France

Health systems in transition France 119
or her professional and scientific qualifications validated for his/her medical
specialty by the National University Council for Health Care (Conseil national
des universitiés).
4.2.5 Other health workers’ career paths
Most other health professionals may work either as self-employed practitioners
or as salaried employees, although health aides may only be employed.
The majority of nurses are employed as salaried staff, mainly by hospitals
(67.9%), while 16.4% are self-employed and provide ambulatory care. Other
institutions employing nurses include long-term care institutions, regional and
local authorities, schools, temporary recruitment agencies and private firms.
Around 71.6% of midwives work in hospitals with childbirth facilities, where
a large proportion of antenatal care takes place; 22.0% of midwives opt for
self-employment, while 6.3% work for regional and local authorities or for PMIs.
Almost all dentists (90.4%) are self-employed, while most of those in salaried
posts worked in health centres or as advisers for SHI regimes.
The vast majority of pharmacists (73.8%) work in retail pharmacies, either
as the qualified title-holder or as an assistant. Other pharmacists work in
management of biological test laboratories (10.3%), in hospitals and other health
care institutions (8%) or within the pharmaceutical industry (4.6%).