Legal
Enforcing the law that already exists: counting and paying working time, premiums, opting-out, public holidays. Legal opinions, formal notices and, where necessary, court action.
Who we are
The association
Délégation des Médecins Francophones en Formation is a Belgian non-profit association founded in 2021, dedicated to representing and defending specialist doctors in training in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
An association born of a movement
DeMeFF emerged from the wave of protest that swept through all specialist doctors in training during the negotiation of the new contract governing their work and the teaching of their specialty — a movement whose high point remains the strike of 20 May 2021.
The Delegation then chose to organise itself as a non-profit association in order to meet the practical requirements of pursuing its objectives.
Our objectives
- To be the central point coordinating the interests of doctors in training across the three university networks of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (UCLouvain, ULB, ULiège) in the negotiations that concern them — political (both federal and regional), academic and trade-union.
- To defend the interests of specialist doctors in training, whether in terms of the working conditions they face, safety in the workplace, or the quality of their training.
- To involve doctors in training in the drafting, revision and evaluation of legal texts, through a neutral and independent structure.
- To align messaging with counterpart organisations, notably VASO on the Dutch-speaking side.
- To ensure that the will and the opinion of doctors in training emerge and are recognised at every level of discussion — an indispensable link in improving training, practice and living conditions.
Official recognition
DeMeFF is recognised as a representative professional union by the Federal Public Service Economy. On that basis it can take legal action to defend its members' interests.
Where do we sit?
The association sits on the National Joint Committee for Doctors and Hospitals, where doctors in training hold four seats — two of them French-speaking — with voting rights, and on the Higher Council of Specialist Physicians and General Practitioners. It also operates within various federal and community bodies.
Our counterparts
Federal ministerial cabinets (Public Health, Employment) and community cabinets (Higher Education), INAMI/RIZIV, the Federal Public Service Health, accreditation commissions, universities, hospital federations.
Our work
Three pillars
The association works on three complementary fronts, defined with its members.
Quality of training
Accreditation commissions, criteria and curricula, an independent appeals body, supervision and safety at work. As much a public-health issue as a working-conditions one.
Technology
Tools that make rights verifiable: independent working-time logging, field data collection, published research.
Our values
Three principles we hold ourselves to
These three pillars rest on three values, defined when the association was created.
Respect
Respect is the key to a healthy, constructive relationship with everyone we meet — internally with our members and externally with the partners we work alongside.
Firmness
We will be uncompromising on the positions our members have voted for, and we will do everything in our power to achieve the intended results.
Independence
Independence from any affiliation, ideology, political influence or dogma is inseparable from the proper representation of all doctors in training of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
Article 5 of the statutes — Independence
"The association is independent of any political influence, trade-union affiliation or ideological allegiance."
Governance
How the association is governed
The general assembly is the association's sovereign body. It meets at least once a year, at the end of the academic year, and elects the board for the following term. It is validly held only if at least one voting member from each of the three universities is present.
- The board has at least three members, elected for one year and removable at any time by the general assembly.
- It appoints at least three co-chairs, and the three university networks — UCLouvain, ULB, ULiège — must be represented on it.
- Each network may be represented by a university delegation, drawing where appropriate on an existing structure.
- Board members receive neither remuneration nor expenses for their mandate.
- Membership is free: no entry fee, no compulsory dues.
The board
The association is run by three members, elected by the general assembly.
Dr Sami Barrit
Dr Alexandre Niset
Dr Elise Simonin Borgvad
The board is looking for successors
Its members are completing their specialisation. The association is actively looking for new board members among French-speaking specialist doctors in training.
Transparency
The statutes
The text that founds the association, sets out its purpose and governs how it works. Filed with the registry and published in the Belgian Official Gazette.
Ecosystem
Our sister organisations
DeMeFF works closely with the other organisations defending doctors in training in Belgium.
VASO
Dutch-speaking specialists
Vlaamse Vereniging voor Arts-Specialisten in Opleiding.
AMGF
French-speaking GPs
Association des Médecins Généralistes en Formation.
HOP-HAIO
Dutch-speaking GPs
Huisartsen in Opleiding.
Partners
Our partners
These partners have supported the association and its work. The network of lawyers still works with it today.
Progress Lawyers Network
Legal support
A socially minded network of lawyers providing legal opinions and advising the association on current and future actions. It can also assist doctors in training facing difficulties.
Roularta HealthCare
Financial support
A Belgian multimedia group and market leader in the medical press (Le Journal du Médecin / De Artsenkrant, Le Pharmacien / De Apotheker, Belgian Oncology News, HealthCare Magazine).
CBC Banque / KBC Brussels
Financial support
A dedicated team for medical professions: MediService relationship managers advise doctors on banking and insurance matters, both personal and professional.