The Social Security budget for 2023 will include a measure to extend the studies of future general practitioners by one year, encouraged to complete their course in medical deserts, according to a document from the ministries of health and research consulted on Saturday September 24 by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Given the medical demographics and the distribution of professionals in the territory, this year of consolidation will aim to take place primarily in under-dense areas”write the Ministers of Health, François Braun, and Higher Education, Sylvie Retailleau, in a mission letter addressed to four practitioners responsible for leading the consultation on the project.
The duration of the general medicine internship will increase from three to four years, the minimum duration already applied for all the other disciplines. With this additional year, the training time for general practitioners would thus be increased to ten years.
Promise of candidate Macron
“The addition of this consolidation phase to the diploma of specialized studies in general medicine, which would be exercised exclusively in ambulatory practice, would aim to complete the training, thus aligned with the other diplomas of specialized studies”explain the ministers recalling a promise of the candidate Macron.
The President of the Republic had, in fact, promised during his campaign to “deploy the fourth year of internship for general practitioners in rural areas”a way among others to send “a massive reinforcement in the medical deserts”.
Included in the Social Security financing bill presented to the Council of Ministers on Monday, this reform should “to come into force at the start of the 2023 academic year”, specify the two ministers. For them, the stated objective is also to“arming young general practitioners in anticipation of a rapid installation”when many now favor the status of substitute.