Your regular update for (almost) everything about life at the Dispensaire

Dear readers,

As at the start of every month since last June, here is your eagerly awaited new newsletter from the Dispensaire Français – French Benevolent Society*.

After the profiles of Audrey, Nathalie and Dylan, followed by those of Laura Muñoz and Elisabeth Chermette, meet Zoé Bellamy, GP and gynaecologist.

🌐 And some big news we are very proud of: our website has (finally) had a makeover! Discover it HERE.

* For the sake of editorial clarity, the term ‘Dispensaire’ will be used throughout our newsletters.

SPOTLIGHT on Zoé Bellamy

GP, gynaecologist and co-coordinator of the Société Clinique at the Dispensaire

Although she was born near Paris, Zoé Bellamy spent five years of her childhood in Aberdeen: the origins of her bond with the United Kingdom! After several moves, Zoé began studying medicine in Nancy, before transferring to the Cochin-Port Royal faculty (now Paris Cité) in 2000 for its international outlook. Among other things, she spent a few months on a hospital placement in Boston, then on Réunion Island, where, between challenging hikes, she worked hard for six months. After completing her general practice thesis, Zoé began working as a locum and in family planning, while specialising in medical gynaecology.

“A medical gynaecology consultation often opens a window onto the health of a whole family”

Meeting her husband took her all over France – back to Nancy, then Strasbourg and Nantes – where Zoé kept reinventing herself and gaining a wealth of experience: healthcare for people in precarious situations, family planning, maternal and child health services (PMI), rural medicine and a university preventive medicine centre. With all these different groups, she made prevention and gynaecology her battle cry.

“I also trained in active listening: knowing how to listen is a tremendous tool for unlocking critical situations”

In 2017, when a job opportunity came up in London, Zoé and her husband jumped at the chance they had been dreaming of: to live abroad and give their children an international outlook. Zoé had her qualifications recognised and discovered the Dispensaire Français through the Société Clinique talks: “I was given an extremely warm welcome at the Dispensaire, and I started working there as soon as I could.”

Alongside this, she has worked in turn for an English clinic, at Medicare Français, and finally at The Medical Chambers Kensington since 2021. Her volunteer role at the Dispensaire is twofold:

• Zoé holds a general practice and gynaecology clinic one afternoon a month
• She is also involved in the Société Clinique as co-coordinator, alongside Dr Sophie Flammarion and Dr Caroline Pontvert.

To conclude, Zoé shares her vision of the Dispensaire:

“The Dispensaire Français is both a caring, welcoming family and a very serious healthcare space, where everyone works in a highly professional way, even as a volunteer”

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To find out more about the Dispensaire, click here

✍🏻 Many thanks to Delphine Gourgues, volunteer copywriter, for creating this series of profiles!