The medical Démographie is, with the clean direction, the statistical study of the population of the medical profession, or in the broad sense, of the professions of health.
Elle is also the practice of the regulation of the population of these professions within the broader framework of the management of the health-care system of a country.

Situation in various countries

In France

• In France, in 2004, there exists a little more: 208887 active doctors, to compare with: 112000 in 1979.

• Them distribution is however geographically very unequal: broadly, deficit in the nonuniversity cities of the center and the north of the France. Certain departments have a medical density lower than 143 doctors for: 100000 inhabitants; others have a density higher than 184 doctors for: 100000 inhabitants.
• There exists a unquestionable feminization of the profession, the proportion of these last reaching 57% for the age bracket of less than 34 years. But the more one progresses in the age groups and the more this proportion decreases.
• These statistics reflect the situation at January 1st 2004 (statistical of the Ordre of the Doctors, available on the site of the Order, cf will infra).

Means of regulations

The numerus clausus: Quantitative regulation

The Numerus clausus (" fermé" number; in Latin) conditions the number of places offered to the contest of end of first year of medicine. It is at the same time national, to fix the number of experts, and room, to determine the number of students continuing their studies in each UFR of medicine. The numerus clausus is most favorable in the UFR located in the areas more “devastated” in term of medical demography (example: the Lille) and most strict in the over-populated areas (example: Nice). The numerus clausus follows a double objective: to limit the number of professionals, and to prevent the overmanning of hospital students. Currently arises the following difficulty: the numerus clausus cannot sufficiently increase to compensate for the retirements (" Grandpa boom ") because " grounds of stages" hospital miss. The generalization of the training courses out-CHU (" périphérie") tends to solve this problem even perhaps if it will create others of them (doctors of these hospitals not having any specific training with the framing of students).

Classifying tests national: Quantitative regulation

The contest of the Boarding school (replaced since 2004 by the ECN), become obligatory to reach a speciality in the years 1990, babbit metal as for him the distribution of the students in the various sections of specialities :

• medical specialities
• surgical specialities
• medical gynecology
• obstetric gynecology
• pediatry
• medical biology
• occupational medicine
• public health
• psychiatry

The filiarisation , namely the fact of transforming a speciality into selected autonomous section as of the beginning, allowed a finer regulation and the safeguard of certain specialities like pediatry or gynecology.

At the present time (2007) the distribution between interns of speciality and general medicine is of 47% - 53%.

Measurements of geographical regulation

At present, contrary to pharmacies the freedom of installation of doctor's office is total. No coercive measure exists to force the geographical rebalancing of the medical density. Geographical imbalances are worked by several gradients:

• a North-South gradient
• a gradient university Metropolises/towns - Small towns
• a gradient Cities - Countryside/Suburbs

The URCAM (Regional union of the Cases of Health insurance) puts has provision on each regional site the access to two services for the male nurses and the general doctors in order to control this imbalance:

• c@rtoSanté : propose the consultation in line of statistical data and cartographies (the site of the Nord/Pas-de-Calais Area) thanks to the interface in flash geoclip.
• inst@lsanté accompanies the health professionals in their step by installation, and informs them on the various devices of assistance to the professional practice (the Nord/Pas-de-Calais Area site)

More

• ANEMF : National association of Medical students of France the site
• forum
• SNJMG: National union of the Young General doctors the site
• Assurance_maladie: organizations depending on a mode and having the management of health the site