Around 200,000 cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in France every year. Yet as more and more patients seek medical advice, getting an appointment with a dermatologist is becoming increasingly difficult.Half the country's dermatologists are nearing retirement, and only around 100 new specialists are trained up each year. Faced with this growing shortage, some are coming up with innovative solutions.
FRANCE 24's Aurore Dupuis and Sonia Baritello report. It's 8am in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. The local dermatology clinic is already packed."I left home at 4:30am to get here by 6am.
I've travelled 130 kilometres," says Jean-François, who has come all the way from Reims to have a melanoma removed.If left untreated, this type of skin cancer can spread beyond the skin and reach other parts of the body. To deal with urgent cases like this, dermatologist Romain Prud'homme opens up appointments the evening before, for the following day."When I open slots at 6pm, the day gets booked up within three minutes," he explains. "You could open 10 more clinics like this one, and they would all be just as busy.
The shortage is huge." Only around 100 dermatologists are trained in France each year. The French government has announced 27 extra trainees annually, falling well short of what specialists say is needed."It's only in the last decade that we've significantly increased the number of doctors being trained. But dermatology hasn't seen the same level of increase as other specialties," Dr Pierre Hamann explains."The pressure is huge.
Patients come to us after having had no help for ages. They're left without answers, and that can really take a toll on them." The shortage is likely to worsen in the coming years, with half of all dermatologists over the age of 60, meaning they could soon retire.Dermatologists are also accused of contributing to the problem by prioritising cosmetic procedures, which can be more lucrative."That's completely untrue," Dr Hamann insists. "Several studies, including independent research by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, show that cosmetic procedures account for less than 5 percent of our overall activity throughout the year.
The problem is simply that there aren't enough of us to treat every patient who needs care." To prevent late diagnoses, the profession has started training GPs to identify potentially dangerous skin lesions.Charlotte Canonne had a mole on her foot that began to bleed in 2022. She struggled to find a dermatologist."I checked the medical app Doctolib to get an appointment. But I quickly realised I wasn't going to get one," says the 32-year-old."I put it off for a while.
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