Nathan Steed said:
I just wanted to know if there are a lot of american MDs who chose to practice for example in France. I'm considering this as a possibility after residency. I went to europe this past summer and fell in love with the place. Does anyone have information on this? Any comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I don't know if there are a lot but some French cities (especially Paris and Nice) seem to attract American and Canadian doctors. If you want to know more about practicing in France, please check out the
Ordre National des Médecins
France used to make it quite difficult for foreign doctors to practice her. It's much easier now for other European doctors and there is talk of introducing some reforms to make it easier for non-European doctors to practice here too. But at the moment, non-European doctors are still asked to do the first year of a French med school just to prove they can pass it. For several reasons, this is an unpleasant experience (especially for anyone familiar with first year at an American or Canadian med school). But once you pass these French entrance exams, your dossier is reviewed and you would be granted equivalency for almost all (if not all) of the rest of your studies.
Despite this initial barrier and hassle, I think someone with an American medical degree would be quite welcome here. Speaking fluent English is a plus and so is familiarity with American medical practices.
You might want to check out the
American Hospital of Paris. They are permitted to hire up to 8 doctors (usually American or Japanese) who don't have proper French accreditation. I think this is the only institution permitted to do this. You might want to contact someone at this hospital to find out more about your options and what you would need to do to practice in France.
If there's some way for you to get exempted from doing first year here, I'd strongly recommend doing so. First year at a French med won't make you a better doctor. It's a sort of medical "boot camp" here. And most of the material covered you wouldn't have seen in a long time, so your medical training wouldn't help you much.
