Rabat – Morocco’s Minister of Higher Education Abdellatif Miraoui has reported the governmental decision to reduce the duration of medical training in the country from seven to six years in a note to presidents of public universities.
Morocco World News on February 18 obtained the note signed by Minister Miraoui.
Miraoui indicated in the note that the reform aims to meet the objectives of Morocco’s New Development Model and the national project to extend health insurance (AMO) to every Moroccan.
To address current needs, the Moroccan government intends to reduce the training period for medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry students by one year. Thus, the students will train for six years instead of seven years to obtain their diploma.
Additionally, the ministry announced an increase in admissions of medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry students.
The minister stressed that all required financial and educational resources will be mobilized, through a contractual program between the government and universities concerned.
Morocco World News reached out to Abdellatif Miraoui for comment but did not receive a response.
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In January, Morocco’s Minister of Health Khalid Ait Taleb reported that Moroccan hospitals have an “acute shortage” with only 32,000 doctors and 65,000 nurses operating in the sector serving nearly 37 million citizens and residents.
It “is difficult to rapidly train [doctors] because only 1,200 doctors graduate a year,” he added.
To address the issue, the government plans to raise wages for health professionals in the public sector while trying to attract Moroccan doctors among its vast diaspora.
In addition to that, health care officials serving under-staffed regions, known as “medical deserts,” are set to receive state aid or tax incentives, confirmed Ait Taleb.
The measures announced by Miraoui complement governmental efforts to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in Morocco.
