MAINTENANCE. The Mayenne Order of Physicians has called on retired general practitioners to return to work. They will work with interns in a multidisciplinary house.
In Mayenne, retired general practitioners are back in service. The Departmental Council of the Order of Physicians, in collaboration with the department and the city of Laval, called on these health professionals to fight against medical desertification.
About fifteen retired doctors will collaborate with interns in general medicine in this multidisciplinary center which will open its doors next May. This experimental project should last 3 years. Dr François Dima, president of the Mayenne medical order and at the head of this project, hopes that this initiative will bring the younger generations to settle in the department.
How did this project get started ?
Dr François Dima: We had this idea two years ago because of our shortage of doctors and the lack of access to healthcare for more and more patients. We looked for the medical resources that we could mobilize, and the only one that appeared to us was the retired doctors. The idea of the project is to respond not only to an emergency but also to be structuring for the future, it is for this reason that we contacted the Faculty of Medicine of Angers to welcome interns at the end of their training.
The structure will be considered as the attending physician vis-à-vis the health insurance funds. It is obvious that some patients will try to see the same doctors again, but the family doctor is a notion which is unfortunately set to disappear. It is the evolution of medicine that wants that. But these are the patients who are in such distress! Who have stopped treatments, sometimes heavy, or had to be helped by the pharmacist many times when he is not allowed. It is a solution which will meet a significant expectation of the population.
Listen to the full interview with Dr François Dima:
Why did you call on retired doctors?
Dr François Dima: Because we don’t have doctors. The latest figures from the health insurance fund show that in Laval and its inner suburbs, 10,000 patients do not have an attending physician. Our department would need 120 new doctors overnight if we look at the national average. But today we are 500 active doctors, so we have a big deficit in all medical fields.
Will the center accommodate general practitioners and specialists?
Dr François Dima: Initially, there will only be general practitioners retired for less than 5 years who will work in the center. But then why not. We have already received proposals from medical specialists to work on it. It’s a new and innovative project that is complicated to get started, so we prefer to take it step by step. But it is a hypothesis that we keep in mind.
How do you explain the enthusiasm of your colleagues?
Dr François Dima: The first of the reasons is mainly due to the way of working in this center. They are not offered to do a quarter or a half, but to work when they want. There will be an on-call schedule, and the doctors will arrange themselves so that there are always doctors.
And then you know the doctors of the old generation are nostalgic when they leave their patients, so having the possibility of working time and time is an idea that seduced them. They also suffer very badly from the fact that patients do not have access to care.
And on the side of the young generation, what do we think?
Dr François Dima: They do not have any problem with this since it does not interfere with their exercise. We hope that we will manage to make it an attractive land that will make them want to stay in Laval or in the department. In addition, the nursing home will gradually become multidisciplinary. We are far ahead in our department on this subject. And this is really the demand of young people.
Do you think that this model of nursing home could be adopted in other territories?
Dr François Dima: It is a project that is potentially departmental, that is to say that in areas that suffer from a lack of doctors we can imagine opening other consultations. It should be understood that this project is not an answer to the problems of medical demography. It is a temporary response to an emergency situation in which we are very helpless. It is not the future of medicine to have retirees rework, but we know that in the next 7 to 10 the situation will be very complicated in many departments, and the only solution for the population to have access to healthcare. of first resort will be to appeal to our retirees.
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