Jan von Overbeck received his medical degree (1980) and doctorate (1983) from the University of Lausanne. He continued his education whilst working at a number of hospitals in Switzerland and South Africa, being granted the specialist title for internal medicine in 1989 and for infectious disease in 2000.
In 1990 he was awarded the title of Master of Science by London University. He held functions as Senior Registrar and consultant at the university hospitals in Berne, and subsequently, in Lausanne. He also became involved in a research project, mainly in the field of HIV.
From 1997 until 2006 he was Chief Medical Officer and a member of senior management at Swiss Re Life & Health. During the same period he had a part time clinical appointment and a teaching appointment for internal medicine at the University Hospital of Zurich. Since 2006 he has been Chief Medical Officer at Medgate, a company specializing in telemedicine. He has been a fellow at the Collegium Helveticum in Zurich since October 2004.