A new gathering of doctors with foreign qualifications in front of the Ministry of Health

After failing knowledge tests, more than 2,600 doctors, working for years in French hospitals, found themselves out of work or rehired under a degraded status.

They say they are dissatisfied with the responses provided by the executive. The situation of doctors qualified outside the European Union, which the Elysée promised to “regularize”stay “precarious” And “intolerable”, denounced a few dozen practitioners on Tuesday May 14 during a rally in front of the Ministry of Health. A delegation (CGT, Young Doctors, Collectif Padhue and Ipadecc association) was received at the ministry at noon by the general director of healthcare provision (DGOS). A second meeting was planned for 4 p.m. with hospital unions.

After failing the EVC (knowledge verification tests), a very selective competition organized at the end of 2023, some 2,650 practitioners, who have been active for years in French hospitals, are today in statutory limbo, without work or rehired under a degraded status, recalled the demonstrators. In January, President Emmanuel Macron promised to “regularize”. But according to these organizations, the solution imagined by the State, which must soon be made official by decree, will “renew this precariousness” And “degrade” the conditions of exercise.

According to them, this decree will create a new status of “temporary contractual associate practitioner”known as PACT, given on a provisional basis for one year, renewable once, while waiting to repeat the EVC. “It will be a little breath of fresh air for those who have lost their jobs”but “this is not acceptable, because it remains precarious and a degraded status, paid 20% less than associated practitioners [qui ont obtenu l’EVC]to do the same job!”lamented Paul Robel (CGT).

However, he was delighted with the “promises” made on Tuesday by the director of care provision: “She assured that everything will be done so that no one remains without a position” and that for the 2024 EVC session, “the number of positions will be considerably increased”, he reported. According to the CGT representative, the DGOS also mentioned a modification of the EVC format in 2025, for practitioners already practicing in France: “Their file and their skills would be examined by peers, without competition”what “more in line with what we asked for”he explained.