Going to the doctor in France is a rite of passage we all go through. You go from being a confused foreigner, having no clue about what to expect, to this evolved master of knowing how things are done in France and handling them like a boss. Well, that’s the hope anyway. In this post, I’m giving you some insight into the differences you might encounter upon going to a doctor in France. That way, if you find yourself sick in France in need of medical attention, you know what to expect and will be prepared.
French healthcare differences: Culture shocks about going to the doctor in France
I’ve written about going to the gynecologist in France, told you about what French pharmacies are like, and even recounted a really bad experience I had, but what I’d like to do below is share what has surprised me the most about going to the doctor in France. Things are done differently in the USA, so it’s best to be prepared.
To that end, here are my top culture shocks/surprises/differences to be aware of before you show up for your rendez-vous chez le médecin en France.
My disclaimer is that what follows is my experience of going to the doctor in France and of course not every single doctor in every single town in France does things the way I’ve described. There are always exceptions.
Overall, what I talk about below rings true in most cases and I hope my observations help you in case you’re ever sick in France or need to see a doctor in French cities as a foreigner.
Saying doctor in French
Also, note that the word for doctor in French is le docteur or médecin. You’ll also hear la doctoresse used for a female doctor. Another way to say doctor in French is le/la toubib. It’s more like saying “doc” though and is slang.
Whatever you do, be sure to say bonjour to him or her before all else.
10 Common American medications and their French equivalents >>
Culture shock at the doctor in France
The price.
In France, a visit to your French general practitioner/primary care physician will run you 25 € at your médecin traitant and that fee is standardized nationwide. You pay that in person at the end of the visit directly to the doctor. One thing to note is that not all offices are equipped to take credit cards so have cash or a check on hand just in case.
If you have a carte vitale (health insurance card), you’ll be reimbursed about 70% through the public health system (assurance maladie through the French social security system) and even more if you have supplementary insurance, which is called a mutuelle.
If you don’t yet have your carte vitale or you forget it, you’ll be given a paper called une feuille de soins that you’ll manually submit for reimbursement.
If you’re a tourist in France, you can still get medical care and pay the 25 € (just without reimbursement since you don’t live here and pay into the system like French residents and citizens do).
Keep in mind that specialists cost more (and even more beyond the standardized rates if they are non-conventionée) but even still, costs are clearly outlined and apply to foreigners and residents alike.
In the US, it was always a guessing game trying to figure out what the doctor’s visit would cost, if insurance would cover it and if I was supposed to just pay my co-pay, or if I’d get a big bill later on. Even for blood work in France, labs can tell you what each test will cost upfront.
The waiting room.
Doctors’ waiting rooms in France tend to be very simple with chairs lined up against the wall in a way that allows everyone in the waiting room to see who comes into the room. When you arrive, greet everyone in the waiting room with a bonjour and then take a seat.
Do not just go and sit down without acknowledging the people already in the room. Politeness is huge for French people and a bonjour is a must.
The doctor/practitioner will personally come to the waiting room and call your name when it’s your turn. Something that’s different is that most general practitioners work alone (aside from a secretary in some cases), so you won’t be greeted by a nurse who first checks your vitals or gets your history before seeing the doctor. You wait in the waiting room and then go directly into the doctor’s office.
Be aware that French GPs don’t generally wear white doctors’ coats and are instead dressed in regular clothes. Don’t do what I did and ask, “Hi, wait, are you the doctor,” unsure of who the casual man was calling my name and expecting a nurse to first take my medical history.
In my defense, it was my first appointment in France ever and I didn’t realize that the doctor would be dressed down in jeans with his shirt unbuttoned and chest hair poking out of the top of his polo. But still. Assume the person who gets you from the waiting room is the doctor and act accordingly.
No nurse present during exams.
This one majorly caught me off-guard the first time I saw the gynecologist. It was just the doctor and me alone in an exam room. It made me uneasy because if anything strange happened, it would be my word against the doctor’s. I got very comfortable in the USA knowing there was always a third party present at my gynecologist — for the doctor’s protection and my own!
