In her program for the presidential election, the RN candidate, Marine le Pen, proposed to reduce “drastically” the number of foreign doctors in France. Questioned Tuesday, June 7 on franceinfo, the same day of a mobilization of the hospital for more personnel and better salaries, Marine le Pen changed her speech. “What I want is above all for there to be real equivalences. That is to say, I don’t want there to be cheap health. I want there to be real equivalences with real exams”she explained.
Marine Le Pen wanted to reduce the number of doctors graduating outside the EU ➡️ “What I want is for there to be real equivalences. I don’t want health at a discount”, says the former RN candidate for the presidential candidate for whom the numerus clausus is “stupid”. pic.twitter.com/4tLsGgmLOs
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) June 7, 2022
Yet it is wrong to suggest that this is not the case today. The practice of medicine in France is subject to very strict rules. In particular, it is necessary to be registered on the roll of the order of doctors, which requires that the order examine a multitude of documents. With regard specifically to the case of doctors who graduated abroad wishing to come and practice in France, there are generally two scenarios. For a doctor who graduated in a country of the European Union, the process is relatively simple. A 2005 directive makes it possible to automatically recognize a certain number of European training courses.
For a doctor whose diploma was obtained in a country outside the EU, we are closer to the obstacle course. For these “foreign doctors”, it is necessary to go through a procedure for authorization to practice. It implies in particular the obligation to pass a knowledge verification test and to justify at least three years of practice in France under the special status of “associate attached practitioner” which obliges them to exercise supervised by a senior doctor. According to the National Management Center (CNG), in charge of organizing the annual knowledge tests (EVC), this year’s tests have 12,000 candidates for only 2,000 open positions.
According to the National Council of the Order of Physicians, there are currently around 25,000 doctors with foreign degrees who practice regularly in France, ie around 13% of the total workforce. There are almost as many doctors from the EU as from third countries (11,433 EU doctors, 13,984 extra-EU doctors). However, the proportion of doctors graduated outside the European Union and practicing in France has more than tripled in fifteen years. In 2017, among private general practitioners born and qualified outside France, 32.6% were from Romania, 14.9% from Algeria, and 13.6% from Belgium.