Recognition in Tunisia is the procedure by which the competent authorities establish that a diploma obtained abroad corresponds to the Tunisian qualification. For medicine it compares the duration of the studies, their content and the clinical training completed, and the decision is required before registration with the medical council and before access to specialist training.
From Latin aequivalentia, equal worth; in French administrative usage équivalence designates the formal recognition of a foreign qualification as corresponding to a national one.
Reconnaissance de diplôme étranger; attestation d'équivalence; équivalence de titre
Recognition of foreign qualifications (Tunisia)
Recognition is an administrative decision stating that a foreign qualification corresponds to the Tunisian reference diploma for a defined purpose, most often access to a regulated profession or to further training. For medicine, the assessment compares the overall duration of the programme, the subjects taught and their volume, the extent of the clinical training and the nature of the final examination, against the curriculum of the Tunisian faculties of medicine. The application is examined by the competent ministry with the support of a commission.
A file usually contains the diploma, the transcripts for every year, a detailed description of the programme, the certificates of clinical training and the proof of the baccalauréat. Documents issued abroad are generally required in legalised form, by apostille or through consular channels depending on the issuing country, together with a sworn translation. Because the competent authority sets the list of documents and may request further evidence, the current requirements should be verified directly before the file is put together. Collecting the documents during the studies rather than afterwards is the single most effective way to avoid delay.
Recognition is what allows the file for registration with the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Médecins to be submitted, and registration is what makes practice lawful. It is also the basis on which access to specialist training is examined. A graduate returning from Europe should therefore treat recognition as the first step after graduation, ahead of any search for a post, as set out under returning home after studying in Europe.
Recognition in Tunisia and access to practice in France are separate systems, and neither one replaces the other. In France, a diploma issued by a member state of the European Union is assessed under Directive 2005/36/EC, whereas a Tunisian diploma is a third-country qualification whose holder is a practitioner with a non-EU diploma and follows the authorisation procedure with its knowledge verification tests. Building one complete, legalised documentation file that can serve either procedure is the practical way to keep both options open.
Free and no obligation.