Relations internationales

Staff members

Head of Office of International Relations :
Dr. Céline Bressollette-Bodin, Lecturer, Hospital Practicioner in Virology, MD, PhD

Coordinator : Zsofia Sforza

E-mail : international.medecine@univ-nantes.fr



International relations at the Faculty of Medicine

International relations are a key area of development for the Faculty of Medicine Nantes University, as part of the Nouvelle Nantes University health cluster projects. Our aim is to offer as many students as possible from our University the opportunity to spend time abroad during their medical studies.

Going abroad represents a unique opportunity to broaden one's horizons and enrich one's experience by learning about another culture and a different approach while attending to medical related studies. Adaptability and openness to geographical mobility are assets that can enrich a curriculum vitae. Of course, it's also an opportunity to learn a foreign language. For students from Nantes who wish to go abroad, several options are available: short-term internships (summer internships), semester or year-long study exchanges (validating the corresponding year). These exchanges are made possible by a number of partnerships with European and non-European countries.

We are also fortunate to be able to welcome foreign students for practical (clinical internships) or theoretical training at a French medical school. Once again, this is an opportunity for our students to exchange ideas and demonstrate their open-mindedness. The teaching staff at our faculty work hard to ensure that foreign students find the way to broaden their skills here, whether they are following studies or being in a clinical placement.

Our office is helping out medical students to carry out their project abroad, organises meeting all through the academic year and is a privileged contact for all openings of international related faculty matters.

Medical studies at the Faculty of Medicine Nantes University


Theoretical and practical medical studies are organized by the faculties of medicine, and enable students to participate effectively in hospital activities in the university hospitals and at the universities.

Medical studies are divided into three cycles, each lasting between 9 to 11 years.

The 1st cycle consists of a 1st year common to all 5 health disciplines and 2 pre-clinical years. The 2nd cycle comprises 3 clinical years. The 3rd cycle lasts from 3 to 5 years, depending on the specialty chosen.


Incoming medical students

The Nantes Faculty of Medicine currently offers foreign students three types of international exchanges:

  • ERASMUS STUDIES (hospital internships only)

For undergraduate and postgraduate students, mainly including clinical placements.

Offered to medical students with partner universities :
Germany: Düsseldorf, Munster-Heidelberg, Cologne;
Belgium: Leuven;
Hungary: Szeged, Budapest;
Ireland: Cork;
United Kingdom: Cardiff;
Spain: Valencia, Santiago de Compostela.

Due to these partnerships, foreign students can come and carry out hospital internships of flexible duration.

  •  ERASMUS STUDIES (internships and courses)

For undergraduate and postgraduate students (except 1st year), mobility for a semester or an academic year, based on an educational project drawn up before arrival with on-site validation.

Students wishing to join our Faculty as part of an Erasmus exchange (incoming mobility) must register online on Nantes University’s website (Mobility Online). The application form is available on the Direction of Europe and Internationa website. You'll also find a wealth of information to help you settle in and make the most of your studies.

  • VOLUNTEER OBSERVER INTERNSHIP
Foreign 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycle students from non-partner universities may be accepted for hospital internships at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes (CHU), subject to availibility of places.

Volunteer observers are not remunerated by Nantes University Hospital. They are not authorized to carry out any medical, surgical, technical or patient care procedures while at the hospital. Application forms are available on the Nantes University Hospital website.

Information and applications

international.medecine@univ-nantes.fr

Please note :
* For all incoming mobility, a certificate of vaccination, hepatitis B and COVID will be required.

Without these documents, access to the hospital will be refused.

* For first-year and/or intra-curricular admissions (Campus France, etc.), please contact: medecine.scolarite@univ-nantes.fr

Outgoing medical students

The Nantes Faculty of Medicine currently offers its students two types of international mobility:

  • ERASMUS STUDIES
For 3rd and 4th year medical students), consisting of a semester or a full year of study abroad, with validation by equivalence at the host university. This type of mobility requires a close similitude of programs offered between the partner universities.

The partner universities are :

  • University of Semmelweis, HUNGARY
  • University of Szeged, HUNGARY
  • University of Valencia, SPAIN
  • University of Santiago de Compostela, SPAIN
  • University of Cardiff, UNITED KINGDOM
  • University of Cork, IRELAND
  • University of Mannheim, GERMANY
  • University of Dusseldorf, GERMANY
  • University of Cologne, GERMANY
  • University of Munster, GERMANY
  • University of Leuven, BELGIUM

These agreements enable us to send around twenty students from Nantes abroad each year.

  • SUMMER INTERNSHIP ABROAD

This 4-week program is accessible for second-cycle students (4th, 5th and 6th year medical students).

The organization of internships abroad is currently being modified in line with the reform of the 2nd cycle of medical studies. For the summer of 2024, DFASM2s will be offered a placement in July, while DFASM1s will be offered placements in May and August. DFASM3 students will be able to leave in June 2024.

Students are free to choose their host institution anywhere in the world. Each year, a hospital-university comission examines the appliacations and determines the number of students to be accepted.

Information and applications

For any project within the Nantes Faculty of Medicine (incoming or outgoing mobility), first contact the International Relations Office, which will explain how to prepare your application.

Mis à jour le 24 January 2024.
https://medecine.univ-nantes.fr/relations-internationales/relations-internationales-3