CASE. “It was vital for me to stop”: general practitioners out of breath, they “unscrew” their plaque
In 2023, 5,400 doctors stopped practicing according to the National Council of the Order of Physicians. More than half of those who returned the gown were general practitioners. The phenomenon, quite recent, is very real. The reason is pressure, too many patients, and administrative burdens. When the discomfort is too great, some take the plunge and change path to reconnect with serenity.
A little over a year ago, Sylvie Porteneuve was still a doctor. The profession she had chosen, guided by a guidance counselor, as a teenager. After 10 years of practice, she hung up her phone. Exhausted, exhausted, because he was “vital” to stop. Sylvie now manages a family dog boarding house, far from men and everything, in the small village of Aumes (Hérault).
“I didn’t want to anymore at all”
She stopped practicing at her office in Poussan in December 2021, continued as a replacement for a year for “eat” and build your new project. In December 2022, at age 40, his decision is made : “I removed myself from the Order of Physicians. I no longer wanted to”Sylvie will simply comment.
Among the five main reasons for its cessation, degraded working conditions : “I was no longer able to exercise by taking my time, like when I started.”
Shortage of doctors, endless list of patients, Sylvie says “Yes” to everyone, wants to take time for everyone. “15 minutes per patient, I don’t know how to do it.”
Vicious circle
The doctor is caught in a vicious circle. The administrative burden did not help. The policy of numerus clausus neither : “There are not enough doctors. We are drowning in work. I don't understand this political choice.”
Another reason, one of the main ones: “I could no longer deal with the deaths of my patients and the difficult diagnoses.” Young women with cancers that she followed and who passed away. With tears in her eyes, her throat tight, Sylvie is still upset. “I remember everyone's death dates. I want to erase them but I always remember them. I think I thought I could save everyone”she said, drying her tears.
“Interns quickly burn out”
“There are not that many interns who quit medicine”reassures Killian L’Helgouarc’h, president of interns union of Languedoc-Roussillon. The picture is not all rosy, however.
“We have interns who quickly burn out, he notes. We work to enforce the regulations in hospitals but it's a long fight. It was ingrained that an intern did not count his hours. We will have to change habits because it is to the detriment of their health.”
Killian L'Helgouarc'h knows that future interns wonder a lot about the future of general medicine. “There will be fewer doctors, so obviously the work will be harder, more intense. There is also a global change of society where we try to find a balance between personal and professional life. The situation is not particularly encouraging and we do not feel that the State is very committed to supporting the general medicine and to the city medicine.”
From €3,000 to €1,500 per month
Covid finished or saved her. “We were applauded in the evening but I didn't want to be a heroine. I told myself that I never wanted to experience that again in my life. I am aware that there will be other pandemics. J So I made the decision to stop.”
Without children, Sylvie takes the risk of leaving everything behind and opening a dog boarding house. A way to reconnect with her little girl's dream, to be a wildlife photographer. The ex-doctor does not regret his choice for a second. “I feel so much better psychologically.”
From 3,000 euros per month, it increases to 1,500 euros, paid 24 euros per day for a dog looked after, or 1 euro per hour, night included. No matter, he likes the job. His new life far from humans too. What he misses most is running, due to lack of time, and traveling due to lack of money. The rest, the gaze of others, the loss of the social status of a doctor: “I don't care. I come from a family of farmers.”
In New Aquitaine, Sophie also “unscrewed”after eight years of installation. “No matter how hard we struggle, at some point we can’t do it anymore”, she confides on RMC. She made the choice to become an employee. Ditto for two doctors in Rennes and Valence, cited by The world.
To stop or not
In Paulhan, still in Hérault, Coralie Josuan, 37 years old, also a general practitioner for almost 4 years, asks “the daily question of whether (she) stops or not”. Administrative burdens, longer days with more and more patients, feeling of not being supported by the public authorities, the thirty-year-old tries to find solutions to continue.
“Difficult to envisage the future”
His medical practice considered employing a secretary to make the days lighter before giving up, to maintain a fixed salary. “It’s difficult to envisage the future in such conditions”. Until now, the love of her profession keeps her going, even if “some days are harder than others”.
In order to defend her profession and the health system, she joined the collective of private doctors Résist 34. “It would hurt me to let go of my patients. If one day I have to change, I will stay in the medical field, that’s for sure.”
75.9% of doctors in Occitanie victims of violence
Acts of violence against private doctors are increasing. According to the survey by the Observatory of the Order of Physicians published in February 2024, 75.9% of respondents in Occitania say they have been victims of violence over the last three years, including 30% several times a year.
Women are more victims (+15%) but file fewer complaints (-13%). In France, the phenomenon is up 23%.