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Casablanca — The Moroccan government has published a new decree setting the legal and training framework for students in public faculties of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry during their hospital internships and clinical training periods.Â
The decree, numbered 2.26.342 and issued on April 30, 2026, was published in the Official Gazette.
The text defines the status and responsibilities of trainee students classified as observers, externs, interns, and residents while carrying out training in health institutions linked to territorial health groups, military hospitals, or partner institutions.
Under the decree, students are considered trainees if they are preparing national diplomas in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, or medical and pharmaceutical specializations, and if they hold authorization or appointment documents allowing them to complete mandatory training placements.
Observer status is granted to first- and second-year medical and dental students, as well as pharmacy students in their first three years. Extern status applies from the third year onward in medicine and dentistry and from the fourth year in pharmacy.
The decree states that externs must participate in core hospital training activities under supervision. Medical and dental externs will take part in patient care, medical note-taking, and on-call duties, while pharmacy externs will contribute to prescription execution, medication dispensing, and biological analyses in hospitals. Sixth-year externs are formally considered part of medical care teams.
Hospital training for externs will run from September through July. Attendance is mandatory and monitored by supervisors. The duration of training varies depending on the year and discipline, ranging from part-time placements to full-day hospital rotations in the final years.
Intern status is granted through a competitive examination open to students who successfully complete the first four years of their studies in medicine, dentistry, or pharmacy. The internship lasts two years full-time and includes compulsory rotations in different specialties depending on the discipline.
Interns are also required to participate in hospital management activities, contribute to research work, supervise externs, and take part in emergency and on-call services.
The decree also introduces rules governing residents. Resident status is granted to graduates admitted into specialization programs or to successful military hospital candidates. Residents will be appointed as trainee doctors, pharmacists, or dentists from their first year and must sign a commitment to work for at least three years in territorial health groups or institutions under the health ministry after obtaining their specialization diploma.
Those seeking release from that obligation must obtain formal approval and reimburse salaries and training costs received during their residency period, according to the decree.
The publication of this decree follows a period of unprecedented turbulence within Morocco’s medical education and healthcare sectors. Over the past few years, the landscape has been shaped by prolonged student strikes and boycotts of exams, primarily triggered by the government’s decision to reduce the duration of medical training from seven to six years.
Tensions were further exacerbated by delays in the disbursement of internship allowances, a perceived lack of clarity regarding the legal status of the newly formed Territorial Health Groups (GST), and concerns over the quality of training amid overcrowded hospital services.
These grievances, coupled with the recurring issue of medical brain drain, have pressured the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Health to formalize these new frameworks in an attempt to stabilize the national health system and ensure a consistent supply of specialized practitioners for the public sector.
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