Because of his status as a foreign student, he was not paid until 1950, so he was compelled to work on night duty until the prohibition of this practice under the Vichy regime.
He finished his medical studies both in France and Spain, where the Civil War prevented him from taking his final exams.
A member of the French Resistance during the war, he passed the aggregation examination and was appointed professor of neurology and psychiatry.
Ajuriaguerra met the psychoanalyst René Diatkine, with whom he opened a consulting office for psychomotricity and language problems.
He then became a reference and has influenced a whole new generation of researchers in medical and life sciences, as illustrated in the work of Prof. Dr. Mario Christian Meyer.