FYI, doctors in the USA have huge medical malpractice insurance policies because we’re the most litigious society in the world. Anyway, it always put me at ease having a third party present during exams. A third party is present at many gynecologists in the USA, not all but it’s common. Not so in France.
Nudity.
Sticking with the gynecologist for a moment and adding to the unease is my next point. Let’s move on to how the exam is conducted.
I was majorly surprised when it was time for my pelvic exam and the doctor didn’t leave the room for me to undress privately, nor did she give me a paper gown or covering of any kind to drape over myself during the exam. Lying there buck naked, except for my socks, on an exam table was not what I expected at all. It made an awkward exam even less pleasant (and cold!). Medical nudity in France is definitely a thing.
In addition to the gynecologist, when I first arrived in France, you’re required to get a chest x-ray. During that appointment, I was paraded through the back area of the imaging center completely topless — no gown or covering while going from one room to the next. The other doctors and techs probably didn’t even notice, but I felt exposed.
It’s just something to note so you know what to expect. Bring a sweater you can easily put around your shoulders if this would be off-putting to you or you’re easily cold.
To be clear, nudity in general is not a problem so please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. I’m not prude and am not embarrassed by my own nudity, nor am I embarrassed when I see others naked. It’s not that at all and of course doctors need to see you without clothes to properly examine you in some instances.
My issues are:
1) I didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t expecting to strip down completely without a gown while the doctor was right there waiting, which caught me off-guard.
2) I didn’t realize it would be just me and the doctor (no nurse). That adds a level of anxiety if you’re coming from a medical system that has a third party present for both the doctor and patient’s comfort and protection.
3) When the doctor is in a position of power and control to some extent (he or she decides what care you get, or don’t), the nudity creates an even greater power differential.
It can be a little bit awkward to be there naked with no sense of modesty granted by even a paper sheet or gown. It’s the vulnerability aspect that caught me by surprise. If the doctor can do something to make the patient more comfortable, then we should speak up (nudity related or otherwise).
As I said, now I bring a shawl just in case.
Sometimes you’ll pick up your own vaccine or other prescription for a medical appointment.
My advice here is to always read everything on your prescription because it might not be what you expect. I looked briefly at a prescription for blood work from my ophthalmologist that I needed to get before my next visit. I went to the lab, got my blood work, and printed out the results. No problem there.
What I completely overlooked was the part underneath that required me to go to the pharmacy to get special drops to dilate my pupils before an eye test at my next appointment. In the USA, whenever the ophthalmologist would dilate my pupils, he or she would have the drops on hand and it wasn’t something I needed to bring with me. Well, not so in France. Lesson learned!
Another example is when I had an MRI with contrast, I was asked to go to the pharmacy to pick up the pack of contrast dye and tubing used for the scan. The imaging center doesn’t keep that on hand. The patient needs to pick it up themselves ahead of time.
On the other hand, when I got my yellow fever vaccine for work travel outside of France, the vaccine center (handled by a special service, not my regular doctor) already had the vaccine in their office.
But in the case of other routine vaccines, you, the patient, will be expected to go into your local pharmacy and physically pick up the vaccine that you will then bring to your appointment for the doctor to inject. GPs don’t have vaccines on hand in the office.
No urgent care centers.
In the US, it’s quite common to see for-profit franchises, usually privately owned urgent care centers in strip malls and office complexes. They usually have extended hours, are staffed by emergency medicine doctors, and are perfect for when you need to see a doctor for something more pressing than a cold not but necessarily a full-blown emergency. They’re one-stop shops that have x-ray machines and other equipment your regular GP wouldn’t have but aren’t an emergency room either.
France doesn’t have urgent care centers like this. To clarify, yes, France absolutely has hospitals with emergency services and trauma centers for those of us who need that sort of care from health professionals. There are also medical practices that have several medical doctors that can get you in for an appointment.
