What is the place of physicians from abroad within the French hospital institution? Reflection starting from the instance of Algerian psychiatrists

Résumé 0

A large number of doctors who have graduated from outside the European Union work in health institutions in France; in psychiatry, 40% are of Algerian origin. This article describes the trajectories of these psychiatrists, their professional experiences and their daily lives, highlighting the role of the hospital institution in the professional constraints and opportunities they encounter, as well as the representations and meanings that are involved. On the basis of fifteen semi-structured interviews coupled with participant observation, the careers of these doctors are analysed, seeking to understand the structural and situational dimensions of the realities they experience. We underline the role played by the history of colonisation pervading the very heart of the functioning of French health institutions and, as a corollary, and affecting the careers of the Algerian psychiatrists interviewed, whose lives are dogged by institutional violence that is not visible.