Social media use has expanded rapidly in healthcare, involving both patients and physicians. Beyond information sharing, these platforms shape the public image of doctors and may influence professionalism and the patient–doctor relationship in primary care. However, their impact on the perceived image of general practitioners remains insufficiently explored, particularly from a combined patient and physician perspective.The primary objective of this study was to explore how the image of general practitioners on social media is perceived by both physicians and patients. We aimed to analyse patterns of use, perceived benefits and risks, and implications for professionalism and the patient–doctor relationship in primary care.We conducted a qualitative study between October 2024 and March 2025. Using iterative theoretically reasoned sampling, ten participants were recruited: five general practitioners and five patients. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews. A qualitative analysis inspired by grounded theory was performed, allowing themes to emerge inductively through iterative coding and comparison of physicians’ and patients’ perspectives.Both physicians and patients reported frequent personal use of social media, while professional use among general practitioners was heterogeneous. Social media were perceived as tools for health education, professional networking, and public health communication. Physicians expressed strong concerns regarding professional image, confidentiality, and boundary management between private and professional spheres, often adopting self-regulation strategies. Patients generally viewed physicians’ presence on social media positively when focused on educational content. However, ambivalence emerged toward highly visible “content-creator” physicians, with concerns about credibility, commercial interests, oversimplification of information, and potential trivialisation of medical expertise. Both groups highlighted risks related to misinformation, insufficient identification of professionals, and lack of clear professional regulation.Social media represent an ambivalent space for primary care, simultaneously supporting patient education, visibility of the medical profession, and patient engagement, while exposing physicians to ethical, professional, and relational challenges that may affect trust.Social media use influences the image of general practitioners and contributes to reshaping the patient–doctor relationship in primary care. These findings highlight the need for clearer professional guidance and training in digital professionalism to promote ethical, trustworthy, and patient-centred use of social media.

Numerous studies have examined the uneven distribution of doctors across the country and the impact of public policy on variations in healthcare provision. However, few studies investigate the specific characteristics of general practitioners and their impact on healthcare provision.This study, conducted by the URPS-ML and the Centre-Val-de-Loire Health Insurance Fund, aims to develop a methodology for identifying general practitioners among the omnipraticiens listed in the SNIIRAM database and to identify the actual activity of general practitioners.Analysis of general practitioners' activity data (SNIIRAM and ERASME) allows us to determine variables that identify general practitioners according to the criteria of the Collège de Médecine Générale (general practitioner fees, G or CCAM-rated procedures, etc.). To convert their activity into a more relevant indicator than “gross medical density,” the number of procedures constituting “synthetic activity” in a given territory is calculated using two indicators: the first, called “active workforce,” combines the workforce measured by the “weighted activity coefficient” of each professional, while the second, called “effective medical density,” corresponds to individuals weighted by the “active workforce.” These results were confirmed by qualitative work with a statistically robust sample of physicians.In the Centre-Val-de-Loire region, 1,731 doctors are registered as omnipraticiens. Only 1,531 are identified as general practitioners, representing a workforce of 1,577 doctors (active workforce). This represents an 8.8% drop between the supposed and actual supply of healthcare in a region with the lowest density of general practitioners in France.This work highlights additional weaknesses: in one territory, 24 doctors have an “active workforce” equivalent to 35.8 doctors, which is a 33% underestimation of the actual density, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of their activity and the number of doctors needed to replace them after they retire. Conversely, some areas have a lower active workforce than the actual density of the area, due to practice choices.This study made it possible to accurately characterize the primary care provision in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region and to propose a conventional doctor zoning based on the actual provision of care, as close as possible to the field and the difficulties faced by professionals and patients.

