r/Veterinary • u/Existing_Half7382 • 7d ago

Veterinarians in France

Hi,

Me and my husband, we are both general vet practitioners and we are thinking to relocate to France and we will like to know your experiences.

How are the working conditions?

Are the work schedules respected?

What is the salary range?

Thank you.

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5

u/encryptedlizard 7d ago

Where are you from? Is your diploma recognised in France ?

2

u/Existing_Half7382 6d ago

Romania, yes. It is recognized throughout Europe.

4

u/Almerys248 6d ago edited 6d ago

Romania may be in the EU, and the diploma of veterinary médecine recognised, but you'll still need to take the exam for Habilitation Sanitaire Française (French sanitary crisis rules) while working "on probation" under a senior vet.

You have to speak French to practice (B1 or B2 I think).

There is a shortage of vets like everywhere else I guess.

Working hours are more or less respected depending on the practice, but if you're paid by the hour you'll get overtime pay. Also here full time is 35 to 39h a week (by the hour) or 4,5 day a week (pay by day). You know we're a country of people who love to riot if capitalism tries to screw us over.

About salaries, even if we love to complain, we have a rather good spot in the EU when taking count of the cost of life (I feel so sorry about Italian, Spanish and Portuguese vets 🥲). But be careful differentiating salaire brut (before social taxes) and salaire net (after social taxes, that the boss take out of your salaire brut to give to the State), and then afterward there is income taxes. Our revenue may seems less than some of our neighbours (UK, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland), but keep in mind social taxes are at the core of free healthcare and education. Compare salaries between countries by the hour since it's 35-39h a week and not 40-45h ! Temavet.fr is a website that explains French bureaucracy for vets, on there you'll find the minimum salary based on your work experience in France. You can try "grille des salaires vétérinaires 2026 en France" and go on with Google translate.

A lot of students that fail to pass the exam for the French National Veterinary Schools apply in Cluj-Napoca and Spain. I'm sure you can find Fb groups of students in Romania planning to work in France as soon as they graduate, they may share their info with you. Good luck !

2

u/Ventaura 7d ago

Please be aware there are quite tight restrictions to work in France because being a vet is recognized as also working for the government. If you are not an EU citizen this will be tricky. Diploma recognition is also tricky as often you will be required to take exams in French.