“Liberal medicine is sick!”: the diagnosis and the remedy of an Azurean in the demonstration of doctors in Paris

“Take care of yourself!” Walid Moukfi concludes forty minutes of telephone interview in an energetic and warm tone, this tone that his patients know him in Gattières. Dr. Moukfi chairs the multidisciplinary health center there. On Tuesday, the house remained open. But his doctors were on strike. in unison with a profession under pressure.

It is therefore from Paris, where he went to demonstrate, that Walid Moukfi recounts his daily life, his fears and constraints, which led him to close his office. “A strong gesture. It’s the first time”. Dr. Moukfi, 37, has been practicing for ten years. He grew up in Monaco, studied nine years in Nice, started at Carros. Today, he practices in Gattières, “this small village of 4000 inhabitants” which has two general practitioners.

“2000 inhabitants for a doctor is far too much! But we will always do what we can, with the means we have”, assures this generalist. He chose this “job for others, for oneself, and out of passion”. But this job, he admits, “is not easy. We have a huge demand for care. This rhythm is difficult to sustain.” Since Carros lost two doctors, their patients have flocked to the Gattiéroise nursing home. Result: “We are not unemployed!”

“Dealing with Demand”

Dr. Walid Moukfi, general practitioner Gattières, closed his practice for the first time in order to go and demonstrate in Paris. (DR).

Walid Moukfi’s week stretches from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Friday. It continues on Saturday morning, “to meet the demand”. to this are added ten hours of weekly care in unscheduled care centres. “It’s time taken from your family life”, recalls this father of two young boys. His wife, a health economist, had to slow down to take care of the children and help him with the administration – “I’m lucky to have a woman who supports me.”

Every day, Dr. Moukfi sees between 30 and 40 patients. He strives to give everyone “the necessary time”. These range from young parents worried because their infant has diarrhea, to the patient in full burn out. Too often he “is not satisfied”. Too often it’s the lunch break that skips – “Voluntary Intermittent Fasting”he jokes.

His daily menu is punctuated by the appointments set by Doctolib and the assistant, this precious ally “which makes the human link between patients and doctors”. This is why Walid Moukfi is calling for resources for liberal medicine. “We need administrative staff to help us in our practice.”

“Common Front”

If this Azurean parades behind the banner of the “Doctors for tomorrow” collective, it is to join a “common front against the Rist law”. This would like to allow paramedical professions to establish a diagnosis. Walid Moukfi opposes it. Defend him “work in coordination”as it already does with Hanen, an advanced practice nurse. “We work with lots of professionals. We don’t need laws to tell us how to do it…”

And then there’s this claim “who made a lot of talk”: the consultation at 50 euros instead of 25. Some people find it exaggerated. But for Walid Moukfi, it must allow “to invest in staff and equipment. We don’t complain about our living conditions, but about our working conditions!” Today he calls “to a shock of attractiveness”to prevent young doctors from giving up settling or going abroad.

This Wednesday, from 7 a.m., Dr. Moukfi will be back in his office, faithful to his patients. Willing to “help, listen”, and receive in return “the smile, the handshake or the lemons from the garden that give balm to the heart.” But he will keep in mind that “Liberal medicine is sick. The doctors have the right diagnosis, the right treatment. It is up to the politicians to allow it to survive.”