Need some advice on applying to school in France, Italy, and Mexico.

[f.kauf]

Hello, I'm a senior in high school and, I am interested in medicine and interested in becoming a psychiatrist. I am interested in studying in France, but my French is not proficient yet. I do understand that there is a test that people have to take at the end of their first year and, it is competitive/difficult. But I can not find any information on how you become a psychiatrist in France. I do want to go to medical school but study in California, where I am originally from. Does anyone have any insight on how to go about that? Additionally, are there some tips on medical schools in France? I know it is easy to get in, but difficult to get the certification.
Additionally, I want to study in Italy because I understand Italian very well and I think it could benefit me to study here. I don't know much about the school here or the country, so if anyone has some tips or advice, please feel free to tell me anything. I don't know much about the medical process in Italy, I just know that it can sometimes take up to 5 to 6 years.
I was also thinking of Mexico because I am fluent in Spanish and, it was my first language, so my Spanish is proficient. But I heard that schools there aren't the best and I was advised to not apply there at all. If anyone has some insight on that as well, please do tell.
One thing I forgot to add is that I am graduating high school with my associate's degree in psychology, so I don't know how that would improve or affect my application.

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[JavaJam]

Hello,
It seems you are considering many different things. I can only tell you about France.
There is a reform coming into place this year affecting both the first year and intership/residency. I cannot really give info about residency as nobody will know what the exact rules are until 2022-2023.

About the studies, first of all if you do not speak French it will be impossible for you to study there. As you mentioned there is indeed a competitive mutiple choice exam at the end of the first year and absolutely nobody will want to help catch the words you miss or use their notes. The number of people who can pass this exam is limited and fixed each year by the government (based on how many physicians are needed). One can have good grades and pass all the exams and yet not have access to the 2nd year, so the competition is high (maybe 15ish% pass depending on the school). The program takes 6 years. If you fail the first year you cannot repeat. It could be a bit challenging for US student because what we do the last year in high school often corresponds to intro college courses in the US (or fine for you if you did AP Bio, Physics, Chemistry and Calc BC if it's still called like that). Many people register for a side "cram school" alongside their studies, they can go there after their lectures and on weekends to get tutoring, drills, etc...

With the current reform, there will however be options for students to transfer into a three-year bachelor of science program and try out for the 1st year exam again. It will also be possible to start a BS and try for the exam at the end of each year. You can search for "PACES reforme", "PASS", and "LAS" perhaps in Google.fr set in French and google translate or something. The place to apply for uni is called "parcoursup". Good luck, let me know if you have more questions. Perhaps you can reach out or visit the website of the US-France Comission Fulbright for additional information about high ed in France.

Good luck and let me know if you have specific questions.