canuck1

Hello everybody, It's been a while since I was on this site and I see some more posts were added. I thought I'd answer kelly001's and other non EU nurses' question again. Guys and gals, it is impossible for a nurse trained outside EU to work or get an equivalence of the nursing diploma in France. I do speak from experience. I've posted several posts on this subject already. I'm from Canada, but it does not matter where you are from...Canada, US, Brazil, Australia etc. All nurses trained outside EU (including French citizens) have to do more nursing training in France. It means you have to go back to school. To be admitted you have to pass entrance exam that consists of 3 parts: written, oral and practical. The exam is competition based because there is a quota for foreign nurses (2% of school intake to be exact). If you succeed, you'll be admitted to school and then the committee will decide whether to place you in the 1st, 2nd or 3 year of school. I know it because I did it. You must speak French definitely better than just a beginner level. There are several exceptions where non EU educated nurses can obtain an authorization to nurse in France. # 1 For nurses with Quebec diplomas there might be the light at the end of the tunnel. Once everything is in place they will be able to work in France based on a recently signed agreement. # 2 For non EU nurses who obtained their French citizenship by marriage etc. and whose diplomas are recognized by one of the EU countries. The permit to practice in another EU country is a part of your application file, so you must obtain it. I do have a permit to work in the UK and can also answer questions re how to obtain it. I hope my explanation was clear. I know it is disappointing for some, but this is how it is. I'll be happy to answer more questions if you have any. Best regards, canuck

Hi DavidFR, Honestly, I'm not sure how the nurses you are speaking of were able to work in France. My husband is a lawyer and I did write a letter to Mme **********(Minister of Health and Sport) last year about the difficulty that qualified foreign nurses have to go through to be able to work in France. The answer is exactly that: when I'll have my French citizenship and certificate stating that my Canadian diploma is recognized by one of the members of EU, then I'll have no difficulty getting an authorization to practice nursing in France. This is of course absurd and it is obviously a political issue, but it is a current law. I've been living in France for the past 2 years and travelling back home once a year to do working missions to maintain my Canadian licence. I will be looking now into applying for UK licence to be closer to France and waiting for my French citizenship. What a drag!!! But oh well, what needs to be done needs to be done. I will welcome any suggestions from you or someone who has been in similar situation. Thanks a lot, canuck

etherealxiv, you might find it disappointing to learn that you will not be able to do your masters in france. french nursing education system is quite different from the standards of north america. i'm not sure how it works in philippines, but i suspect it is rather similar to that one in north america. first of all, masters programmes are not yet ironed out in france so there is no information available on this subject. there are some changes on the way, however. it is my speculation though that foreign nurses would not be able to continue their graduate studies in france unless they have french state diploma first (dei= diplôme d'etat infirmier) or its equivalence. the only way you can have this diploma is by completing a nursing school in france. also, you can work as a nurse if you hold a passport of one of the countries that are members of the eu. secondly, you can work as a nurse if you have french nationality and your diploma is recognized by one of the countries in the eu. i suggest that you read some of the older posts on this forum to get more answers. you can also take a look at the info available at infirmiã¨res ã©trangã¨res souhaitant venir travailler en france good luck, canuck

paris je t'aime, If you do not have a EU passport or French citizenship you CANNOT practice nursing in France even if UK (or other country that is a member of EU) recognizes your diploma. 2 years is a long time from now one and things might change, but for now it is firm without exceptions. Perhaps some people do not do their research and post inaccurate information on this forum and it becomes confusing for those seeking answers. If you are a nurse in NZ and were to come to France now with a goal to work as a nurse, you must have strong command of French language, both written and oral because you have to write entrance exams in French into a nursing school. If you pass the written test (questions are nursing related), then you move on to oral and practical parts of the entrance exam. If you succeed in oral and practical portions of the exam, the committee will review your nursing education transcripts and decide where to place you. It means you may start nursing school from the beginning or you'll have to take 2 or 1 year of training or perhaps just several courses. Remember, this is not just an entrance exam, this is a "concours", or a competition. Even if you accumulate enough points, 2% quota of foreign nurses intake applies. For example if there are 100 French applicants in one particular school, there will be only 2 seats reserved for foreign nurses in this particular school providing they pass all tests successfully. I hope it helps a bit in your search for answers. canuck

Yahy, I just want to join all in this thread to encourage you not to give up. It's true life could be harsh sometimes. But you must now try and share your situation with your family and friends (if you have not done it yet) no matter how difficult it sounds. They are the ones close to you who can provide you some comfort and perhaps an advice or a solution that you do not at all expect...There must be a solution of some kind. Afterall you do have all the university credits...If it is not nursing perhaps some of the credits could be applicable to other degree programs, like psychology or social science. Perhaps you do not want to hear about it now because nursing was your goal, but perhaps as shock of the news wears off, you would be able to reevaluate the situation and see other options...I'm wishing you the best!!!

