Mobile clinic eases dermatology ‘desert’ in France
As well as offering consultations, the vehicle also allows doctors to perform procedures such as biopsies and cryotherapy
The fully equipped vehicle tours areas with worst shortages
Rovsky/Shutterstock
A mobile dermatology clinic has launched in certain departments to tackle France’s lack of skin specialists.
The brainchild of the Société Française de Dermatologie (SFD), Mobil’Derm is a fully equipped van that tours areas experiencing the worst shortages.
This “is a concrete and structured response to the shortage of medical professionals in rural areas. It allows us to reach patients where dermatology services are no longer available,” said Professor Olivier Chosidow, a member of the project’s steering committee.
As well as offering consultations, it also allows doctors to perform procedures such as biopsies and cryotherapy.
The mobile clinic started its rounds in February throughout Nouvelle-Aquitaine, serving the following departments: Creuse, Lot-et-Garonne, Vienne, Gironde, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres, Landes and Corrèze. More details here.
Consultations are covered by health insurance at the usual rate and are available via Doctolib, on referral from a patient’s GP.
The Mobil’Derm van is led by one to two dermatologists (hospital-based, private practice or retired), accompanied by an assistant–driver.
The mobile clinic is just one example of how the profession is looking for ways to address shortages in France.
Connexion reader Peter, who did not wish to give his surname, recently contacted us about his struggle to find a dermatologist.
“I have just spent virtually a whole day phoning dozens of dermatology offices, both independents and hospitals, for an appointment for my wife who has a nasty potentially cancerous lesion on the side of her face,” he said.
“After at least 30 or 40 phone calls to anywhere within a radius of 100km, I eventually got an appointment for the other side of Bordeaux.”
The appointment is well over an hour’s drive for the couple, who live in Lot-et-Garonne, and involves a six-week wait.
Fewer dermatologists
The number of dermatologists in France has fallen by 8.5% in 10 years. In 2025, there were 3,735 dermatologists, including those in private practice, hospitals and working part-time.
Today, there are just 3.26 dermatologists per 100,000 people in France, according to the Ordre des Médecins; the number should be between five and six per 100,000 to effectively meet demand.
It is one of the worst-paid sectors of healthcare and dermatologists are an ageing population – by 2030, 40% of those currently working will have retired.
Most places Peter called said they were not taking new patients or told him to talk to his GP. Many others did not answer.
“This region of France has a very serious specialist shortage – not just dermatologists, but dentists, generalists, ophthalmologists. Our friends are having the same problem,” he said.
The SFD is similarly worried: “Dermatologists are on the front line of a crisis they did not create and are bearing the brunt of. They want to respond with concrete solutions,” it said in a statement in April 2025.
Under the government’s plan to tackle medical deserts, 151 areas of France were due to receive more doctors from September 2025, but these were GPs, not specialists.
Last year, some pharmacies adopted a new system called SkinMed to lighten the load on dermatologists.
It allows photos to be taken in pharmacies, which are then analysed by artificial intelligence and dermatologists, allowing patients who were previously unable to get appointments to receive a health report in just a few days.
Based on the report, the problem could be taken care of directly in the pharmacy, the patient may be sent to a GP to get a full-body check-up or specific prescription, or the patient may be referred to a dermatologist.
