School Medicine

School medicine is defined as the range of preventive medical measures and medical examinations designed to monitor pupils’ health and promote their well-being. It is provided by medical, social and educational teams accredited by the Minister for Health.

The School Medicine Division of the Ministry of Health and Social Security is responsible for organising school medicine at post-primary education level.

Local authorities, for their part, are responsible for organising school health services at primary education level. To this end, most of them collaborate with health professionals from the Medical and Social League (Ligue medico-sociale).

Dental health monitoring for pupils in cycles 1.2 and 2.1 of primary education is carried out by dentists from the School Health Division. For the other cycles, this falls under the responsibility of the local authorities and is carried out by registered private dentists.

The teams within the School Medicine Service report to the Chief Medical Officer of the School Medicine Division of the Directorate of Health. Their remit is to ensure a holistic approach to pupils’ health, centred on two key areas of intervention:

• Health promotion and health education.
• Medical, social and educational monitoring, including in particular:
  • screening tests and measures for early detection and routine monitoring;
  • standardised medical examinations;
  • health checks, including the social aspect;
  • dental examinations.