Fig. 1

Medical and research curricula in France. Footnotes: PACES: [Première Année Commune des Etudes de Santé]: First Common Year for Health Studies. An end-of-year examination obligatory for the continuation of medical studies. DFGSM and DFASM: [Diplômes de Formations Générales ou Approfondies en Sciences Médicales]: Diplomas of General or Advanced Training in Medical Sciences. ECN: [Epreuves Classantes Nationales]. Students can enrol in national ranking exams (called ECN) and choose according to their ranking position a specialty and an assigned health region in which to complete their internship. Residency: Access to a career in oncology in France is possible with two types of diploma: the DES for a duration of 5 years with three options: radiation oncology, medical oncology or onco-haematology; and the DESC. The DES diploma qualifies practitioners and confers exclusive practice. The DESC in oncology is open to holders of the various DESs in medical or surgical specialities, certifies specific additional training in oncology, and confers limited practice of cancerology in the field of the initial DES (pulmonology, hepato-gastroenterology, etc.). Post-residency: Residents usually complete their training with a post-residency position to hone their skills and develop professional autonomy