Dennis, what a story! You are quite an adventurer...lol... It must have been quite disappointing for you at that time to have had gone through the process and then to be denied working in Quebec because you did not want to immigrate there. I doubt that this law still exists. No, I'm not from Quebec but I've been there several times because I adore la Belle Province. I live now in south France in the city of Toulouse. You mentioned you were planning to do some traveling in about a year. Is Paris your only destination? A la prochaine, Canuck

Hi Dennis, Nice to meet you! Sorry to hear that your dream of working as a nurse in a francophone country did not work out. I'm wondering why you could not work in Quebec? But at least, as you mentioned, you had an interesting experience. Welcome to the club of French language and culture admirers...lol. Canuck

Hi Sarah, I've sent you an e-mail to the address you've indicated. Talk soon. Canuck

hi sarah, yes, you can work as an aide-soignant (health care aid) in france, but you still have to have a good level of communication in french. there is no additional schooling etc. required, but there is an oral exam (to test your knowledge of french) and practicum at the hospital of course. the question about personal care taker. you still have to have an accreditation from the governing body (which is called ddaas - direction départementale des affaires sanitaires et sociales). this is the channel through which you go to obtain your authorization to work as a health care aid (not the same as work permit!!!). and from there on you can work for an organization or privately as a care taker, providing you’ve obtained a work permit. you mentioned that your husband is looking for a possibility to go to switzerland. this country is not a part of the eu, it is an associated member of the union. both american and canadian nursing diplomas are recognized there and the system is very similar to what we are used to. saying that, it is an absolute must that you speak one of their 3 official languages: french, german or italian. american and canadian nurses can also work in england where our diplomas are recognized. so as you see, there are some possibilities, even if you decide at the end to come to france. it all takes time, effort and patience. sincerely, canuck.

hi sarah, happy easter first of all...unfortunately i would have to join katiare and to confirm her answer to your question. as an american nurse you would have to go to a nursing school here in france, no matter how many years of experience and education you've got under your belt. this, in fact, is half of the problem if you plan to settle here and to eventually work as a nurse. the main problem is to enter a nursing school here. frankly, if you don't have a good command of french language, you don't stand a chance to pass an entrance exam, which is somewhat difficult, especially for someone whose native language is not french :hdvwl:. hence, this answers your question as to the level of language proficiency expected to practice nursing in france. the only thing that is not so bad is that as foreign nurses we don't have to compete with the rest of the candidates to enter the school. when i was writing an exam in one of the schools in toulouse there were 5000!!! french candidates. so, as foreign nurses we only compete among ourselves...5 is not as bad as 5000...lol...the other perk is that we have a chance of entering directly in the 2nd or 3rd (final) year of school . perhaps this is where the years of education and experience matter. as to the question regarding phd in nursing in france...this does not exist. only starting this year nursing education will have university equivalency (or bsn in us). so, the system in this respect is about 20 years behind us and canada. i'm sorry to give you this news( which is not quite encouraging), but this is a reality. if you are still interested, you could start preparing for an exam along with learning the language. i will gladly answer other questions you might have or make additional suggestions. hope my answer helped you somewhat. good luck :) sincerely, canuck.

Hi Meg, your French must be, in fact, quite good to work here in France. If you have your work visa, you can try to apply to any hospital in Montpellier to work as an "aide-soignant". I'm sure you will not have a problem getting a job, because I know for a fact than we (nurses from USA, Canada, Australia and NZ whose diplomas are not recognized here) can work as nursing assistants. With huge shortages of any personnel hospitalier here, you will be able to get a job. As far as exam goes...you realize that this is not an exam to get the licence...this is exam to enter a nursing school here.... This is more applicable for nurses who are intending to settle here. If you are only staying here for a year or so, I do not think that it would be in your plans to go to nursing school...If you had more time, you could have pulled some strings, like lobying a Minister of health, to avoid going to school. I know someone who has done it in the past. After all you have a post-grad degree and tons of knowledge. This level of nursing does not even exist here. For additional language experience you can join a language club in Montpellier. I'm sure it exists, as we have one here in Toulouse. Good luck, Canuck.

Hi Roe, thank you very much for a quick response. It seems that I've got all the info regarding the test for foreign nurses right. I think I'm in the same boat as you are, because even though I speak French, I lack in medical terminology. But oh, well, I will try anyway. As I'm relatively new here, I don't have many contacts. I'm wondering if you are interested at all in keeping in touch. Passe un bon week-end et a bientot. Canuck1.

Hi Roe, Thank you very much for your reply. I have done some preparation for the exam and I speak and write French. I arrived in France in December, so I did not have as much time to prepare, but I did not have to start learning the language from the beginning like you did. It does not mean anything of course, and I know that the grading system is strict. Since you have had the experience of writing the test, I have a few more questions for you. I am under impression that foreign nurses fall under a different category and that we don't have to compete with the rest of French candidates. Do you know if you had the same questions on the exam as the rest of the candidates and did you have the same amount of time to write the test or less? I find it difficult to deal with French administration, because no one seems to have a clear answer. Several sources provide different info. I thought I would comment on your last posting also. I don't know personally another foreign nurse here, but when I spoke to the secretary in one of the schools here in Toulouse, she told me that last year they have taken one Canadian nurse and two from Eastern Europe. So it seems that, in fact, that it's possible for a foreign nurse to succeed here. Where about in France do you live? I'm in Toulouse. Do you enjoy life here and are you planning to settle permanently or this is just an adventure? Thank you again for you help. Looking forward to your answer. Canuck1.

Hello everyone, I'm looking to make a contact with anyone who has written an entrance exam in a French nursing school. I'm a Canadian nurse, recently relocated to South France and I'm in a process of preparing for exams which will be taking place from mid of March. I'm aware of the process, but interested in hearing about experiences of other foreign nurses living and working in France. Since I'm not a European national, I have to do at least 2 (or 1 year if I'm lucky) out of 3 years of nursing school here. Also, I have a quick question. Is ICU nursing here is a specialty (like pediatric, psychiatric, OR and anesthesia nursing?) and requires additional courses or is it "on the job training" process? I was an ICU nurse in Canada. Thank you very much. Looking forward to hearing from you all. Canuck1.