the delimitation of the curative activity in their intended field of activity compared to the treatments reserved for doctors and persons generally working as alternative practitioners and that they have sufficient diagnostic skills with regard to the relevant clinical pictures. In addition, knowledge of the profession and the law, including the legal limits of the non-medical practice of medicine, must be demonstrated. The applicant must prove that he/she is able to consider relevant differential diagnoses and make an (initial) diagnosis in the case of typical symptoms within the scope of the practised alternative medical profession He/she must prove that he/she is able to recognize whether and to what extent further examinations or certain diagnostic procedures are required for further clarification, for which the patient must be referred to a doctor.

In addition, questions can be asked about the recognition and initial treatment of acute emergencies and life-threatening conditions, diagnostics and, in the broadest sense, general hazard prevention and the general enforcement of health regulations.

You will be informed of the result immediately afterwards and, if you fail, you will also be informed of the relevant reasons for the decision. The competent administrative authority will be informed of the result of the review.

In special cases, a decision can also be made "on the basis of the file". In this case, please contact the district office responsible for your application.

Note:

A training course to acquire the sectoral non-medical practitioner license for physiotherapy and podiatry on file can be carried out using an online format (e.g. as a webinar), but the final examination must be taken in person to ensure a minimum level of objectivity and equal treatment.

Costs

Costs (as at 01.01.2025)

Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen District Office:
Costs in accordance with the Costs Act (KG) for issuing a notice: 190.00 euros
Postal delivery costs (for the notice): 3.45 euros
On request: Issue of a decorative certificate (certificate): 20.00 euros

For the withdrawal of an application after the respective deadline of 15.06. or 15.12. at the District Office Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen a fee of 75 Euro will be charged.

Munich District Office:
In addition, fees and expenses are also due in accordance with the Health Fees Ordinance (GGebV) for the inspection by the Munich District Office, Health Protection, Health Reporting, Child and Youth Health Care Department, which will be invoiced to you directly by them

Costs for the review (as at 1.3.2025):

  • Written examination 250,00 Euro
  • Oral-practical examination 250,00 Euro
  • Expense allowance for assessors approx. 140.00 - 180.00 euros
  • Non-attendance/cancellation or withdrawal (written/oral): 150.00 Euro each
  • Expenses for examination questions (written): 60.00 Euro
  • Expenses for postal delivery (letter of invitation, notice of costs, etc.) 3.07 euros each

The costs will be invoiced by the Munich District Office, Health Protection, Health Reporting, Child and Adolescent Health Care Department after the inspection has been completed. In addition, fees and expenses will be charged by the district office responsible for you.

Cancellations of appointments for the written examination are subject to a fee from January 31 (examination in March) or August 31 (examination in October).

Source: https://www.landkreis-muenchen.de/buergerservice/dienstleistung/heilpraktikerueberpruefung-schritt-ii/

Access to files and information on job titles

If you wish to inspect the files, please contact your local administrative authority.

Notes on the job titles:

Professional title of alternative practitioner:

The holder of an unrestricted license in accordance with Section 1 (1) of the Heilpraktikergesetz (Heilpraktiker Act) uses the title "Heilpraktiker" or "Heilpraktikerin".

Professional title for holders of a license limited to the field of psychotherapy:

According to Section 1 (1) of the Psychotherapists Act, the title "psychotherapist" may not be used by persons other than doctors, psychological psychotherapists or child and adolescent psychotherapists. The professional title "psychotherapist" may therefore not be used when practising psychotherapy in accordance with the Heilpraktikergesetz. The unauthorized use of the professional title "psychotherapist" is just as punishable as the use of designations that are confusingly similar to it. There is no legal professional title for holders of a non-medical practitioner's license limited to the field of psychotherapy. These licenses do not entitle the holder to use the professional title "Heilpraktiker" or "Heilpraktikerin" without a restrictive suffix. The use of the professional title "Heilpraktiker/in, beschränkt auf das Gebiet der Psychotherapie" can be recommended as legally unobjectionable.

Professional title for holders of a license limited to the field of physiotherapy:

There is no legally prescribed professional title, but the title used must not be misleading within the meaning of the law on the advertising of therapeutic products and competition law. The use of the professional title "Heilpraktiker/in" cannot be waived in this case, whereby the restriction with regard to the field of activity must be made clear. The use of the designation "Heilpraktiker/in, beschränkt auf das Gebiet der Physiotherapie" can be recommended as legally unobjectionable.

Professional title for holders of a license limited to the field of podiatry:

There is no legally prescribed professional title, but the title used must not be misleading within the meaning of the law on the advertising of therapeutic products and competition law. The use of the professional title "Heilpraktiker/in" cannot be waived in this case, whereby the restriction with regard to the field of activity must be made clear. The use of the designation "Heilpraktiker/in, beschränkt auf das Gebiet der Podologie" (alternative practitioner, limited to the field of podiatry) can be recommended as legally unobjectionable.

Status: November 2019