EXAM PREP

FSP Arztbrief

The Arztbrief is 20 minutes of the Fachsprachprüfung. You receive a case vignette and write a formal medical letter. This sub-deck covers the 215 vocabulary entries you need: letter structure, clinical summaries, findings documentation, and discharge planning.

215
Entries
5
Themes
20 min
Exam time
Written
Register

What the sub-deck covers

Letter Template (Briefkopf)42 entries
Exam: Standardized header, address blocks, reference lines, date formatting
Deck: Full template vocabulary with formal phrases for opening, reference, and salutation
Patient Summary (Patientenzusammenfassung)44 entries
Exam: Reason for admission, demographic phrasing, referral language
Deck: Phrases for summarizing a patient case in formal written German, including admission reason and current complaints
Findings and Assessment (Befund und Beurteilung)38 entries
Exam: Physical exam findings, lab results, imaging reports in written register
Deck: Written-register vocabulary for documenting clinical findings, including normal/abnormal result phrasing
Diagnosis (Diagnose)45 entries
Exam: ICD-aligned diagnostic phrasing, differential diagnosis language
Deck: Formal diagnostic statements, suspected vs confirmed diagnosis phrasing, comorbidity documentation
Discharge and Management Plan (Entlassung und Therapieplan)46 entries
Exam: Medication lists, follow-up instructions, referral phrasing
Deck: Discharge letter vocabulary including medication changes, follow-up scheduling, and recommendations to the Hausarzt

Sample cards

This is exactly what every card looks like. The free sample has 500+ of these.

EIDETIC
Anamnese
"Patient history interview" (Laiensprache: Befragung)
"Ich möchte jetzt die Anamnese erheben." = "I would like to take your medical history now."
B1 · FSP · Clinical
EIDETIC
Vorerkrankungen
"Pre-existing conditions"
"Haben Sie Vorerkrankungen?" = "Do you have any pre-existing conditions?"
B1 · FSP · History

Study timeline

8 weeks before exam
Learn the letter structure cold.

Start with the Letter Template section. Memorize the standard Arztbrief layout: Briefkopf, Anrede, Diagnosen, Anamnese, Befund, Beurteilung, Procedere. These structural elements are the same in every letter. 15 new cards per day.

4 weeks before exam
Shift to clinical content sections.

Move to Patient Summary, Findings, and Diagnosis themes. These require you to describe clinical scenarios in formal written German. Practice writing sample Arztbriefe by hand using the vocabulary from your cards.

Final 2 weeks
Timed writing practice.

Write a complete Arztbrief from a case vignette in 20 minutes. Compare your letter against the standard template. Focus on the Discharge section since follow-up instructions and medication phrasing are heavily weighted.

Is this the right focus for you?

Focus on Arztbrief if:
  • You can speak clinical German but struggle with formal written documentation.
  • You lose marks on practice Arztbriefe for structure or phrasing errors.
  • You need to learn standard abbreviations and letter conventions.
Start elsewhere if:

Related resources

Frequently asked questions

An Arztbrief is a formal medical letter sent from one doctor to another, typically at discharge or referral. In the FSP exam, you have 20 minutes to write one from a case vignette. It tests your ability to use formal written medical German with the correct structure, abbreviations, and clinical register.
Spoken clinical German uses shorter phrases and colloquial shortcuts. The Arztbrief demands formal written register: complete sentences, standardized abbreviations (z.B., v.a., o.B.), and a fixed structure that examiners check methodically. Many candidates who speak German well still lose marks here because they have never practiced the written form.
The standard structure is: Briefkopf (header with date, patient data), Anrede (salutation), Diagnosen (diagnoses), Anamnese (brief history), Befund (findings), Beurteilung und Procedere (assessment and plan), Grussformel (closing). The deck covers vocabulary for each section in the order you write them.
This page focuses on the Arztbrief component, but all 215 entries are part of the full Medical German (FSP) deck. The full deck includes 3,400+ cards across all four exam sections. The Arztbrief entries are in a dedicated sub-deck you can study separately within Anki.
215 entries across 5 themes covering the complete letter-writing workflow. Each entry generates multiple card types (recognition, production, cloze) for thorough drilling. The entries focus on written-register phrases you would not encounter in spoken clinical German.
The deck teaches the vocabulary and phrases needed to write an Arztbrief, not pre-written sample letters. This is intentional: memorizing full letters does not help when the case vignette changes. Instead, the deck drills the building blocks so you can construct any Arztbrief from scratch.

Medical German (FSP) Deck

$29.99
One-time purchase. Includes all 4 sub-decks (Anamnese, Arztbrief, Arzt-Arzt, Fach/Laien).