The internat is the third cycle of French medical studies, the period of specialist training. The interne is a doctor in training holding a salaried hospital post, enrolled in a speciality programme, who rotates through six-month clinical attachments until the speciality diploma and the thesis complete the course.
French term from Latin internus, inside, referring to the doctor in training attached to the hospital
troisieme cycle des etudes medicales, interne, docteur junior
residency
Entry follows the national ranking at the end of the second cycle, which allocates a speciality and a regional subdivision. Training is organised in successive phases, from a foundation stage through a deepening stage to a final consolidation stage, during which the trainee, as docteur junior, exercises supervised autonomy. Clinical attachments last six months each, and the whole course runs for three to six years depending on the speciality. Throughout, the interne holds a hospital post and is paid for it.
The internat leads to the DES, the speciality diploma, and runs in parallel with the preparation of the these d'exercice, which confers the state diploma of doctor of medicine. Once both are held, the doctor applies for registration with the Ordre National des Medecins, which enters the speciality on the roll and opens independent practice.
Speciality training follows the rules of the country where it is served. A student who reads medicine in another EU member state enters that country's specialist training system, and a speciality title listed in the annexes of Directive 2005/36/EC is then recognised in France through automatic recognition. For a doctor from Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia planning to return home, a European speciality title is also the document that the national recognition procedure will examine, usually with an apostille and a sworn translation.
The interne is sometimes described as a student, sometimes as a fully qualified doctor. Neither is accurate. The interne is a doctor in training with real clinical responsibilities, exercised under a defined level of supervision that increases through the phases of the programme. The word also differs from country to country, which is why comparing training programmes means comparing their content and duration, not their names.
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