French Medical Schools/Education

[Terry]

France was recently ranked No. 1 for health care in the world by the World Health Organization (WHO). The U.S. came in 37th.

Does anyone know what makes France so good at health care? Does anyone have information on the French model of medical education and how it differs from ours in the
U.S.?

Are there any French medical schools open to American students? Taught in English etc.

Terry

PS: Italy was ranked second, followed by San Marino, Andorra (a small country jointly controlled by France and Spain),Spain, Singapore, Oman, Austria, Japan, and Malta round out the top ten.

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[kimberlicox]

Originally posted by Terry:
France was recently ranked No. 1 for health care in the world by the World Health Organization (WHO). The U.S. came in 37th.

Does anyone know what makes France so good at health care? Does anyone have information on the French model of medical education and how it differs from ours in the
U.S.?

Are there any French medical schools open to American students? Taught in English etc.

Hi Terry,

I've detailed my thoughts on the WHO rankings elsewhere so will concentrate on your last two questions. The French model of medical education is that of the British model - ie, students enter right out of HS for a 6 year degree. On the average, residency is 1/3 longer in this system than in the US. Everyone does at least 2 years after graduation (internship and RMO [registered medical officer) before applying for advanced training - in Surgery, Internal Medicine, General Practice (FP), Ob-Gyn, etc. The average length of surgical training is 7 years from this point (or 9 years after graduation from medical school) for example. Any further specialization is tacked onto the end. France and the majority of the EU follow this model, as does Australia and New Zealand.

I am not aware of any French schools which are currently recruiting international students for training in English speaking medical schools. As to what makes French health care so good, I'm sure its related to the training but delivery of health care and expenses as I stated in my other posting. It had long been the rumor that British trained physicians have been excellent clinicians given their reliance on clinical exam rather than laboratory/radiology/NM tests or procedures. I suspect that this may be true in other countries where either advanced nuclear medicine and other fancy techniques aren't readily available or their usage is discouraged on a routine basis. This is not to suggest that medical treatment is inappropriate or lacking but that expenditures may be kept low by not having a "routine" battery of expensive tests to order on each patient.

Hope this helps.

 

[gower]

At on time, the late 1960s-late 1970s when many US students were studying medicine abroad, some attended French medical schools. If admitted, they usually started with the second year on the basis of having a US college degree. The language of instruction was and is in French, France being about the last country in the world you would expect any school to teach in English. [At one time French was THE international language; English supplanted French as the international language after WWII. The loss of two wars, especially the second when France was occupied by the Germans, two English speaking armies were primarily responsible for ending the occupation and restoring the Republic, and the loss of their overseas colonies (especially Viet Nam when the US refused military help), engendered an almost xenophobic reaction. French pride in their history, culture and language suffered a blow. To make a long story short, the use of French became almost a mandate. Franglais was deplored].
Medical students were (I am not sure if they still are) generally admitted under what we would call an "open admissions policy." Lecture classes were overcrowded. Then came the crunch: limited space was available for the clinical curriculum, a bottleneck was created, about the equivalent of the US bottle neck between our undergraduate curriculum and entry into the first year of medical school. This is known as "numerus clausus" (found also in some other European countries). Thus, there is no guarantee that once admitted to a French medical school a student would have a high probability (as there is in the US) of earning the medical degree.
Belgium was more receptive to US students and many went, primarily to French speaking Louvain, to earn the medical degree. Italy Spain and Mexico were also common destinations. The exodus to Europe tailed off drastically when the English speaking Caribbean medical schools opened up to cater primarily to Americans, St. George's on Grenada being the pioneer. Now, there are a few other legitmate medical schools in eastern Europe advertising for American students and offering instruction in English, but none that I am aware of in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denamark. In Dublin, two medical schools take a few Americans each year. There are a few Americans studying in Britain; there are special regulations for applying; contact a British consulate.
If you are interested in studying medicine in France contact the Cultural Section of a French consulate for information.

 

[Josep]

I?m a medical student from Spain that I?m preparing to go to the US in a few years to do my graduate medical education.
I know the british health sistem, the american and the spanish one.
In Spain and France we have a very similar health sistem that is one of the best in the world and it is completely different that the US one.
The main difference is the in Spain we have a national health sistem that covers all the population in the country even if you are a tourist in Spain from another country, this is different from US where there is a high number of people uncovered by the health sistem.
Also we have very good doctors because is much difficult to became a doctor in Spain than in US.
In Spain you have medical education for 6 years, this education is paid for the state and is almost free so only the people with very high scores can do it no who have money to pay it.
When you finish you have to prepare for a year for a exam, this exam is done for 12000 people and only 3000 get a residency position and the other ones have to spend another year to prepare again the exam.
Once you finish the residency even you can be unemployed.
Is why I want to go yo US because in Spain even we have great doctors is very difficult to have a future and is very difficult to choose what you want to do.