French specialists

[Kotaete]

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Hi. I hope some of you who are european can inform me about this.

I want to know if French Specialists get the General Practitioner certificate (or diploma or whatever they call it there) and THEN go on to their specialist training. I ask this because a friend told me that in France, the students who get to be specialists don't do the General Medicine Internat and actually go to their specialist training right away.

Is this true?

Does this mean that that French surgeons and other specialists don't hold a General Practitioner title?

Cause here in Mexico, you need to be a certified General Practitioner and THEN do your specialism.

If this is true, what other european schools do the same?

Also, how long is Med school in western european countries.

Thank you.

 

[leorl]

Hmm, not sure on the French thing... but in general, medical education is 5 or 6 years (there are some fast track 4 yr. programs in the UK as well). You graduate, complete a year of internship, and then start a residency (I suppose the intern year is the 1st year of residency). We don't have to hold GP titles...but I'm not sure if GP in europe means the same thing as GP in Mexico. You don't get a GP certificate...I suppose unless you decide to make your career in general practice.

 

[f_w]

> Cause here in Mexico, you need to be a certified General
> Practitioner and THEN do your specialism.

How long is that GP training ? The only other country I know of that requires you to do a 3 year GP rotation before subspecialty training is Austria. In the UK, in addition to the required internship (PRHO) many people will do a couple of years of either general internal medicine or general surgery (and the respective college exams) before they go on for subspecialty training (e.g. ophthalmology, radiology or ENT). But that is often not a formal requirement, but rather a reflection of the fact that these subspecialty training slots are very competitive and in order to compete with other people it is helpful to have the additional qualificiations.

> If this is true, what other european schools do the same?

In the UK you do a 1 year internship (PRHO) before you get 'full registration'. But this is just the license to practice and is not the equivalent of a general practitioner or family practicioner. For that you have to do a 3 year rotation and need to get it recognized by the college of GP's.

> Also, how long is Med school in western european countries.

In most countries the regular curriculum is 5.5 - 6 years. You typically enter after high-school and often an entrance exam. A college degree is typically not required.

 

[brightblueeyes]

Hi. I hope some of you who are european can inform me about this.

I want to know if French Specialists get the General Practitioner certificate (or diploma or whatever they call it there) and THEN go on to their specialist training. I ask this because a friend told me that in France, the students who get to be specialists don't do the General Medicine Internat and actually go to their specialist training right away.

Is this true?

Does this mean that that French surgeons and other specialists don't hold a General Practitioner title?

Cause here in Mexico, you need to be a certified General Practitioner and THEN do your specialism.

If this is true, what other european schools do the same?

Also, how long is Med school in western european countries.

Thank you.

GP training in France is 3 years and is not a prerequisite for training in another specialty.

As for length of time of med school, it's 6 years in France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain and 7 years in Belgium. I think it's 6 years for the Scandinavian countries.

If you compare this with NA schools it comes out to something fairly similar in total time since these countries' diplomas granting access to university ("Bac", "Abitur", etc.) are based on studies that go further than in our high schools.

For the handful of Western European schools I'm (slightly) familiar with, Canadian and American students need to do two years of college (in NA) before they are treated as equivalent to local university-access diploma holders. So, it takes a minimum of 8 years of study for a NA student to get a medical degree in these countries.

 

[PathOne]

Not sure about France, but as far as I'm aware, most European countries require 1 yr+ of post-medical school internship before a general medical license is awarded (until then, you only have a limited license). From there, it's on to specialist tranining, including training to become a GP (FP in US). Best to check with national boards though, but due to the "portability" of licenses within the EU, I think rules in that regard are fairly standardized these days...