General Information
From the winter semester 2024/25, all supervising internship veterinarians at the five German Veterinary Medicine educational institutions are to use the VMFT Service Center for Educational Institutions.
The internships are a mandatory part of the veterinary training and a requirement for admission to the examination. Passing the veterinary examination is in turn a requirement for obtaining the veterinary license to practice. The license to practice entitles the holder to practice the veterinary profession in Germany without restriction. The aim of the internships is to prepare students for this occupation. For this reason, the requirements for the internships are comprehensively formulated in the Ordinance on the Approbation of Veterinarians (TAppV) of July 27, 2006 in Section 3 “The Practical Part of Studies”, §§ 54 to 62 and in Annexes 6 to 12, as well as in the First Ordinance Amending the TAppV of December 20, 2017.
The State Examination Office for Health Professions at the State Office for Health and Social Affairs Berlin (Landesprüfungsamt) is responsible for checking compliance with the internship requirements as a prerequisite for admission to the veterinary state examination. The university determines the schedule for the internships (§ 54, sentence 2 TAppV). This means that students of Veterinary Medicine are subject to strict requirements when completing their internships, which are outlined below. The complete submission of the internship certificates is the prerequisite for final admission to the final examinations of the veterinary examination in the 11th semester. All decisions regarding internships and admission to examinations are regulated by the State Examination Office.
The internships are completed outside of the lecture period and usually all day, in line with the workload, to an appropriate extent on all weekdays in the respective institutions (§ 54, sentence 1 TAppV). A minimum number of hours and a minimum number of weeks are set for the duration of the internships. Both minimum criteria must be met. Depending on the actual hours worked per day and the working days per week, the minimum number of hours and the minimum number of weeks are usually achieved at different times. If, for example, a veterinarian only works part-time in a slaughterhouse, the number of weeks of practical training required to reach the minimum number of hours is extended. If the required total number of hours is fulfilled before the total number of weeks due to increased weekly working hours when working in veterinary clinics, the internship must be continued until the minimum number of weeks has been reached. If the required minimum number of hours or minimum number of weeks cannot be reached due to absences (e.g. illness), these absences must be made up. The latter applies regardless of whether there was a valid reason for the absences (e.g. doctor's note) or not.
Students complete the following internships as part of their studies:
- Agricultural Internship
- Short Curative Internship
- Long Curative Internship
- Practical training in ante-mortem and post-mortem meat inspection
- Practical training in inspection activities, methods, and technologies for the foodstuffs sector
- Training in Veterinary Public Health
- Elective Internship
The internships according to §§ 54 to 62 TAppV are mandatory student internships. According to § 3 para. 2 no. 1 BBiG, these students, as so-called “mandatory interns”, are not interns in the sense of § 26 BBiG. Only the more specific regulations of the school and higher education acts of the federal states apply. This means that there is no entitlement to remuneration or other labor law claims.1
Further information on the individual internships as well as on planning, organization, certification, documentation and evaluation can be found in the respective sections on this website.
In accordance with the annexes to the TAppV, the internship certificates must be submitted to the examination office in German. On the websites of the practical training guide for “Extramural practical training in the Veterinary Medicine degree program”, translations of the practical training certificates, including the practical training requirements, are available in English, French and Spanish. The translations are for information purposes only. The completed and signed practical training certificates in German must be submitted to the Examinations Office.
Approval:
It is recommended that both the foreign-language and the German certificates be signed by the person responsible for the internship. For curative internships, students must also have approval from the chair of the examination board for the clinical part of the studies that the internship is eligible for credit in accordance with the TAppV.
Internship agreement:
For internships abroad, the Freie Universität Berlin has central internship agreements that are tailored to the respective legal situations in the respective countries. There are even different versions for different countries. The head of the Career Service is solely responsible and solely authorized to sign. This responsibility also applies if the foreign internship provider itself provides a template for the internship agreement. This external template is also legally checked and signed by the head of the Career Service.
If you have any questions regarding internships abroad, please always contact the central Career Service to conclude an internship agreement.
The central Freie Universität Berlin website on the subject of “Internships Abroad” is a good source of information and inspiration. In addition to tips and information on planning, implementing, and funding internships abroad, you will also find reports from other students (e.g. a report from the field of veterinary medicine).
Students at general or technical colleges complete a work placement as prescribed in the study or examination regulations either before, during or after completing their studies. Similarly, non-prescribed internships that are completed for practical reasons in connection with the course of study are also possible.
In the case of university or technical college internships, the university/technical college has no direct influence on the way the internship is carried out or on how it is run. During the internship, the students integrate themselves into the company's operations and thus fulfill the requirement for dependent employees according to § 2 para. 1 no. 1 of the German Social Security Code (SGB) VII. For the assessment of internships under accident insurance law, it is irrelevant whether they are mandatory in the study or examination regulations or are done voluntarily. The accident insurance provider responsible for the company providing the internship is the competent authority (Section 133 (1) SGB VII). If a practical activity has to be completed abroad in connection with a course of study or a doctorate, accident insurance cover regularly ceases to apply, unless the social security legislation of the host country also provides for an entitlement to benefits for such activities.
In summary: If the internship takes place at our School of Veterinary Medicine, you are covered by the university's accident insurance. If the internship takes place elsewhere, you must be insured by the company where you are doing the internship. You must register with the relevant accident insurance provider.
In addition to accident insurance, you should also protect yourself against liability claims during your internship. If a company liability insurance exists that includes interns, you should explicitly request this insurance coverage under § 10 of the internship agreement. If a company liability insurance does not exist and you are not covered by a family insurance policy of your parents, we recommend that you take out private (student) liability insurance.
The training to become a veterinarian also includes the acquisition of professional ethical standards to protect the welfare of animals while also respecting the norms of social interaction and the legal framework. Students at the School of Veterinary Medicine have developed a code of ethics in an elective course, which has become binding for everyone by a resolution of the faculty council. It regulates professional behavior in the event of actual or suspected animal welfare violations and should be your guide in potentially animal-welfare-related situations in extramural internships.
If you have any questions about the internships, you can contact the relevant internship coordinator.