Health studies reform?

A bit of vocabulary: it is not easy to find your way through all the acronyms and words used by teaching professionals. We have prepared a glossary of current and future vocabulary for health studies in France:

• ARS: Regional Health Agency
• Decree of November 05, 2019: This decree will define the access pathway to MMOP health training in France from the September 2020 admission session.
• DFGS2: Second year in General Health Training.
• ECTS: European Credit Transfer System which allows each EU to be valued at the level of higher education in Europe.
• Access exams: They can be written and/or oral and will allow to evaluate the students who wish to access the DFGS2 and meet the required grades and/or averages.
• L1: 1st year of a bachelor's degree.
• L2: 2nd year of the Bachelor's degree.
• L3: 3rd year of the license.
• L.AS: Licence d'Accès Santé = Licence with a Health minor.
• Licence Majeure de Santé: Direct access to the DFGS2.
• Licence Mineure de Santé: Licence other than the major licence de santé which allows to integrate the DFGS2 or to continue in the main part of this one.
• MMOP: Maieutics (midwifery), Medicine, Odontology (dental), Pharmacy.
• Numerus Clausus: National limitation of the number of places in MMOP courses, abolished from 2020.
• Numerus Apertus: Number of places opened by the universities, in agreement with the ARS, at the regional level, to meet the needs of professionals in MMOP, will come into effect from 2020.
• PACES: First Year Common to Health Studies. It will end with the class of 2019-2020.
• PARCOURSUP: Orientation platform on which applications for post-baccalaureate orientation are made.
• PASS: Specific Access to Health pathway = Major health degree.
• Health Portal: Specific platform, included in Parcoursup, to apply for the PASS (health major) which gives direct access to the DFGS2.
• UE: Teaching unit = subject

1. The PASS is created: otherwise known as a health major license, it is the direct pathway to the DFGS2.

• It is not possible to repeat the PASS.
• The PASS will include minor courses in areas other than health to facilitate the reorientation of those who would not be admitted to DFGS2.
• The student who validates all the UE of his PASS and has obtained the averages and pre-requisite marks in the written and/or oral exams of his university enters the DFGS2.
• The student who validates all the UE of his PASS but does not obtain the averages and marks required in the written and/or oral exams of his university does not integrate the DFGS2 but he can continue in the 2nd year of the licence of which he followed the minor courses during the PASS. He/she will be able to reapply to the DFGS2 at the end of the 2nd or 3rd year of this other degree.
• A student who has not validated all the UE of his or her PASS must reorient himself or herself on PARCOUSUP the following year and will not be able to request a PASS again.
• 60% of DFGS2 seats should be allocated through PASS.

2. The L.AS is created: otherwise known as the "health minor license", it is the new pathway to the DFGS2

• It is a license, in a field other than health, but which includes health teachings.
• The student who validates all the UE of his L.AS can be admitted in DFGS2.
• The student who validates all the UE of his L..AS can continue in 2nd year of licence (L2) and apply again and be admitted in DFGS2 at the end of this one. It is also possible at the end of the 3rd year of the license (L3).
• A student who does not validate all the UE of his L.AS can repeat it or reorient himself on Parcoursup.
• 40% of the DFGS2 places should be allocated by the L.AS.

3. The setting up of exams has been decided and they will replace the famous competition that was organized in PACES. They will be able to include written tests and oral tests or of any other nature decided by the university in which the student is registered.

4. Minimum grades in certain subjects and/or a minimum grade point average may be required for access to certain courses.

5. From 2021, the universities, in consultation with the ARS, will set numerus apertus to determine the number of health professionals they will train. The numerus apertus of each university will be established according to the needs in their territory and according to their capacity of reception.

One of the objectives of the reform was to diversify the profiles of future health professionals and this will indeed allow to take advantage of the diversity of the origins of the licenses from which the future MMOP professionals will come. The selection, which will no longer be based on the competitive examination, considered to be inadequate and inefficient, but on examinations (written and oral) and on the promotion of projects, will also allow for a greater richness of student cohorts in health training in France.

The strategy offered to you from 2020 onwards is " anything is possible ":

• Apply as a PASS on the health portal if this is what you feel best suits you and ensure your back by choosing a minor that will allow you to join the corresponding license if you do not obtain the necessary results to access the DFGS2. If you see yourself as a doctor but are also passionate about literature, a PASS with a minor in literature will allow you to go on to the^2nd year of the Bachelor of Arts if you have not been able to access the DFGS2.
• Apply in L.AS to bypass the competition that there will be because of the influx of students who will ask for the PASS which will only bring in 60% of the admitted students in DFGS2. If you wish to study pharmacy for example, a chemistry degree will allow you to enter these studies at the end of the^1st, ^2nd or^3rd year of the degree, and to use your learning from these years of study.

There's only one certainty common to all choices: accessing healthcare training will continue to require strong motivation and a lot of hard work. So it goes without saying that we advise you to work in depth on who you are and what you want to become. A thorough orientation https://www.feeduc.eu/formations/ to determine a project that will lead you to one of the professions made for you, and to the courses that will enable you to access it.

In general, health-related courses in Spain are and will remain interesting options, as most universities offer very high quality courses.

We remind you that, unlike in some other countries, even in Europe, private universities in Spain are under the institutional control of the Spanish State. When they are authorized to grant state diplomas, which is mandatory to be able to practice in the health field, they accept this control and cannot deviate from it.

Regarding MMOPs, the assessment of the interest that Spain can represent varies from one to another:

• Maieutics(midwifery): In our view, this training is of no interest in Spain. First of all, in Spain it is not a medical training course as in France, but just a specialization following nursing studies https://www.feeduc.eu/formation/ecole-infirmier-espagne/. This training, known as "matrona", is by no means guaranteed, as access to it is subject to a competitive examination once you have completed your nursing studies. What's more, you run the risk of being "a little short" in terms of knowledge and skills when you return to France to practice. For all these reasons, FEEDUC does not offer support for midwifery studies in Spain.
• Medicine https://www.feeduc.eu/formation/etude-medecine-espagne/: Medical studies are extremely difficult to access in Spain, whether in the public or private university system. Before embarking on this path, you should also be aware that ^6th-year medical students in Spain are required to take a competitive examination, known as the MIR. This is a grading but non-graduating exam, which means that every year, students who have successfully completed 6 years of medical studies fail this exam, and are therefore unable to practice until they have passed it. FEEDUC can help you study medicine in Spain, but to stand a chance of being accepted, students must have excellent report cards from their^first and last years of secondary school, and a perfect command of Spanish. Another course of study that is sometimes chosen by students who have not been admitted to medical school in Spain is biotechnology. Access is less selective.
• Odontology(dental) https://www.feeduc.eu/formation/etude-dentaire-espagne/: Dental studies in Spain are of an excellent standard, and we constantly receive praise from French professionals and patients about students from the universities we have selected in Spain for dental studies https://www.feeduc.eu/formation/etude-dentaire-espagne/. If you are interested in studying dentistry in Spain, you should be aware that there is a selection process, as there are fewer places than there are applicants. Selection is generally based on high school and baccalaureate grades. A good level of Spanish makes the difference between the best applications, and is also the best way to succeed in dental studies in Spain.
• Pharmacy https://www.feeduc.eu/formation/etudes-pharmacie-espagne/ : Since pharmacy studies have always been the easiest to get into during the PACES in France, demand for these studies in Spain is relatively low. However, all the students who have made this choice have told us that they are very satisfied with the material resources and the professionals who teach their courses. They are also full of praise for the prestigious internships available to them, which, they tell us, they would certainly not have had access to if they had chosen to study pharmacy in France.