Training and careers in France

doi:10.1136/bmj.39367.484213.BE

BMJ 2007;335:788 (20 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.39367.484213.BE

Letters

Vive la difference?

Training and careers in France

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The United Kingdom is not alone in its uncertainty about doctors'training and careers.¹ Other European countries, and particularlyFrance, are struggling with a shortage of junior doctors andan uneven distribution of doctors across the country, leadingto potential issues regarding the immigration of doctors tofill the gaps.

In France, medical schools admitted 8000 students in 1975, 6000in 1980, 4000 in 1990, and 3500 in 2000, and it was urgentlydecided to train 7100 students in 2007. Thus we are still followingshort term reasoning, without considering other factors suchas the feminisation of the workforce, the decrease in workinghours, the increasing gap between graduation and beginning professionalactivity, early retirement, the quest for a better quality oflife, the place of other health care professionals (specificallynurses), and the migration of doctors around the world.

The distribution of doctors across France is also a subject. . . [Full text of this article]

Herv Maisonneuve, director, continuing medical education¹, Yves Matillon, head, health professions competencies evaluation task force²

¹ Pfizer, 75014 Paris, France, ² Health Ministry, Paris

hervemaisonneuve@gmail.com