By applying current standards of job descriptions and performance profiles in the healthcare sector, this article focuses on the issue whether there are fundamental differences between physicians and other healthcare professionals compared to other professions. There are special requirements for physicians, such as a university degree, but the same also holds true for other professions. The increasing economization of the healthcare sector in recent years has led to a situation where differences in the standards for healthcare professionals when compared to other occupations are no longer apparent. Medical directors at university hospitals also have to conform to standards that are applied to executive managers in other businesses. Besides the obvious professional skills, communication with patients and collaborators, knowledge of economics and leadership competence are also mandatory. This does not exclude the impression that physicians and nurses subjectively see in their profession more than just a job but truly a vocation.