Hands-on training for medical students.

Practical know-how is within the province of hands-on professionals, wherea s theoretical knowledge is part of science. Since 1997, French medical stud ents are required to spend six months working with office-based general pra ctitioners. Each student works with one to three physicians. Flexibility is essential to ensure adequate coverage of various types of knowledge and a balanced distribution of the teaching objectives among participating physic ians. Optimal results are obtained when each student works with three physi cians.