But what I’m talking about are the private urgent care walk-in centers you find in many areas of the U.S. where you can be seen by a doctor quickly. Urgent care centers provide ambulatory care including lab work, x-rays, and more services outside of traditional ERs and exist even in small towns in the U.S. You won’t find the same thing in France.
Wait times.
Depending on where you live and the demand, it can sometimes be difficult as a new patient to get a non-emergency doctor’s appointment with a specialist such as a dermatologist or a dentist in France.
A 3- to 6-month wait is normal in my area which is dubbed a medical desert and I’m definitely not in a rural area. I know this can be the case in the USA as well and certainly isn’t a France-specific phenomenon, but I was secretly hoping things would run perfectly here, given how much people rave about French healthcare.
I’m now one of the ravers, but the French healthcare system is not without its flaws, and doctors’ wait times aren’t one of the highlights for me. It can be looooong to see a French physician, especially when they aren’t taking new patients.
These days, many French doctors are on Doctolib, which is an online scheduling platform where you can search for a doctor in your area and make an appointment online. In smaller cities, I’ve found that you still have to call the office directly to make an appointment, but still, Doctolib can be a great tool.
SOS Médecins.
There’s this great service in France called SOS Médecins in case you need a home visit. It’s a network of on-call doctors who do house calls — 24/7 and even on holidays. How amazing is that? If you are too ill to leave your home and/or it’s 3 a.m., most larger cities have an SOS Médecins network that can really be, quite literally, a lifesaver.
Basically, a French doctor in the network can provide “general medical, emergency and out-of-hours visits and those for continuity of care, at your home, at your workplace or even if your GP is away.”
That said, it’s pretty much only something you’ll find in big cities and is not available everywhere.
Yes, it’s more expensive than the regular office visit of 25 € after hours, but much of it is reimbursed and is worth the extra money for the comfort and privacy factor. To give you an idea of the medical costs for something like this, in the Paris area if you call between midnight and 6 a.m., it’s 84.50 €.
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What differences would you add to my list about going to the doctor in France? How has your experience been with medical services in France?
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Mark H Bramhall says
Diane does a good job of covering most of the things that surprise Americans. Be prepared to go to your local pharmacy to get items needed for doctor or specialist (like x-ray or other scan) visits. I too have bought contrast-dye and tubing to inject it for a scan. Also antiseptics and bandages for an in-home visit to change my bandages after some major surgery. Some items will not be in stock and ready when you visit the pharmacy. Be ready to come back in a day and plan accordingly. Pick a local pharmacy and use it. They will get to know you. That makes everything easier.
Let me add that doctolib.fr is a good resource for finding medical service and scheduling appointments. I found a dentist one block away from my apartment in Paris. She is very good, but visiting the dentist in France is very different than the USA as well. For one think, only the dentist can touch your mouth; there are no hygienists that just do cleanings.
Diane says
Thanks for taking the time, Mark, I appreciate it. A lot to get used to with the medical system in France, right? But I find overall that it’s a great system and has a lot of benefits. Thx for the addition about doctolib. It’s a quick way to make an appointment without all the hassle but I’ve found recently that a lot of doctors don’t have available appointments or the ones by me aren’t even on the platform, but when they are on there, it’s a piece of cake to book a RDV. Thanks again for taking the time to comment!
Keith Van Sickle says
In my experience of going to the doctor in France, doctors there tend to be very old school. They are the expert, they give advice, you follow it. There’s not the same sort of give and take you might have in the US, for example. I would not think of saying, “I read about this on the Internet, what do you think?” to a French doctor, though I have done that (with good results) with US doctors.
Diane says
Yeah that has been absolutely correct in my experience, especially for anyone over the age of maybe 50. I had a little bit of that in the piece I linked about a bad experience. I’m sorry you have experienced it as well Keith
Sharon Crigger-Stokan says
Very interesting! I always enjoy your blog content!
diane says
Thank you, Sharon!
