France’s healthcare is often cited as one of the best in the world, both for its quality and universal coverage.  Nevertheless, there is a shortage of doctors (often referred to as ‘medical deserts’)that has grown more concerning in the past few years.  Both Covid and an aging doctor population has contributed to the reality  many suburban and rural areas lack availability to doctors.  An excellent way to check any area you are considering to see access to doctors is the excellent site, Doctolib.  One can type the name of a town and see a list of doctors serving that area and their next available appointments.  It is fairly common, with increasing scarcity of doctors, for medium size towns to show few appointments at all.  While that should sound a note of caution, many doctors simply now are noting that you must call for an appointment, so it doesn’t necessarily mean it is impossible to obtain an appointment.   The listing in itself is quite useful for contacting local doctors.  

Factors we consider when ranking a town as having robust health care. 

• Size of town  (Larger cities will have the largest health care systems)
• Numbeo’s health and safety rating
• Presence of a general hospital in town
• Various maps indicating availability of doctors