Status Quo – Die Anforderungen an die medizinische Habilitation in Deutschland

Background In Germany, the habilitation proves one’s qualification for independent research and teaching. It is a prerequisite for obtaining the teaching qualification in the respective specialist area. The prerequisites are laid down in the habilitation regulations of universities and equivalent institutions. This review article aims to show the requirements for the habilitation of medical faculties. Methods The current regulations regarding habilitation and implementation of all 39 German medical faculties were analyzed according to the following criteria: total publications (n), first and last authorships (n), teaching achievements, considerations of third-party funding, patent rights, abstracts at congresses, participation in further didactic training, cumulative habilitation, prerequisite of doctorate or equivalent achievements, reviewer (n) and their affiliation, giving a university-wide and scientific lecture, as well as a teaching sample. Results A total of 37 habilitation requirements were included in the analysis. The requirements differ in several central points: above all in numbers of required first and last authorships, total numbers of publications and evaluation of the publication performance. A cumulative habilitation is possible at 97 % (n = 36) of the universities. There are also distinct differences regarding the requirements of the reviewers (only internal, internal and external, only external). Conclusions Each requirement and their weighting are often inconsistent between orders. In order to increase the transparency and appreciation of the scientific achievement, a standardization of the requirements seems expedient.