["Medical deserts" and accessibility to care: what are we talking about?]

In France, accessibility to primary health care seems to be threatened by the existence or the emergence of underserved areas often called "medical deserts". These areas are characterized by several parameters such as a poor number of health professionals, remoteness or high needs of care. We discuss here different methods to measure primary health care accessibility or imbalance between health care providers and needs. Thus, we aim to show the confusion generated by the concept of "medical deserts" and the stakes for public authorities to define measures to attract and retain general practitioners in such areas.