The internship in general medicine takes place between the eighth and ninth semesters over ten consecutive days in an accredited primary care practice (with a remunerated special contract). The aim is to teach students how to work independently during consultation hours and to involve them in the decision-making processes of general practitioner care.
Since the winter semester 2025/26, registration has been exclusively via the block internship portal of our institute.
You can access the internship portal here.
There you will find all training practices and can specify your preferred practices for your internship. Allocation is handled by the portal, based on your preferences if possible. The portal simplifies your search for a training practice and ensures an even distribution of students among the practices.
In general, we recommend that you consider scheduling your internship outside of the semester, for example, during the semester break. Furthermore, we would also like to encourage you to choose practices that are a little further away, e.g. in the area surrounding Cologne (Hürth, Brühl, Frechen, Erftstadt etc.) which is easily accessible by public transport. This will ensure sufficient space is available for all students.
Further information about the portal can be found in the FAQs below.
If you have any questions about the change, please contact allgemeinmedizin-blockpraktikum@uk-koeln.de.
The block internship portal is permanently accessible at https://bp-allgemeinmedizin.uni-koeln.de/. The registration period for the next semester is indicated on the homepage. From the first day of the registration period, registration is automatically enabled, and a new button "Register for the block internship in semester XYZ" appears on the homepage.
To register, you need to provide your smail email address. You will create a password so that you can view your data, make changes if necessary, and upload documents after the block internship.
First, select a preferred internship period. Only practices that generally have capacity during that period will be displayed. The General Medicine block internship always starts on a Monday, so you can only select Mondays. The end of the internship is determined automatically.
Next, you can search for and select a teaching practice. In addition to the map, a list with further information about the teaching practices is available.
You can indicate up to five preferences, but you must specify at least three preferences.
You must register via the portal starting in the winter semester 2025/26. Independently arranged internships outside of this framework will NO longer be recognized. An exception applies to students who are in the 9th semester/5th clinical semester in the winter semester 2025/2026; see the next question.
For organizational reasons, the first allocation phase of the BP portal will only start with the beginning of the semester on October 13, 2025, and the block internships on November 24, 2025. If possible, please complete your General Practice BP from November 24, 2025 onwards, for example also during the subsequent semester break.
If, due to organizational reasons in your schedule, it is not possible for you to complete the block internship at any other time than the one scheduled before November 24, 2025, and you plan to do your internship during this scheduled period, please contact us at allgemeinmedizin-blockpraktikum@uk-koeln.de
In such cases, we can approve the internship individually according to the previous procedure. You can find all previous training practices via this link , which you may contact independently to arrange a block internship before November 24, 2025.
You must register through the portal starting in the winter semester of 2025/26. Internships arranged independently outside of this framework will no longer be recognized.
Yes. You can find the registration deadlines for each semester on the homepage.
Yes, a list with further information about the teaching practices will be available on the portal during the registration period.
You can specify up to five preferences, but you must specify at least three.
The allocation algorithm aims – in addition to ensuring equal opportunities – to distribute students more evenly among the training practices.
Allocation is based on three criteria.
The most important allocation criterion is your stated preference. You are more likely to be assigned to your first preference than your fifth preference.
Distance from the university hospital to the practice location. The further a practice you select is from the university hospital, the more likely you are to be assigned there. Take a look at our rural medical practices. We have fantastic training practices in the wider area around Cologne that are very happy to welcome students. It is also worth asking the practice about overnight accommodations.
Practice utilization in the last year. A practice that served fewer students in the last semester is more likely to be considered for allocation. This is intended to help ensure that the practices are more evenly integrated into the BP.
Automatic allocation only occurs to practices you have selected. If none of your preferences are possible, we will contact you personally.
You can claim a hardship case as the last step in the application process. Please upload a supporting document (e.g., a medical certificate, confirmation of family caregivers, or similar). All hardship cases will be reviewed individually and assigned preferentially.
All assignment emails will be sent simultaneously. This is expected to occur one to two weeks after the end of the registration period.
Rejection is not possible. If a practice doesn't suit you, you shouldn't indicate a preference for it when registering. Should any disagreements arise during the internship itself that result in you being unable or unwilling to continue, please contact us.
The General Practice block internship cannot be brought forward. It is possible at the earliest after completing the General Medicine block in the 8th semester.
In principle, the internship can also be completed during the semester if no compulsory courses are missed as a result.
The internship comprises 10 internship days, 1 splitting is possible. However, it must be completed in the same practice.
Yes, it is absolutely necessary. We will inform the practices via email about the dates you will be coming, but experience has shown that emails like this can sometimes get lost. Please call the assigned practice and confirm the internship dates. Also, be sure to ask about your working hours and work attire.
You will receive the internship booklet with your assignment email before the start of your internship. It contains your assignments, a checklist, and a grading sheet for your teaching physician to sign.
After completing the internship, you must upload scanned documents online to the portal.
The grade for the General Medicine block placement is averaged from the grade for the 2-week General Medicine block placement in the private training practices and from the assessment of the LoMA in the 8th semester. The LoMA has a higher weighting for the overall grade, examples:
Internship 1 LoMA 4 = overall grade 3
Internship 1 LoMA 3 = overall grade 2
Internship 2 LoMA 1 = overall grade 1
Internship 3 LoMA 1 = overall grade 2
The grades for the block internship in General Medicine are only entered in Klips once you have completed both parts (internship and LoMA).
The grade for the General Medicine module consists solely of the exam grade in the 4th clinical semester.
Please contact allgemeinmedizin-blockpraktikum@uk-koeln.de
Please contact us immediately by phone and we will work with you to find a solution.
If there is a public holiday in the planned period (rotation timetable), this does not have to be made up. If you plan the internship outside the timetable and there is a public holiday in this period, you must make up for it.