Health: a mandatory internship in medical deserts for medical students

Until now, residency for medical students has included three years of office or hospital practice. From next year, the internship should include an additional year in a medical desert. In the faculty of Clermont-Ferrand, the students interviewed a few days ago are divided: “It attracts very few. I know a few who want to go there, but even I who come from a rural background I’m not sure I want to practice there later”. The government has planned to offer them local accommodation to encourage them to stay in rural areas after studies that would last ten years, instead of nine today.

For its part, the union of medical students is upwind: “We are against it for the simple and good reason that if we force young doctors to go to medical deserts, they will be disgusted with these areas. Whereas if we had encouraged them from the start of their studies, they would like to go and settle there”. On the contrary, the authors of the bill assume the obligatory character in the face of an emergency. For 7 million people, access to a general practitioner is limited. The measure will be presented Monday, September 26 in the Council of Ministers, as part of the bill on social security, then should be voted in parliament.