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Dr Elisabeth Paganelli (medical gynecologist and member of the Syndicate of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of France (Syngof))
Faced with the expanding medical desert, the National Federation of Colleges of Medical Gynecology warns of the urgency of increasing the number of gynecologist positions in boarding schools, to train more of them and finally find a decent supply of care.
Can’t make an appointment with a gynecologist near you? Unfortunately, you are not the only one. While the latest survey by the UFC Que Choisir pointed to the health divide that reigns in France through an interactive map, the National Federation of Medical Gynecology Colleges (FNCGM) drove the nail a little deeper on November 16 on the subject of professionals in their sector. In a press release intended for the public authorities, the federation once again wished to warn of the lack of open positions to respond “to the growing attraction of interns for the specialty of medical gynecology and to improve access to care for women”. The lack of professionals would therefore not be linked to a desertion of candidates but to a malfunction of the entire system, which would not be recent.
A course suppressed for 16 years at the origin of the shortages
According to Isabelle Héron, president of the FNCGM, the dysfunction has already lasted thirty years.
“For 16 years, we stopped training interns with the specialty ‘medical gynecology’. This means that today many gynecologists are over 60 years old. It is difficult to recover and the time that the relay is taken, it takes a lot of time” she declares in an interview given to the magazine’s website Marie Claire.
The facts are real: the “gynecology” specialty was removed from the university curriculum in 1987 and reintroduced only in 2003, already under the impetus of health professionals and the help of a national petition having collected 1,600,000 signatures from women . Proof that the subject is hot.
However, according to the press release, “the number of positions offered during this reintroduction in 2003 was very insufficient compared to the number of gynecologists who were going to retire (only about ten positions per year…)”. The recovery therefore did not fully resolve the situation.
Even today, 19 years later, the specialty is experiencing a positive development, with an increasing number of interns preparing for the DES in medical gynecology. But if the number of open positions has increased (87 positions in 2022 compared to only 10 in 2007), they remain however well below the number of positions that would be needed to compensate for retirements, estimated between 120 and 130 per year. according to the federation.
A problematic impact on women’s health
Within the FNCGM, concern is growing for the quality of care, which will decrease, “with the risk of leading to delays in diagnosis of pathologies”.
For Elizabeth Paganelli, medical gynecologist and secretary of the National Union of French Obstetrician Gynecologists (SYNGOF), the fact of not being able to obtain the opinion of a gynecologist has an impact on women’s health.
“Patients can now access gynecological consultations by midwives who take care of everything that is physiological. Pharmacists are also seeing an expansion of their powers, by being able to dispense the morning after pill, for example. However, as soon as a specialized consultation is needed, sometimes urgent, it becomes really complicated, and it leaves them in anguish”.
Thus, as soon as the question touches on infertility, hirsutism, vulvitis, various types of bleeding, anything that is cancerous, or anything out of the ordinary, a follow-up by a gynecologist is necessary. . “French women deserve better” she shouts. As for general practitioners, who actually have training in gynecological care, Dr. Paganelli points to the fact that they do not, however, have training in technical procedures in their university degree.
The press release reminds us that gynecology is a complete specialty, at the interface of endocrinology, obstetrics and oncology, but also in contact with all the specialties in a transversal way, which supports women at every key stage of her gynecological life, from puberty to menopause.
“If the number of positions does not increase significantly, who will take charge of all facets of a woman’s gynecological health? Who will be responsible for monitoring these pathologies? ”Isabelle Héron rightly worries.
The president of the FNCGM today requests a meeting with the Minister of Health to discuss this situation and try to find solutions. With a hope of change at the key? The FNCGM has been alerting successive Ministers of Health for many years. Alerts remained unanswered.