The deans of the faculties of medicine are asking that the entrance examination for medicine and dentistry be replaced by a competition. A solution, according to them, to prevent students from finding themselves without an INAMI number once they graduate. An idea already rejected by the federation of French-speaking students.
The deans wish more serenity for the students. But what would be the advantages of a competition of medicine? “Students will be able, what they have not been able to do for too long, to study serenely since once they have access to studies, they will be certain of being a doctor or dentist at the end of their studies”notes Françoise Smets, dean of the faculty of medicine at the Catholic University of Louvain. “They will be sure to have an INAMI number, they will be sure to have quality training and will be able to study serenely”she said again.
With the current system, medical students are not sure of being able to practice at the end of their course. However, the Federation of Francophone Students (FEF) is against this project of entrance examination, which it considers unequal. “Students and pupils, depending on their socio-economic background, are not prepared in the same way for this type of competition. So the competition will really operate a social sorting and that is unacceptable. We, we can’t do it”points to Lucas Van Molle, president of the Federation of Francophone Students.
In his bill, the Federal Minister of Health plans to actually restrict the number of INAMi numbers. For the deans of the faculties of medicine, a competition would avoid eliminating students during their training.