Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship with a length of 3 or 4 years are the most common ones. The certificate awarded after successfully completing a 3 or 4-year apprenticeship is called "Certificat Fédérale de Capacité" (), "Eidgenössisches Fähigkeitszeugnis" (EFZ) or "Attestato federale di capacità" (AFC).
Medical education in France
Until 2004, future general practitioners did not sit the entrance exams for internships. Their second cycle was followed by two and a half year “résidanat” (three years for residents starting in or after 2001). Since 2004, a new reform has been applied: all medical students must pass the national classifying examination. The résidanat was replaced with an internship in general medicine, helping to raise the status of general practice as a profession.