Taste of France says
I had a great dentist, but when he decided to do only surgeries, I needed a new one. Luckily, I had seen a young dentist who was starting out as an associate in my dentist’s practice. I ended up following her when she went out on her own. Similarly, when my doctor retired, I went with a young new doctor who I met when she was filling in for my doctor on vacation. I loved her. She’s still my doctor five years later. Finding someone young is a good way to not have to wait. Did the same with an opthamologist.
I’ve not experienced any waits except for a dermatologist. When my husband’s cancer returned, he got an appointment immediately with a world-renowned expert two hours away (we are in the sticks, so there are no world-renowned experts in our small town, let alone the village). The bill for a 12-hour operation and weeks in the hospital: zero.
The thing about the nudity and procedures is that you feel surprised the first time. But then, you know what to expect and it’s quickly no big deal. And the surprises are much milder than a bill for more than your annual income, which is very possible in the U.S.
Diane says
Yes, knowing what to expect is HUGE. That way there are no surprises. I hope my post helps people with that because I was unprepared the first time.
Hope your husband is OK now. Cancer is hard to go through!
San says
Very interesting to see it from your perspective (going from the US to France/Europe).
I had reverse experiences here in the US (coming from Germany) where I felt it was strange how much of a “deal” they make here about nudity during an exam and where I had the option to “negotiate” with the doctor what types of exams (s)he would do or not (e.g. I was used to always getting an ultrasound and breast exam at the gyn in Germany, but here, I was told they’d only do it upon request, if there were no issues.)
Diane says
Oh that’s interesting that some doctors in the US now have a conversation about nudity and everything to gauge the patient’s comfort level ahead of time. I like that!
Sara says
I wish the US would adopt the transparency in billing and charges. A couple weeks ago, I needed to schedule dual injections for pain management. Had it not been for a very persistent husband, they would have called the day before and asked for $7000, not including the doctor’s fee, the anesthesiologist, and a special prescription that we needed to pick up (kind of like France!). We found another facility that would do the same procedure for $340 + the additional costs. How can that even be possible?! It’s certainly a luxury to know how to shop around in the US, but it’s appalling that we allow insurance companies to exploit people in the name of healthcare. Similarly, I needed a bone scan last week, and no one could tell us what it would cost. Ultimately, my insurance decided not to cover it and we were left negotiating a cash rate with the hospital for a test to try and diagnose an issue that has been going on for 3 years and no doctor can find the cause of. This is the second procedure for treatment that they have denied coverage for within this issue, so I’m left at square one and not knowing where to go next. Sigh.
diane says
Hi Sara, I’m sorry for the health crisis you’re having. As if the pain and issue itself wasn’t enough, the whole medical system tacks on the stress and uncertainty of cost I used to hate it in the USA when I’d try to figure out the cost of a procedure, scan, or lab work BEFORE the appointment and if they could tell me that (which was rarely the case), the follow up question was “well will my insurance cover it/how much out of pocket” and that was always a mystery until after. It shouldn’t be that way.
Hoping you get some answers and proper care soon. Hugs to you!
Robert Baird says
Thank you for sharing this. So many Americans are struggling to receive medical care that is readily available in other nations. I hope for the day when Americans have something like the French healthcare system.
Diane says
I hope so too, Robert! I don’t think a system can ever be perfect or change overnight, but there has to be some level of improvement across the board in the USA that can benefit all involved.
Mike Smigielski says
Hi Diane,
Thanks for all of your posts. I recently discovered your blog from your youtube site. I really get geeked out with some of the more practical topics you discuss and this is one of them!
Concerning the x-ray you had as part of the “welcome to France” process, do they still do that? I was a student in Paris in the 20e siècle and I was horrified having to walk around in my underwear lined up like a Soviet-style conveyor belt waiting to get the x-ray.
Speaking of cultural shock, has the French system made any accommodations to immigrant population? I know that culturally, many Muslim cultures would never permit a woman to be alone in a GYN office alone and I’m sure difference such as this would take their toll.
