Public service commitment: a monthly allowance of €1,200 for medical students

The objective of public service contracts is to ensure a better distribution of health professionals throughout the country, and thus to guarantee everyone access to care. This type of contract is intended for health students who have validated at least the first year of the undergraduate program, and who are pursuing studies:

• of medicine;
• dentistry;
• of maieutics;
• and pharmacy (except for students enrolled in an industrial pharmacy course).

Signatories to public service contracts shall receive an allowance of €1,200 gross per month, for the duration of their studies or their skills-building journey. In exchange, they undertake to:

• continue their studies in the chosen training;
• comply with the attendance obligations provided for in the course of their studies;
• at the end of their studies or their skills-building program, work in one or more places located in an area characterized by insufficient medical supply or by difficulties in accessing healthcare.
  The signatories undertake to practice in one of these territories for a period equal to that during which the monthly allowance will have been paid to them. This period of practice in an area characterized by insufficient medical supply or by difficulties in accessing care may not, in any event, be less than 2 years.

How to apply for a public service contract?

Candidates must submit their application on the national platform of the mechanism. Nominations for the 2026-2027 academic year are open as of November 2, 2026.

Each application must include the following documents:

• a certificate of completion of the current academic year;
• a letter of motivation describing the professional project (in particular with regard to the specialty and the place envisaged for practicing the chosen health profession);
• the transcript of the first academic year for second-year students, or the transcripts of the previous 2 years for students who have already completed several academic years.

Within the platform, you can consult if necessary a practical guide for submitting an application (this guide is accessible in the tab « Contacts and useful links » located at the bottom of the page).

A committee responsible for the selection of candidates is set up within each training and research unit in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and maieutics.

Applications shall be ranked taking into account in particular:

• academic performance;
• the quality and consistency of the professional project presented by candidates during an interview (some candidates may be selected directly by the committees during a pre-evaluation phase of applications, and therefore exempt from an interview).

How is the place of practice of the signatories of an employment contract decided?

During the year preceding the end of their studies (or of their skills consolidation pathway), the signatories of a public service commitment contract must indicate, to the regional health agency to which they depend, their choice of future place of practice.

They may apply simultaneously for five practice locations, which they rank in order of preference.

Each application shall be examined by the regional health agency having territorial jurisdiction, which shall decide, taking into account in particular:

• the specialty that the signatory will exercise;
• the demographic, health and social characteristics of the territory concerned.