Medical care abroad with your family: the checklist before you leave
A check-up in Paris, an opinion in London, surgery in Switzerland: what is prepared before departure often makes the difference. Our list, in the order we follow it.
In short
- The medical file travels before you do: a summary, the scans, the treatments, in English or French.
- Who signs, and who is informed: settle it before you leave, not in a hospital corridor.
- The return is prepared too: reports, discharge treatment, and the right time to fly.
Six weeks before: the file
- A one-page summary: history, allergies, treatments. With the names of the molecules, not only the brands, which change from country to country.
- Recent reports, and the images themselves, not only their conclusions: the team receiving you will often want to review the imaging.
- A translation, into English or French, of the key documents.
- Your usual physician’s agreement to speak with the team that will receive you.
Four weeks before: the formalities
- The visa, if needed. For care in France, apply on France-Visas, which lists the documents required; plan for a letter from the hospital and its estimate. Such care is not covered by French national health insurance.
- Insurance. What it covers abroad, what needs prior approval, and an assistance number reachable day and night.
- The estimate. Complete, in writing, with the deposit terms and what happens if the stay is extended.
- Medicines. The current prescription, in your hand luggage. Some treatments, narcotics or psychotropics, require a transport certificate: within the Schengen area, the one provided for by Article 75 of the Schengen Convention.
Who decides, for whom
- For a child. Who travels with them, who signs the consent forms, and the other parent’s written agreement where needed.
- For an elderly parent. In France, any adult may appoint in writing a “personne de confiance”, consulted if they can no longer express their wishes. Appointing one before departure avoids much hesitation at the hospital.
- For the whole family. Who may receive news, and who must not: tell the team, in writing.
The right time
- Holidays, Ramadan, school calendars and the season, at home and at your destination.
- Time after the test or the operation: the physician decides when you can fly. After some operations, the airline asks for a medical form, the MEDIF, completed by the physician.
- A margin for a pending result or an additional test.
Before you fly home
- The consultation or hospital report, handed to you before departure, with a translation if needed.
- The discharge treatment and its prescription, in sufficient quantity until your physician takes over.
- The next steps, dated: pending results, a three-month review, and who is in charge of it.
We prepare all of this for you, in the Health Office.
Sources
Reviewed and approved by Rahima Khirennas, physician by training, on 5 November 2026.
For information only; not a substitute for medical advice.
Editorial responsibility: Infinite Care International LLC.
