If you are a doctor or nurse considering moving and continuing your career in one of Germany’s hospitals, financial compensation and benefits may not be the only factor influencing your decision.
But besides motivational factors such as extended career opportunities, personal development of knowledge and skills, new experiences in a different work environment and culture, compensation certainly is a relevant part of the equation as well.

Since you found this blog post, chances are that you are already thinking about making such a move…

… and the clear upward trend of foreign physicians working in Germany confirms that you would be in good company.

The number of foreign physicians continuing their career in Germany is growing with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 10% since 2009.

Whatever the driving factors for each individual contributing to this trend may be, keep on reading to find out about the typical range of wages you can expect as a physician working in a German hospital.

Overview - how does the wage agreement landscape for physicians in German hospitals look like?

There are various collective wage agreements for municipal hospitals, university hospitals and private hospital groups in Germany. The two most common collective agreements are the collective agreement for municipal hospitals and the collective agreement for university hospitals, in which the paygrade categories are precisely defined. In addition, there are also numerous collective agreements of private clinic groups such as Helios, Asklepios, Rhön, Sana and others.

Please note the following exceptions from mentioned wage agreements:

• Hospitals which are run by the catholic or protestant church are not covered by any wage agreement. Instead, they are governed by their respective employment contract guidelines which are similarly structured according to occupational categories and levels.

• Also not under any wage agreements are the practice based physicians (‘niedergelassene Ärzte’) or Healthcare Centres (‘Medizinische Versorgungszentren’). 
  However, the existing wage agreements for the municipal- university- and private hospitals may serve as a starting point and guideline for contract negotiations.

The following collective wage agreements do exist for German hospitals:

• Municipal hospitals (covered under the ‘TV Ärzte VKA’ or ‘TV Ärzte VKA Sonstige’ wage agreements)

• University hospitals (covered under the ‘TV Ärzte TdL’ wage agreement)

• Private hospital groups (hospital groups like Helios, Asklepios, Rhön, Sana, etc.) typically have their own wage agreements

These wage agreements are structured according to occupational categories and levels (based on work experience within a category).

There are the following categories:

• Resident / Assistant Physician (‘Assistenzarzt’)

• Specialist (‘Facharzt’)

• Consultant (‘Oberarzt’)

• Consultant, Head of Department (‘Leitender Oberarzt’)

What are the typical gross wages for physicians in Germany?

Based on these categories, the wages (as of 2021) range as follows (with municipal hospitals towards the lower end, private hospital groups towards the higher end and university hospitals usually falling somewhere in-between):

Monthly wage for a Resident / Assistant Physician (‘Assistenzarzt’) in Germany:

• A Resident Physician’s monthly wage in his first year would range from around 4600 Euros to 5100 Euros per month (going up to 5900 Euros – 6290 Euros in the 6th year).

Monthly wage Specialist (‘Facharzt’) in Germany:

• For a Specialist, the monthly amount ranges from approximately 6100 Euros - 6600 Euros in the first year and can go as high as 7460 Euros - 8000 Euros after several years in this position.

Monthly wage for a Consultant (‘Oberarzt’) in Germany:

• A Consultant in his first year would start with around 7600 Euros - 8400 Euros and with several years of experience, the monthly amount can range from 8500 Euros - 9200 Euros.

Monthly wage for a Consultant, Head of Department (‘Leitender Oberarzt’) in Germany:

• A Consultant, Head of Department would start with over 9000 Euros in the first year and can go above 10000 Euros with several years of experience in this position.

All mentioned amounts are gross (before tax and social security deductions) and vary between municipal- vs. university hospitals and the different private hospital groups (hence the ranges). The wage agreements are typically based on a weekly working time of 40 hours (or 42 hours - ‘TV Ärzte TdL’) - additional on-call services and overtime are paid extra.

Please note that Physicians from non-EU countries would fulfil the income requirements for the EU Blue Card residence title.
Read more about the benefits which come along with the EU Blue Card residency here.

Example:

The following table shows the wage agreement (‘TV-Ärzte VKA’) for physicians working in municipal hospitals.

It is effective from 1st of January 2021 through 30st of September 2021.

Since various variables (e.g. the state, church affiliation, tax class, family status, etc.) play a role, the net amount should be calculated on a case by case basis.

Feel free to contact us, if you want us to calculate the estimated net amount based on your personal situation and plans.

As a side note: Vacation is typically 29 or 30 days per year + there are at least 9 additional public holidays (the exact number varies slightly from state to state, with some states having even more than 9 public holidays). :-)

You are having more questions around the specific wage agreements with German hospitals?
Contact us at CareME2 and we will be glad to get back to you.