When, at the start of the school year in September 2016, Adil Messaadi walked through the door of the University of Lille for a first common year of health studies (Paces), he could not imagine any other professional future than that of caregiver. Son and brother of general practitioners, scientific baccalaureate awarded with a very good mention, he thinks he ticks all the boxes for future success. “I only have this path in mind”, he recalls. The drastic selection of the numerus clausus, which fixed each year, until 2021, the number of students authorized to study odontology, will undermine his dream.
The disappointment is commensurate with his aspiration to become a health professional. “From the first weeks, I felt that it was not going to worktestifies Adil. We are 3,500 good students, for 450 places, the amphitheaters are packed, the competition reigns, the pressure is enormous, the anxiety is almost palpable, to the point that some are seized with nausea when the competition is mentioned. It doesn’t make sense to put your own health at risk to become a healthcare professional. » At the end of the first two semesters, when he could continue by repeating his first year, the young man threw in the towel.
But we have to bounce back, find a new path. The one who saw himself as a caregiver takes a big turn. “I choose accounting”, he explains. The young man finds there points in common with odontology and medicine: a profession which requires “a lot of human contact”, and a liberal, independent profession. The one who was a brilliant high school student resumes studies as if on track. After five years of school, he validated, in 2021, a master’s degree in accounting and management at the Gaston-Berger school in Lille, then he began his career in an audit firm. “But, somewhere, in my head, I always had this desire to be a player in health”he confides.
“Gateway” procedures
In France, for holders of a master’s degree, a doctorate, a medical assistant diploma or an engineering degree, there are so-called “passageway” procedures to join a course in odontology. So why not come back through the window when the front door has remained closed? He sends his file, the response of the examiners is lapidary: “Unsubstantiated career path. » “Once again, the French system has blocked me”exasperated the young man.
But his vocation has springs. In 2022, at the age of 24, Adil tries the competition for the Free University of Brussels, where 15% of the places can be taken by “non-resident” students. The Frenchman is finally received, in Belgium.
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