In case you meet the following conditions…

• You are not a EU/EFTA citizen
• You are not married to a EU/EFTA/swiss citizen
• You do not hold a UK diploma

… then your medical diploma is not eligible for direct recognition. Instead you will need to require the registration of a non-directly recognizable medical diploma. It’s a lenghty process, but in no way does it put a stop to your dream of becoming a doctor in Switzerland!

Here you will find a concise summary of all necessary documents. Once you have gathered them, send a registered letter with confirmation of receipt to the official address of the Swiss Commission for Medical Professions (MEBEKO). Take in consideration you can only apply by post, thus applications sent by email will not be accepted.

Bundesamt für Gesundheit

MEBEKO

Schwarzenburgstrasse 157

CH–3003 Bern, Switzerland

If you live abroad, you mandatorily need to provide a correspondence address in Switzerland for MEBEKO, as your documents will not be sent abroad. Once MEBEKO has received your application, a pre-payment of 390 CHF is required before proceeding to actually overview your documents. The total cost for the diploma registration is around 800-1200 CHF and this additional payment is required before you can be registered as a medical doctor in the Swiss Register of Medical Professions (MedReg).

All communication with the MEBEKO has to be either in german, french or italian (three of the four official languages of Switzerland). However, documents in english will also be accepted and don’t need to be translated. If any of the undermentioned documents are not written in any of these languages (DE/FR/IT/EN), you will need to get them professionally translated and then certified by a notary, city/district administration or an embassy either in Switzerland, in any EU/EFTA member state or in the country which issued your diploma.

Now let’s go over all the documents you need to send:

• Application form: fill out your personal details, read the form attentively, sign and date it;

  • Download your form here: DE / FR / IT

• Certified copy of your passport or identity card;

• Current and signed curriculum vitae written in DE/FR/IT/EN;

• Motivation letter written in DE/FR/IT/EN;

  • Mention your connection to Switzerland and why you desire to work there;

• Certified copy of your medical school diploma in the original language;

  • Include a certified copy/original translation of your diploma if it is not written in DE/FR/IT/EN.

• Certified copy of your Scope of Practice:

  • A document which certifies that you are entitled to practice as a medical resident under supervision in the country where your diploma was issued, which must be issued by your local competent health authority;
  • Include a certified copy/original translation of your diploma if the original document is not written in DE/FR/IT/EN.

• Certified confirmation of minimum requirements:

  • A document which confirms you fulfilled the minimum accepted requirements regarding the number of hours/years of training required:
    • At least six years of full-time study;
    • At least 5500 hours of theoretical and practical instruction.
  • Include a certified original translation of your diploma if the original document is not written in DE/FR/IT/EN.

• Proof of language competency:

  • If you are not a native speaker, confirm a proficiency level of at least B2 in the Common European Framework in DE/FR/IT. Take in consideration that just a certificate from attending a language course won’t do! You need to have successfully passed an internationally recognized language exam, such as Goethe-Zertifikat, TestDaF, DELF/DALF, CELI, etc;
    • The language certificate cannot be older than 6 years.
  • You are exempt of providing a language certificate if you have studied and concluded your medical diploma or if you have at least 3 years work experience of at least 3 years in a country in which has DE/FR/IT is an official language. Obviously, you will also have to attest to that fact with your diploma or work certificates;
  • If you are still learning an official swiss language and don’t want to delay sending your application further, the language proficiency proof is the only document you are allowed to send at a later time. When you are ready, you can submit your request online here;
  • Registering your linguistic qualifications has an additional cost of 50 - 100 CHF per language.

If you have any questions, please refer to the official website of the MEBEKO.

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