Medical officer

The administrative districts and independent cities are obliged to set up a specialised medical service to fulfil their public health service tasks. In Hesse, all doctors who work in these specialised medical services and have completed special further training in the field of public health are regarded as public health officers. (In contrast, the medical director of the municipal health authorities used to be referred to as a public health officer).

One of their main tasks is to carry out medical examinations and assessments and to draw up expert reports, certificates and attestations. Many legal provisions expressly require an official medical examination. They are often commissioned even if this is not expressly required. One of the reasons for this is that medical officers are characterised by their particular independence and their special additional expertise in the field of public administration. They work on behalf of other authorities as well as private individuals.

Medical officers also carry out other activities, for example in the areas of disease prevention, infection protection and environmental hygiene.

Examples of official medical activities and examinations on behalf of authorities:

- Recruitment examinations of applicants for the civil service

- Determination of health suitability for the exercise of certain professions

- Fitness for duty of civil servants

- Work ability of employees in the public sector

- Assessments in accordance with SGB XII

- Determining the medical necessity of remedies and aids as well as remedies and aids

Sanatorium cures for public sector employees

- Assessment of fitness to stand trial, capacity to stand trial, culpability,

Ability to work/employability, care in the legal sense for courts

- Determining the ability of persons to travel, e.g. for courts and immigration authorities

- Determination of fitness to drive motor vehicles

- Determination of the need for care in accordance with SGB XI

Examples of official medical activities and examinations on behalf of private individuals:

- Students: Waiver of tuition fees for health reasons

- Students: Determination of inability to take examinations for health reasons

- Students: Extension of the deadline for submitting the thesis due to illness

- Certification of the necessity of a cure for the tax office