The Student Room Group

Studying Medicine in France (or on a British degree with year(s) in France)

hey

i'm planning to study medicine (at least i hope for that), preferrably in the uk (although i'm being advised to do it here in portugal because it's easier to get medical recognition if you do your degree here. however, i ertainly want to do it in britain).

i've looked at prospectuses of british unis and i don't know if they offer a 'year abroad' option for their medical degrees. does anyone know anything about this? i would like to go, for example, to france (pref. paris) - do you know if, this being possible, what requirements are made in terms of language qualifications?

also, just out of interest, is it easy, for a foreign student, doing IB, to get into a french medical uni? is that possible, do you think, or better: is that easy? and also, what kind of language requirements will they make?

any help would be appreciated!:wink:
Reply 1
alright: to study in France it's simple - you need to know french. I was thinking of applying to Sorbonne to do history, and they said that my A-Level French was insufficient and that I would need to do an entrance exam in french. This was also the case for medical students entering french universities. The reason I say this is because I am in Switzerland, and our university entrance requirements are identical.
Reply 2
studying medicine is VERY difficult in France.it is easy to subscribe but difficult to pass to the second year because they only take the top 10% of each university.there are about 1000 students, teachers talk fast and do not have time to answer the students' questions.so if you have money, you have to pay private classes in order to have a chance to succeed.language is not THE problem because even french students have trouble following the courses.if you want to succeed, you need an excellent memory and a ton of motivation.but sincerely, i wouldn't advise any foreigner to study medecine in france.
Reply 3
I've heard that, although succeeding the 1st year exam is difficult in France, selection abroad is also hard to pass : it just that it happens later than in French system.
Reply 4
Kryten
I've heard that, although succeeding the 1st year exam is difficult in France, selection abroad is also hard to pass : it just that it happens later than in French system.


I would disagree with that statement. Rather than happening later than in French system, I would say it happens earlier.

In the U.K, the hard selection process is at entry to the medical school. A lot of the people who will apply to study medicine won't get in. But once you do get in, you're likelihood of passing your first year and the subsequent years in medical school are high if you are motivated and put in the work. However it is different in France. To enter a French medical school you need to have passed your final exams at school and pass their French entry exam ( to check that you have a high enough level of French). Instead of the selection process happening before entering med school, it happens while in med school. The end of year exams are designed as such that a huge number of people will fail it.
Reply 5
well that's all pretty horrible. certainly made me change my mind about going to study in france.

i have heard the same views about university courses in france, but i did not think it was that harsh. i think i'll just stick to studying medicine in the uk, and then if i really want to, work abroad, as there seem to be vast opportunities worldwide, being a doctor. let's see how things go. but being the french system so harsh, there is no way im going to battle to get in there when i have two options open for me: the uk and portugal.

nevertheless, thanks to everyone for your info! very appreciated! however off-putting it may be, i guess i can always live and work in france for a periodof time once i graduate, and most certainly, i can visit as many times as i want (as long as i have the money! :wink:) thank u!
Reply 6
Angelica

In the U.K, the hard selection process is at entry to the medical school. A lot of the people who will apply to study medicine won't get in. But once you do get in, you're likelihood of passing your first year and the subsequent years in medical school are high if you are motivated and put in the work. However it is different in France. To enter a French medical school you need to have passed your final exams at school and pass their French entry exam ( to check that you have a high enough level of French). Instead of the selection process happening before entering med school, it happens while in med school. The end of year exams are designed as such that a huge number of people will fail it.


I didn't know it was earlier in UK :smile:

My friend, who told me that, said his girlfriend who's currently in 1st year of "Médecine" (medical school, university in fact) was thinking about Switzerland if she failed the entry exam again.
Not Belgium, as I asked him, because the selection was made later he said.
Reply 7
Frapps
well that's all pretty horrible. certainly made me change my mind about going to study in france.

i have heard the same views about university courses in france, but i did not think it was that harsh. i think i'll just stick to studying medicine in the uk, and then if i really want to, work abroad, as there seem to be vast opportunities worldwide, being a doctor. let's see how things go. but being the french system so harsh, there is no way im going to battle to get in there when i have two options open for me: the uk and portugal.

nevertheless, thanks to everyone for your info! very appreciated! however off-putting it may be, i guess i can always live and work in france for a periodof time once i graduate, and most certainly, i can visit as many times as i want (as long as i have the money! :wink:) thank u!


And how's the process for medicine schools in Portugal ?

I'd say that between France and UK, the difference is the moment you have to pass the exam (respectively at the end of the first year and before the entry), maybe the difficulty is the same.
In that case, choose the country whose language is the easier for you !
Reply 8
for portugal it's more the most difficult part is to get in, definitely, so i wouldn't compare it to france. you have to have an average of 18.6/20 to get into medicine, apparantly because there are so few places. but their criteria changes every year, e.g. they're thinking of introducing a test for those applying next year, but it's all only suppositions for now.

and yes, definitely the language would be a minus in me attempting to do medicine in france. but the only thing i wanted was to spend some time of the course there, as i really like the country. i don't want to do my degree here because i want to 'open my horizons' and live in a different country, and also because there are much better opportinities in the UK than here. though tht's entirely my choice i guess, because all i need is to get the grades necessary, because as far as the language's concerned, my english is as good as my portuguese.
Reply 9
Ok.

Take a look at the website of the medicine schools you'd like to enter, check if you can spend some times abroad, including in France.

That would be the best, IMHO.
Reply 10
The Erasmus program where if you proficient in a foriegn manguage you can study abroad. There is the electives and the year you interecalate. Most univversities have the erasmus program but i believe its quite competative so as an EU student it may be more difficult but best option email the admissions tutors, email addresses either from the respective medical school websites and/or prospectuses.

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