The continuity of outpatient care (PDSA) refers to the organisation of outpatient care outside normal medical practice opening hours. Improving this service is a public health issue that must guarantee all citizens access to effective PDSA while controlling costs for society. Its operational balance depends on the voluntary participation of doctors. XXX is something of an exception in XXX, with mobile services continuing throughout the night. This study examines the financial aspects of mobile services.The primary objective was to compare the cost of mobile care with the cost of referral to hospital emergency departments. In the absence of mobile care, patients would be assessed in emergency departments by default. The secondary objective was to estimate the number of emergency department visits avoided.Microeconomic study in XXX in 2024. Calculation of the cost of PDSA mobile care, the cost of medical transport and a visit to the emergency room.The mobile PDSA service in 2024 cost approximately €1,580,959.60 for those insured by the Primary Health Insurance Fund in XXX. In comparison, referring all affected patients to hospital emergency services was estimated to cost €2,429,796.32. The PDSA mobile service in XXX in 2024 enabled 5,576 patients to remain at home, thereby avoiding the same number of visits to the emergency department.PDSA's mobile service cost €834,078.32 less than ambulance transport and emergency room visits. This represents 15.2 visits avoided per dayThe current operation of the PDSA in XXX provides comprehensive coverage of the territory outside normal medical practice opening hours. It enables an effective response to urgent visits, as well as requests for death certificates and administrative certificates. It provides a high level of medical service to the population, enabling the most vulnerable to avoid harmful medical transport. It places greater professional demands on doctors.

In the medical imagination, the doctor is traditionally perceived as the one who heals, not as the one who embodies vulnerability.Twenty years after the enactment of the French law on equal rights and opportunities (11 February 2005), the lack of official data on doctors with disabilities reflects a persistent invisibility of this reality within the medical profession. Far from being a purely individual issue, the situation of doctors with disabilities raises questions about the ability of the health system to fully integrate the diversity of professionals.This paper explores how physicians with visible disabilities construct and negotiate their professional identity within a health care system that is predominantly structured by normative and ableist norms.This is a qualitative phenomenological study based on semi-structured interviews with 17 doctors in France with different visible disabilities (motor, sensory, dermatological). The sample was diversified by age, specialty, geographical region and type of disability. Data collection was supported by a reflexive methodology and analysed by interpretive phenomenological analysis.The findings reveal four key dynamics shaping the experiences of these professionals: (1) internalised stigma, often rooted in childhood, affects self-concept and identity; (2) medical institutions are ill-equipped to accommodate non-standard bodies, fostering systemic exclusion and isolation; (3) adaptive strategies involve a constant tension between conforming to norms and embracing personal inventiveness, often at the cost of mental fatigue and overwork; (4) care becomes a site of sublimation, where physicians transform vulnerability into clinical strength, challenging traditional definitions of legitimacy in medicine.This discussion offers a cross-sectional reading of the results, comparing them with theoretical frameworks.   The contributions of Erving Goffman (stigmatization, self-presentation), Bourdieu (norm, reproduction, habitus), Honneth (recognition, social justice), Lahire (plurality of trajectories) and Heidegger (relationship to the body, being-in-the-world) have been invoked, among other references, to think about the diversity of trajectories, identity tensions and lived experiences of visible disability.These trajectories reflect structural limitations in the medical field and call for a paradigm shift towards a more inclusive, empowering model of health care. Rather than correcting individuals, the system needs to evolve to embrace bodily diversity and redefine professional excellence beyond ableist norms.

In France, doctors are not generally salaried employees and do not report directly to the health service. They are independent practitioners and their ethics are governed by the Code of Medical Ethics of the National Medical Order, which is included in the Public Health Code. This may be supplemented by commitments or charters specific to various movements or types of practice. The Cantepau Medical Charter was drawn up by a group of general practitioners practising in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the Occitanie region, whose patients include a large population of homeless people, asylum seekers and drug addicts.This charter summarises the choices made by the first doctors at the medical centre more than 30 years ago. It aims to commit all its members to a process of quality and ethics, to make it known to patients and to disseminate it to other healthcare professionals.The commitments contained in this Charter enable better service to be provided to patients and the community without placing a burden on healthcare professionals. They are actually quite easy to uphold.The Cantepau Medical Charter was drawn up by a small number of practitioners and would undoubtedly benefit from broader consideration by both professionals and patients.The Cantepau Medical Charter is a document that should be disseminated to promote better ethical and practical thinking about medical practice.

