General and specialist medical practitioners

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Summary:

To practise as a general or specialist medical practitioner, you need a licence that is linked to specific conditions, failure to comply with which will result in sanctions.

Target audience: general and specialist medical practitioners.

Cost: EUR 450 per licence to practise and per title required.

Application for a licence to practise in the healthcare sector (new application and renewal)
Go to online services and forms

Practising as a general or specialist medical practitioner requires an licence issued by the Ministry of Health and Social Security.

To obtain such a licence, you must satisfy the profession's qualification, ethics, good repute, and physical and mental health requirements.

Who is concerned

If you wish to practise as a general or specialist medical practitioner in Luxembourg, you must be a national of:

  • an EU Member State; or
  • a State of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway), or Switzerland; or
  • a third country.

If you are a third-country national, you must also:

If you are banned (temporarily or permanently) from practising in the country where you last practised your profession, you cannot practise in Luxembourg either. The same applies if disqualification proceedings are currently under way against you.

Prerequisites

Common requirements

As a general or specialist practitioner, you must:

  • hold a Luxembourg or foreign diploma entitling you to work as a general or specialist practitioner; 
  • satisfy the ethics, good repute and physical and mental health requirements applicable to medical practitioners;
  • have the linguistic abilities which are necessary to carry out your profession in Luxembourg;

General practitioners

To practise as a general practitioner in Luxembourg, you must hold:

  • a conventional doctor's diploma;
  • a diploma attesting to specific training in general medicine.

Specialist practitioners

To practise as a specialist practitioner in Luxembourg, you must hold:

  • a conventional doctor's diploma;
  • a diploma attesting to a medical specialisation.

Preliminary steps

Recognition of foreign qualifications

The recognition of foreign diplomas is not required if your diploma:

  • was obtained in an EU Member State;
  • conforms to EU standards;
  • corresponds to one of the specified diplomas (see Annex V, point 5.1.1 of European Directive 2005/36/EC for basic training, point 5.1.4 of European Directive 2005/36/EC for general practitioners and Annex V, points 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 of European Directive 2005/36/EC for specialists).

If you obtained your qualification in a non-EU country, you must obtain prior recognition of your qualifications in another EU Member State. This recognition must entitle you to practise in the Member State in question:

Required language skills

You must have the linguistic abilities which are necessary to carry out your profession in Luxembourg.

If your mother tongue is not French, German or Luxembourgish, you must provide proof of your language skills in order to be authorised to practise.

The minimum level of language proficiency required in French or German is Level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The level can be proven by any means, such as:

  • a copy of the training certificates obtained in one of these 2 languages;
  • proof of professional experience in a French- or German-speaking country.

If you cannot supply any of the above proof, you must provide a certificate of language proficiency at level B2 from an approved test centre.

In Luxembourg, the approved examination centre is the National Institute for Languages Luxembourg (Institut national des langues Luxembourg - INLL).

Costs

Applications for the licence to practise carry a fee of EUR 450.

When applications are made online through MyGuichet.lu, the fee must be paid online. The EUR 450 fee must be paid by credit card at the end of the procedure, and is mandatory to complete the application. Therefore, if you have already made the payment by bank transfer, you should send your application by post.

If you intend to use multiple professional titles, you will have to pay EUR 450 for each title you wish to use.

Note: fees will not be reimbursed if the Ministry of Health and Social Security refuses to grant the licence to practise, or if you withdraw your application.

How to proceed

Applying for the licence to practise

You can apply for your licence to practise online via MyGuichet.lu.

The application procedure can be accessed:

  • with authentication, using a LuxTrust product or an electronic identity card (eID); or
  • without authentication.

The procedure with authentication has several advantages compared to the procedure without authentication. In particular, it allows you to temporarily save any data that you have already entered so that you can access it at a later date.

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive any related messages/notifications by email.

Supporting documents

You must include the following supporting documents with your application:

  • if you are a national of an EU Member State or of a European Economic Area (EEA) state: a copy of a valid identity document; or
  • if you are not a national of an EU or EEA member state:
    • a copy of a valid residence permit; or
    • a document certifying that you are a beneficiary of international protection;
  • an extract from the criminal record of your country of residence (no more than 3 months old);
  • a certificate of good mental and physical health issued by a licensed doctor (dated less than 3 months prior to the application);
  • a copy of your diplomas (basic medical training + specific training in general medicine, or basic medical training + medical specialisation);
  • if your diplomas were obtained in a non-EU Member State, a copy of the recognition of the diploma(s) and the licence to practise medicine as a general or specialist practitioner in another EU Member State;
  • a certificate of good character issued by the Order of Physicians (dated less than 3 months prior to the application);
  • a curriculum vitae;
  • if your mother tongue is not French, German or Luxembourgish, you must provide proof of your language skills.

