What is a tabib and where do I find a doctor in Morocco?

Tabib is the everyday word for "doctor", and it is worth tucking into your vocabulary in case you ever need to ask for one. Morocco's healthcare runs on two tracks — a public hospital system and a network of private clinics and cabinets — and as a visitor you will almost always use the private side, where care in the cities is quick, professional and remarkably affordable by Western standards.

For the small stuff — an upset stomach, a cold, a minor cut — your very first stop should be the pharmacy, marked by a green crescent or cross. Moroccan pharmacists are highly trained, frequently speak French and often English, and can dispense a great deal directly over the counter without a prescription. I tell guests that nine times out of ten the pharmacy solves the problem before a tabib is ever needed.

If you do need a doctor, the easiest route is through your riad or hotel: reception can call a tabib to visit you, or direct you to a trusted nearby clinic. In Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat and Fes there are excellent private clinics used to treating travellers. Keep your hotel's number and the address written down, and note that a doctor's visit or consultation is typically very reasonably priced.

Two practical things I never skip with guests: carry comprehensive travel insurance that covers medical care and repatriation, and bring any regular medication in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription. Pharmacies operate a rota so there is always a "pharmacie de garde" open through the night — your hotel or the nearest hanout will know which one. With that small preparation, falling ill in Morocco is rarely the ordeal travellers fear.