{"id":426800,"date":"2025-12-15T08:18:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T07:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/?p=426800"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:20:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T16:20:53","slug":"doctor-visit-during-france-whv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/doctor-visit-during-france-whv\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing the doctor in France as a working holiday maker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We can\u2019t stress this enough: unexpected situations are bound to happen when living abroad. You may find yourself needing to consult a medical professional during your working holiday in France, whether for something minor or urgent. <\/p>\n<h2>Finding a doctor<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.doctolib.fr\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Doctolib<\/a> is an app that hosts countless health professionals on one platform. It&#8217;s also available in other European countries.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Conventionn\u00e9 secteur<\/em> 1 or 2,<\/strong> what does this mean? These are categories for consultation fees. A sector 1 consultation with a general physician costs \u20ac30. For sector 2, you may have to pay an additional sum that is not covered by social security but may be covered by your mutuelle (secondary insurance), if you have one. When booking an appointment, be sure to find a doctor that meets your needs. <\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info-wrap\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Why might someone choose sector 2 if the bill could be higher?<\/strong> There are many factors, including wait time, availability of appointments and specialities, a preference for a specific doctor etc. And if the patient has a strong mutuelle, the extra fees might be entirely reimbursed anyway.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<h2>The day of your appointment<\/h2>\n<p>When you arrive, you\u2019ll be asked for your <em>carte Vitale<\/em> (social security health card) and <em>mutuelle<\/em> (secondary insurance). <\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have either, which is the case for most working holiday makers, you can still see the doctor, the medical bill will just be your personal responsibility. Remember that you can subsequently file a claim with your private health insurance (we&#8217;ve been recommending <a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/whv-insurance\/\">Globe WHV<\/a> since 2005), assuming the type of care is covered under your policy. <\/p>\n<h3>General physician<\/h3>\n<p>You can make an appointment with a general doctor for any health concerns. Specialists (e.g., dermatologist, gynecologist), however, are a bit harder to find.<\/p>\n<p>In general, if you have a relatively minor health problem, you can find an appointment with a general doctor the same day or the next day, in person or via video-call. <\/p>\n<h3>Dentist<\/h3>\n<p>For dental appointments, you will be greeted and treated from beginning to end by the dentist. The profession of dental hygienist does not exist in France. <\/p>\n<p>If you need to have your wisdom teeth removed, your dentist will provide you with a list of stomatologists. They are the ones who perform this type of operation. Inform yourself of the medical fees before going through with the operation.<\/p>\n<ul><\/ul>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"c-notification\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-notification__text u-b0\">\n\t\t\t\tAs an example, I went to see the dentist for teeth scaling and polishing. With my carte Vitale, I only had to pay \u20ac17.35. If I didn\u2019t have social security, it would have been \u20ac43.38. \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n<h3>Pharmacist <\/h3>\n<p>Generally, we go see the pharmacist to ask basic health questions and to obtain medicine (with and without prescription). Note that pharmacists in France are not authorised to prescribe contraceptives, including pills. <\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll be asked for your carte Vitale at the pharmacy as well, but it&#8217;s okay if you don\u2019t have one, you can just pay out of pocket.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info-wrap\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAlso read: <a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/dossiers\/contraception-pregnancy-termination-whv\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Contraception and pregnancy termination options during your working holiday<\/a>.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<h3>Ophthalmologist <\/h3>\n<p>Ophthalmologists are specialist doctors for the eyes and vision. So if you need an examination for myopia, for example, you will need to make an appointment with one. At the end of the appointment, you will be given a prescription, which you will then show to an optician for the purchase of your contacts or glasses. <\/p>\n<p>The price of a consultation varies depending on the sector (1 or 2). For a consultation with a sector 2 ophthalmologist, expect an invoice of around \u20ac60. <\/p>\n<h2>Getting reimbursed for medical fees <\/h2>\n<p>At the end of your appointment, make sure that the medical professional gives you a receipt. It will be important for your insurer to have. <\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-dossier-article__info-wrap\">\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/whv-insurance\/\">Globe WHV<\/a> has an easy to use online platform for medical claims. \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<p>If you are from Qu\u00e9bec and are still a beneficiary of RAMQ, you must fill out the form on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca\/en\/media\/2901\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this website<\/a> and mail it. Processing times are around 55 days. <\/p>\n<h3>Social security in France<\/h3>\n<p>If you have questions about French social security, learn more by reading <a href=\"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/securite-sociale-whv\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">this article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We can\u2019t stress this enough: unexpected situations are bound to happen when living abroad. You may find yourself needing to consult a medical professional during your working holiday in France, whether for something minor or urgent. Finding a doctor Doctolib is an app that hosts countless health professionals on one platform. It&#8217;s also available in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":433182,"featured_media":422183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1067],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admin-and-paperwork","pays-france-en"],"acf":[],"comments_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/433182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426800"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453789,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426800\/revisions\/453789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvtistes.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}