Translations of documents

Any documents that are not drawn up in French, German or Luxembourgish must be accompanied by their French, German or Luxembourgish translation produced by a sworn/certified translator.

Processing the application

Once the file is complete, the Ministry of Health and Social Security forwards it to the Medical Board for assessment.

It can take between 3 weeks and 3 months for the Medical Board to formulate its opinion.

After the application for the licence to practise (or the application for renewal) has been examined, the decision is sent to you by post.

To speed up the processing of your application, you should ensure that you have added all the required information and supporting documents to your file.

Lapsing of the licence

Your licence to practise will lapse if:

  • you do not start practising your profession in Luxembourg within 2 years of the issuance of the licence;
  • you have ceased your activity in Luxembourg for more than 2 years and transferred your domicile outside of Luxembourg.

Lapsed licences to practise can be renewed upon request.

Applying to renew the licence to practise

The licence renewal application procedure is the same as the initial licence application procedure.

This can be done online using MyGuichet.lu (see 'Online services and forms').

Once you have submitted your application, you will receive any related messages/notifications by email.

Your licence renewal application must be accompanied by the following supporting documents, along with their translations where applicable (see above):

  • if you are a national of a European Economic Area state (EEA): a copy of a valid identity document; or
  • if you are not a national of an EEA state:
    • a copy of a valid residence permit; or
    • a document certifying that you are entitled to international protection;
  • an extract from the criminal record of your country of residence (no more than 3 months old);
  • a certificate of good mental and physical health issued by a licensed doctor (no more than 3 months old);
  • a certificate of good character issued by the Order of Physicians (dated less than 3 months prior to the application);
  • an up-to-date curriculum vitae.

Possibilities of appeal in the event of refusal

If the application is refused, you may appeal the decision with the administrative tribunal within one month of being notified of the decision.

Obligations

Register of medical practitioners

As a reminder, the contact details of all medical practitioners are listed in 2 registers:

  • the professional register kept by the Minister for Health and Social Security;
  • the register maintained by the Medical Board.

You must be entered in the registers within one month of starting your practice.

You are also required to update your details in these registers if your situation changes (practice address, email address, telephone number, etc.).

Information

As soon as you start your practice you should acquaint yourself with the public health and social legislation applicable in Luxembourg, as well as the applicable code of ethics.

Liability insurance

If you practise in Luxembourg, you must have civil liability insurance to cover professional risks.

Using the title of 'Doctor'

It is possible to work as a general or specialist practitioner in Luxembourg without using the academic title 'Doctor' or 'Dr'.

However, if you wish to use this title, you must register your qualification in the register of formal higher education qualifications.

The title 'Dr' may only be used by practitioners who have obtained a diploma entitling them to use the academic title 'Doctor/PhD' after having defended a doctoral thesis. This diploma must be recognised as the equivalent of level 8 in the Luxembourg Qualifications Framework (Cadre luxembourgeois des qualifications - CLQ).

You must then send a copy of the ministerial decree confirming the registration to the Ministry of Health and Social Security, which will then update the details in the professional register.

Sanctions

Your disciplinary, civil and criminal liability may be incurred if, owing to insufficient language skills, you make a mistake in the performance of your duties.

You could risk imprisonment and a fine if:

  • you illegally use the title 'Doctor'; or
  • you illegally practice the profession, or incite to illegal practise of the profession.

Requesting duplicates

A copy of the licence to practise can be obtained for a fee of EUR 10. Applications should be made by post or email to the Ministry of Health and Social Security, and should include:

  • proof of payment of the EUR 10 fee; and
  • a copy of your identity document.

The fee must be paid by wire transfer to the following account:

IBAN: LU13 1111 0011 4679 0000
BIC: CCPLLULL
Name of the beneficiary: Administration de l’enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA
Reference: DUPLICATA + the professional's name

Online services and forms

Online services

Demande d'autorisation d'exercer dans le domaine de la santé (nouvelle demande et renouvellement)

Who to contact

Health professionals - Medical professions

Related procedures and links

Procedures

Professions without automatic recognition of diplomas (list 2) Professions with automatic recognition of diplomas (list 3) Declaration of provision of services by a foreign medical practitioner Temporary authorisation to replace a medical practitioner established in Luxembourg Temporary authorisation to participate in a medical training course

Links

Further information

Legal references

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