I took a huge detour in life from my desire to work internationally, and now for the past 20 years, I have worked in the American health insurance industry. Looking at your observations above about the price of a GP visit and SOS Medicine, I think we are far from that in the States. Interesting observation about French pharmacies. That would never work in the States because there is the profit motives. Other reasons: the larger you are, the lower the price you receive, hospitals also get discounted deals (‘340B drugs’) and rebates from pharmaceutical companies are sent to the sellers of these drugs and never passed on to the consumer.
Anyway, I have been looking to do more research into how international health care systems work from the pricing perspective. Most Americans look at the British or Canadian systems but there are other health systems, e.g. France, Germany, Australia who appear to do a better job. The US is now getting flooded with “snake oil salesmen” (is there a French equivalent for this?) promising savings but never addressing the issue of cost.
Not sure is the French healthcare system is your but if you or anyone reading this has any website information that provides a more detailed overview of the French healthcare system, particularly around cost, I would appreciate it! (My French is still excellent, but my ability to find accent marks on the keyboard is not).
À la prochaine!
Mike
Diane says
HI Mike, thanks so much for your thoughtful comment. i’m so happy you enjoy my content!
I don’t have any links that help explain the French healthcare system from an industry/cost perspective as a whole on the backend (and write mostly about my experiences in the hopes to help others so can’t give you any industry info), but this post has good info on costs from the user standpoint: https://www.expatica.com/fr/healthcare/healthcare-basics/a-guide-to-the-french-healthcare-system-101166/
And yes, to answer your question, an OFII appointment is required for most newcomers, depending on their visa, which includes a medical visit.
I hope the US system changes for the better in the coming years but as you said, profit drives so much of how things are done. I’m not anti-profit but there must be a happy medium where pricing can be affordable and clear and patients’ care is prioritized. Sometimes in France I feel like care isn’t always top notch because of it being a public system, so there has to be a way to improve the standard of care, administration, etc.
One example of what I mean is that a lot of GPs are overworked and it took me years to find a medecin traitant because no one had room for new patients. GP appts are fixed at 25 euros and they can’t charge more if they wanted to, unlike specialists who can sometimes charge more if they are non-conventionee. In some cases in makes sense.
Anyway, here’s to hoping progress can be made across the board!
Elaine says
Lying awake at 6am I decided to check out your blog. I’ve seen a few of your videos and found them amusing and as a Brit headed to France next month I am interested in any help going! I have to say I laughed out loud at your description of the casually dressed Doctor with his chest hair poking out of his polo. Hilarious . I am also pleased to know in advance that you have to greet everyone. Quite the opposite of the UK where you tend to just try and slink in unnoticed. Brilliant blog. Well done.
blandine says
Hello Diane,
I don ‘t know if you’re aware that midwives can do the ‘every day’ gynecological care, in France? They are able to prescribe contraception, check your breast and write prescriptions for mammographies, do a pap smear AND they are usually much more respectul than gynecologists. MIne will ask me to undress from waist down, do a first check, then I put my pants back on and take the top off so that she can check my breasts.
Bonus, it’s easier to make a quick appointment, and it’s cheaper.
I thought I’d let you know, just in case 😉
Dave the French says
I think the thing about X-ray centers not stocking the contrast drugs etc. is about the rules for delivering prescriptions. I think physicians are not allowed to sell drugs and related products; only pharmacists can (veterinary doctors are allowed to do both, but not those for humans).
So indeed, it would be for instance normal practice, if you need an IUD for contraception, to have you (or your husband) pick it up from the pharmacy and bring it to the gynecologist.
About the lack of nurses and other staff: I don’t think physicians could run on 25€ per visit if they had to pay for the range of assistants that I experienced in US health care. This is also the reason why they often group themselves to share a secretary.
If you see a physician that has large offices, an individual secretary, extra staffers etc., that physician most probably charges extra on top of Social Security prices, and you may have to pay for that extra fully out of your pocket.