Chez le médecin

Here in France, everyone is entitled to health insurance. It covers up to 70% of the medical cost, and the rest is covered by either your private insurance if you can afford it or a supplementary universal medical cover for those with limited income. Our health insurance is provided by MGEN (Mutuelle Général de l'Education) under the social security system, and we also signed up for a private insurance with AXA which also covers the house, liability, etc for €70 per month. Not bad.

Since 2006 in France, it is required that you choose your "médecin traitant," a family doctor, and you are supposed to see him/her in order to be fully reimbursed. However, changing of a doctor is not restricted, and all you have to do is to send in the form that states who your new family doctor is. Convenient.

When you walk in front of an apartment or any building, you will easily find a plaque of a doctor's office with their specialization, and you see a lot of them. OECD's report from 2009 shows that there are 3.4 doctors per 1000 populations in France, much higher than in Canada (2.2) or in Japan (2.1). For your family doctor, you look for a "médecin generaliste." You can choose anyone from anywhere. According to Yellow Pages there are 152 generalists in Grenoble (pop. 156,000), and thanks to pharmacist's help, we found three within five minutes walk from our apartment.

I called all of them and booked the earliest available appointment which was two days away. I was rather disappointed that we could not see him sooner, but we learned that he offered drop-in hours in the morning. Being an indecisive couple, we were contemplating whether we should go during those hours or wait for our proper appointment. That's when I cut one of my fingers deeply with a horizontal mandoline. Voila, good enough reason to "drop-in" at chez médecin.

Next morning, we were in the doctor's office. No nurse, no nothing, but just a few people in the waiting room. Our turn came, and the doctor himself escorted us to his office where a big treatment table and a big bureau shared the space. He examined both of us, taped up my finger, did all the paperwork, all by himself! I loved how simple it was, almost a perfect balance between modern and traditional medicine, and humanitarian care and business. He is in his late sixties or early seventies, very calm and accommodating. We asked him if he could be our médecin traitant, and our long cherished dream finally came true. I am proud to announce that my very first family doctor is French!