Moroccan medical students continue protests against reform after successful exam boycotts

As medical students continue their boycotts and protest against the new reform of their curriculum, the two supervisory ministries, those of Higher Education and Health, make a new announcement.

For more than two months, students in Morocco’s faculties of medicine have been expressing their dissatisfaction with the reform of their curriculum, reducing its duration from 7 to 6 years. Sit-ins, marches, course boycotts and semester exams – these angry students fear the consequences of a reform without adequate accompanying measures.

On Thursday February 15, 2024, the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection held a meeting with representatives of medical students and the deans of the faculties of medicine, pharmacy and dentistry to discuss their demands.

In a press release issued at the end of the meeting, the two ministries reaffirmed that the duration of studies leading to the MD degree will henceforth be 6 years, in accordance with Ministerial Decision no. 2175.22 of August 4, 2022, amending and supplementing Decree no. 2174.18 of January 9, 2019, issued by the Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, approving the national educational specifications for the MD degree.

In particular, they specify that allowances for the sixth year of medical training will be increased to match those of the final year of the previous system, also affirming the maintenance of the two routes, namely internship and residency.

In addition, the educational reform of the specialization curriculum (third cycle) in medicine, pharmacy and dentistry will be activated in January 2025, the same source reports, while medical graduates will have the opportunity to work in territorial health groupings with the identification number 509 without any time obligation, where they can continue to work or resign without any conditions.

The two ministries are also announcing the harmonization of residents’ legal status, while preserving their acquired rights and reducing the commitment period from 8 to 3 years for cohorts starting in 2025. At the end of their 3-year commitment period, residents will be able to continue working on request.

They will benefit from a monthly salary equivalent to index 509, as well as the other allowances specified in the Health Civil Service Act. In addition, the programming of hospital internship sites will be approved by the joint regional coordinating committees for training in the health professions. Finally, the number of budgetary positions reserved for the residency competition will be increased during the transitional year (January 2026).

In conclusion, the two ministries underline their commitment to continue working on the final stages of the educational reform of the medical specialization curriculum, in coordination with the deans of the faculties of medicine and pharmacy, the higher education teaching staff of the faculties of medicine, pharmacy and dentistry, through the national union of higher education and the councils of the establishments and their structures.