Heilpraktiker approval on the test

The admission requirements for non-medical practitioners were the subject of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag. Required are now harsher conditions. A quick change of the law is not in sight.

15.11.2012

The petition committee of the German Bundestag has decided to send a petition on the topic of alternative practitioners to the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) as material and to inform the parliamentary groups. The petition demanded a sharper admission requirement for the profession of alternative practitioner.

The petitioner encourages concrete entry requirements for the profession of alternative practitioner, e.g. a minimum age, a high school diploma, a three-year health education and certain examination modalities. With regard to these specific demands, the Committee points out that an amendment to the Heilpraktikergesetz, in the petitioner's favor, would, among other things, raise the fundamental question, „whether another profession with competencies that are largely similar to the medical profession is currently still necessary and how a possibly newly regulated alternative medical profession could fit into the system of existing health professions“.

The Federal Ministry of Health does not consider a short-term amendment of the petition's requirements to be possible, because the questions presented would require an "intensive and public discussion". The ministry points out, however, that the federal and state governments are currently discussing the interpretation and application of alternative medical law due to various judgments, including supreme court judgments. The Federation of Non-medical Practitioners has announced that it will engage in the discussion and "actively work for the interests of its members and the profession".