The upcoming text aims to preserve medical availability for classic consultations amid persistent shortages across the country, addressing a sector where the market surged by 64 percent between 2018 and 2024 according to estimates from the National Order of Physicians (Conseil national de l’Ordre des médecins).
New Rules for Established and New Practitioners
Under the draft text, doctors who have practiced aesthetic medicine full-time for more than five years will have a three-year transition period to reduce that activity to 50 percent of their schedule. Meanwhile, practitioners wanting to enter the field will need to complete five years of experience in their original medical specialty first. Candidates must also complete specific theoretical and practical training determined by a government decree, while doctors already active can utilize a validation of prior learning procedure.
Medical councils will track aesthetic practitioners
The regulatory push responds to rapid growth in consumer demand. To track these services, departmental councils of the medical order will maintain updated lists of practitioners offering aesthetic procedures and their specific training areas, such as anti-aging, hair, eye, genital, or silhouette care. Non-reimbursed by Assurance Maladie and carrying freely set prices, these procedures currently lack a centralized national registry, a gap the new decree seeks to close.
Syndicates deny aesthetic practices cause medical deserts
Medical syndicates reject accusations that aesthetic practices drive medical deserts. The National Union of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV) stated that dermatological shortages stem from professional aging rather than aesthetic favoritism, adding that dermatologists devote 90 percent of their time to standard pathologies. Conversely, the Union of Aesthetic Medicine contends that fewer than 300 doctors practice aesthetics exclusively, representing less than 0.5 percent of general practitioners. Critics of the new cap also warn that restricting legal care could drive patients toward illegal injections performed by untrained individuals on social media, a risk the government previously targeted in July 2024 by requiring a prescription to purchase hyaluronic acid in pharmacies.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Aesthetic Medicine Decree
How will the 30 percent worktime limit be calculated and enforced?
The precise modalities for calculating work hours, tracking specific medical acts, and enforcing inspections remain to be defined in the final implementation texts.
What happens to doctors currently practicing aesthetic medicine full-time?
Practitioners who have dedicated 100 percent of their working time to aesthetics for more than five years will receive a three-year window to lower that ratio to 50 percent of their schedule.
Are prices for botulinum toxin and hyaluronic acid injections regulated?
No, aesthetic procedures are not covered by health insurance, meaning practitioners set their prices freely, though the new decree does not introduce any automatic price increases.
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