Teleconsultation has been booming in France since the health crisis linked to the SARS-CoV2 epidemic. In march 2023, the French National Medical Council (CNOM) published a report on the telemedicine misuse, particularly regarding the risks of teleconsultation exclusive practice. No descriptive analysis of doctors employed by teleconsultation platforms was found in the literature.To determine whether profiles of doctors employed by teleconsultation platforms could be identified based on socio-demographic and professional characteristics.A cross-sectional study was conducted in France among a population of doctors employed by five teleconsultation platforms.  An online self-administered questionnaire was made available between 30 October 2024 and 30 April 2025.A total of 342 doctors were included. The average age was 51 (±16 years), 52% were women. Teleconsultation was practiced exclusively by 25% of doctors. Feelings about quality of life and practice were positive for 90% of doctors compared to standard practice, while feelings about remuneration were negative for 26% of doctors. Three profiles were identified. One consisted of a majority of men, retired, practicing teleconsultation exclusively, mainly from home, with a positive perception of teleconsultation. A second consisted of a majority of women, in mid-career, who did not practice teleconsultation exclusively, with a positive perception of teleconsultation. A third group consisted of a majority of women, at the beginning or in the middle of their careers, who did not practice teleconsultation exclusively, had a negative perception of teleconsultation, and did not expect to practice teleconsultation throughout their careers.This study has the strength of involving five major companies in the sector and a participation rate that has enabled to identify three profiles. Its limitations are the desirability bias inherent in self-administered questionnaires, the limited sample size as regard to the estimated payroll and the fact that it does not take account the modalities of teleconsultation practices.This study seems to show that comfort in life and practice are factors that motivate the teleconsultation practice. Three profiles of salaried doctors have been identified. Many aspects remain to be explored in order to gain a better understanding of these doctors and this rapidly growing practice.

France faces a growing challenge in ensuring equitable and continuous access to healthcare amid population ageing and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases. Despite successive reforms and the creation of new coordination structures—Primary Care Professional Communities (Communautés Professionnelles Territoriales de Santé, CPTS), Support and Coordination Units (Dispositifs d’Appui à la Coordination, DAC), and Hospital Territorial Groups (Groupements Hospitaliers de Territoire, GHT)—territorial governance remains fragmented and poorly integrated.To identify the main institutional, professional, and digital barriers to effective territorial coordination of care, and to propose realistic strategies for improving equity, efficiency, and quality in primary care organization.This qualitative and documentary study was carried out between 2024 and 2025 as part of the Executive Master in Health Policy and Management (Gestion et Politiques de Santé, GPS) at Sciences Po Paris. It combined a comprehensive review of national policy reports—from the High Council for the Future of Health Insurance (Haut Conseil pour l’Avenir de l’Assurance Maladie, HCAAM), the General Inspectorate for Social Affairs (Inspection Générale des Affaires Sociales, IGAS), and the National Health Insurance Fund (Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie, CNAM)—with 20 semi-structured interviews conducted in the 14ᵗʰ district of Paris. Participants included general practitioners, hospital managers, representatives from Regional Health Agencies (Agences Régionales de Santé, ARS), CNAM delegates, and municipal officials involved in local health policies.Three dimensions of fragmentation were identified: Institutional: overlapping responsibilities between national, regional, and local authorities; Professional: weak interprofessional culture and insufficient recognition of coordination time; Digital: limited interoperability between public e-health tools (e.g., Mon Espace Santé) and private platforms (e.g., Doctolib, Omnidoc). Nevertheless, local initiatives show that shared governance models, interprofessional training, and integrated digital infrastructures can significantly improve continuity of care and collaboration.Territorial coordination must evolve from a top-down administrative injunction to a participatory governance model involving professionals and local authorities. Recognizing coordination time, fostering mutual trust, and investing in interoperable tools are key levers for transformation.Coordination is not an accessory but a condition for the survival of equitable, sustainable, and human-centred healthcare. Strengthening territorial governance and valuing teamwork are essential for the future of primary care in France.