[Foreign physicians practicing in France (problems posed by the application of the law of July 13, 1972)]

The 13 July 1972 law defined a procedure which applies to physicians wishing to practise in France but who don't meet the double requirement: having the French nationality (or being a citizen of a member state of the European Union) and holding the national diploma of Doctor of Medicine (or a diploma of the European Community). The Minister, in agreement with a commission in charge of examining the applications one by one, determines each year the number of authorizations to be possibly granted. The applications mainly come from physicians of the Mediterranean area who came to France to follow a specialized training and who, sometimes, have been practising in French hospitals for many years. Many of them have acquired french nationality. Since 1986, the Commission has been facing difficult problems due to a regularly increasing number of applications, meanwhile the number of authorizations, at least until 1991, has been going down on account of restricted intake. The "stock control" cannot be considers without parallel measures, especially for the recruitment of hospital practitioners. A deep legislative reshuffle should also be considered.