Current Requirements and Qualification Criteria for Habilitation and Extraordinary Professorship at German University Hospitals

Background Achieving a medical professorship marks a significant step in a doctor's academic career, associated with a significant level of responsibility and obligations. The requirements to obtain a medical professorship in Germany vary significantly. Material and Methods Based on an online search, we studied the statutes and regulations of medical faculties in Germany to determine the requirements for habilitation and an extraordinary professorship within Germany. All 38 German medical faculties were included. The evaluation was carried out for performance requirements in the areas of teaching and research. Results The general requirement for a habilitation application is the completion of the medical specialist certification examination. On average, 2.3 years of teaching activity are expected. The minimum number of teaching hours averages 2.6 weekly semester hours. An average of at least 11 publications are required. Of these, an average of 7 must be written as first or last author. For an extraordinary professorship, an average of 4.4 years (min. 2, max. 6) of teaching activity after habilitation is required. The minimum number of teaching hours in semester hours averages 1.9 hours (min. 1, max. 2). The minimum number of publications averages 9 publications (min. 4, max. 24), of which an average of 6.3 must be written as first or last author. Conclusion The requirements for habilitation and extraordinary professorship in Germany vary, especially with a view to publications and teaching. Depending on the faculty, lower publication numbers can be compensated by higher "impact factors". Furthermore, there is no national standardisation and comparability in the field of medical academic graduations.