Medical students denounce Ministry's insistence on 6-year study period

Morocco’s Ministries of Health and Higher Education adamantly refused to revert back to the previous 7-year medical study program, as highlighted in the new proposal, despite ongoing open strikes and exam boycotts throughout the Kingdom.

The proposal, which was put forward by the two ministries following a meeting with the medical student’s representatives last weekend and aimed to settle disagreement, was met with a unanimous vote of 100% against it in the general assembly held yesterday in various faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy in Morocco, according to Hespress EN’s highly informed sources.

The ministries did, on the other hand, propose to retract their decision to consider family medicine a separate specialty on its own, and the two modules will be optional during the sixth year of their medical education, not mandatory for degree obtaining.

They also promised, according to the proposal of which Hespress EN received a copy, to establish a national scientific committee for each specialty, comprising experts in the field at the national level.

Regular and periodic evaluations of specialty training will also be conducted in all faculties and university hospitals. In addition, the number of seats in the residency exam is planned to be doubled to accommodate graduates from the two cohorts next year.

The ministries also promised to review the conditions and procedures for admission exams to medical, pharmacy, and dental faculties, with a study on the possibility of raising the selection threshold.

In addition, they promised to accelerate the construction and equipping of university hospitals in Guelmim, Errachidia, Agadir, and Beni Mellal, while limiting the number of students accepted in each hospital department, taking into consideration several criteria.

However, the ministries’ proposal also included promises planned to be fulfilled in the future and/or to be reconsidered without setting a clear path for some pressing demands.

This lack of clarity regarding the most pressing demands shaped the decision during the general assembly and led all medical students to vote against it.

“The proposal was rejected due to its lack of clarity and vague statements, such as “to be reconsidered” or “to be resolved next year”. Medical students were against this ambiguous approach and the way their demands were being addressed,” said Mohamed Rachad El Mallouki, member of the National Commission for Medical, Pharmaceutical, and Dental Students (CNEMEP).

Considering their past 2019 experience where some agreed-upon points with the ministries were not respected, a growing lack of trust has emerged among medical students, explained El Mallouki in a statement to Hespress EN.

The CNEMEP member additionally said that several points highlighted in the proposal lacked clarity and specificity, including the internal as well as residency streams among others.

“No detail was provided on the specific changes in the internal stream since the study period was reduced. This leaves ambiguity regarding how this stream will be taught in the future, despite it being previously taught over 2 years,” said El Mallouki.

He also shed light on the lack of clarity in the residency stream, with the shift to a single option for resident doctors, eliminating the previous choice between contracted and volunteer positions.

The proposal also included that the duration of the residency contract would be reviewed, which did not please medical students.

“The proposal failed to provide a clear vision regarding the increase in compensation for hospital training tasks,” lamented the CNEMEP member.

The proposal hinted at, “studying the request for an increase in monthly compensation for responsibilities, along with the financial implications involved, while engaging in extensive discussions with all stakeholders to address this demand.”

As to the exams’ boycott, El Mallouki confirmed that it was successfully implemented, with a 100% participation rate in the faculties of Rabat, Beni Mellal, and Guelmim.

“Our purpose is to advocate for change in our education system, which is in the best interest of Moroccan citizens’ well-being,” he concluded, stressing that the vote of the students will be conveyed to the ministries, hoping to find practical and realistic solutions in the future.