i have a problem with this. the fact that you never get to make your own doctor's appointments, you get a letter with a date and place stating that you have to be there. I don't know how it works where you all come from, but in france if your child is approaching the date he needs a vaccine for example, you get a GP on the phone, tell him you need an appointment and a prescription for, for instance, a DTP vaccine, get it, go to the pharmacy, buy it, go to your appointment and have the GP do it.
I had gotten a sumon but did not go. tried the french way with my GP, he laughed at me. so i got a second summon (had to laugh really your daughter "moet prikken worden!!" ) no name of vaccine, no nothing, you go with your eyes closed and just do as you're told, not knowing how long the vaccine was in the fridge , not knowing what your child is being vaccinated against...just being treated like a dumb sheep.
no wonder my husband doesnt even know the difference between a bacteria and a virus. geez. cant blame him anymore now that i see how it works.

You can call and tell them that the time is not good for you and request a time you prefer. I feel that the medical culture here is about what is best for them not necessarily, what is best for you as a patient or parent of a patient. At least that is my feeling but I am not very sure as to why they tell you what to do vs. letting you tell them what you want to do. Maybe they feel we are all too stupid to know what we want or need.
The rest of your observations about the sheep are correct and I am afraid it is the culture here. The Dutch are use to being told what to do, are not encouraged to take any responsibility for their health, and tend to know very little about it. I was surprised at the lack of knowledge of my otherwise highly educated Dutch friends had when it came to Medicine and general health care. All you have to do is see how the medical terminology or lack of it for better words is used and you get an idea how they treat most people/patients as stupid...
I cannot say you will be able to do it the "French Way" but you can take responsibility for your health and can request the vaccination schedule, what vaccines are given and just so you know the Dutch may not have the same vaccines on schedule as they do in France. I ended up requesting some vaccines and paid out of pocket for them along with going to Germany to get one that was not available here. I was given a hard time but stuck to my request and sadly found I had more knowledge than many of the so called professionals. In the end I got what I felt was best for my family and I.

If it helps, they do this in the UK also. If you object to the vaccination and don't want your child to have it - call them and they will take you off the database. But it is the database that sends out reminders - this is progress, this way they 'miss' less children, even if it does make the system a little impersonal (but there are hundreds of thousands of children's records, after all).

i'm fine with vaccinating my daughter, actually. i would just like to not be excluded in the process or treated like i am too dumb to know what a vaccine name refers to...
i was informed on he same visit that they do not do the hepatitis B vaccination here. and that me, my partner and my oldest son will get summonned soon to get the mexican flue vaccine in order to protect my daughter who isn't 6 months old yet ( they only do it for 6 months to 4 years old kids) ... i wish we had a choice in the matter. getting frustrated. my personnal plan was watching the news closely for a few months after mass vaccination started to see if problems arose from it. not to get sucked in a weird machinery.
thank you jaded, i will be asking for that schedule, and have it validated by a gp in france. this sounds terribly racist and arrogant but i am afraid i also , most of the times, know more about diagnosis, general hygiene, psychology,and treatments than the professionals i talk to here. i am not inclined to trust them, i admit.

Strange. If I get "summoned" and the time doesn't suit me, I give the doctor a call and make an appointment at a time that suits me. Never had a problem with this. This is also exactly like it it suggested in those "summon"letters. Also nobody has ever given me medicins without me knowing what it is or what it is for. Maybe it is because I am not afraid to talk with my doctor or ask him/her questions.
But I think it is perfectly understandable that a visit to a doctor can be a little more troublesome if you don't speak the language. From what I experience most people know perfectly well the ins and outs of medical treatment. Especially in these days of internet and all information is easily available.

Hmmm. The only time i got a schedule was for me, a letter arrived informing me that i needed to get an x-ray for TB which included where/when and what time.

When we arrived here and after all the documents required to register was done, we got a letter asking what shots my daughter has had. i filled up the form and sent it back. a few days later, we got a letter stating all the shots that she will still need and each shot had a paper which i was to bring to the doctor. no time or date was there but instead, they just placed an advise that we make an appt for them.

other than that, we got no hassles about it.