#AssociationOfTheWeek – Meeting with the Montpellier Health Tutoring Association

After meeting with Tutorat Santé Nîmois, this week we are meeting with the Association Tutorat Santé de Montpellier and its new president, Milla Esclafit-Cardoso! 

In a few words, what is the Montpellier Health Tutoring Association?

The Tutoring Program is made up of second- and third-year health studies students who have passed the PACES exam and who have been selected and trained for a year by the professors in charge of the year's program. Our goal is to provide free, high-quality educational and moral support to any student at the University of Montpellier and its branches who wishes to pursue health studies. To meet this demand, three associations are at your disposal: the Montpellier Health Tutoring Association, the Pharmacy Tutors Association, and the Nîmes Health Tutoring Association. 

These three associations pool their resources to provide equitable support to all students and share the same goal of equal opportunities in the selection process for admission to health studies. 

What activities or actions do you implement throughout the year? 

To start the year off on the right foot, we are offering a Pre-Term Course open to all PACES and PASS students this year. The course aims to cover the entire first semester curriculum, help students acquire effective study methods, and introduce them to the faculty so they can find their bearings. 

Every week, we review the key points of each course in all subjects in the form of multiple-choice quizzes reviewed by the professors. These sessions are split into several time slots so that students can arrange their schedules according to their availability. To answer questions, office hours are held every lunchtime at the university, and a forum is also available to students. 

In order to enable regular and representative assessment, we organize weekly graded tests involving around 900 students across the three sites, as well as mock exams, which this year involved more than 1,600 students in the first semester. 

To adapt to the lockdown situation and health measures, we conducted our sessions and tests online via Zoom, which we recorded so that PACES students with unstable internet connections could view them. We also developed our YouTube channel to diversify our remote content, focusing on course points that we found difficult to understand.

Beyond academic support, we help students through a demanding year by promoting activities focused on well-being: board games at lunchtime, relaxation tutorials, etc. Our biggest wellness event is Pep's Week, which takes place in early January, during a particularly difficult period for PACES students. To help first-year students connect with upperclassmen, we set up a student mentoring program at the beginning of the year. 

To further promote equal opportunities, the Tutoring Service works withHandiversité to offer a disability service for students who need special arrangements for classes or exams. 

Finally, in the context of reform, we are the preferred point of contact within the university, organizing career guidance forums, but also at the local level in various student fairs, and at the national level by participating in conferences bringing together tutors from across France.

What made you decide to join the association? 

Tutoring helped me pass my PACES exam by supporting me for two years: this support was extremely valuable to me because I couldn't afford to pay for the services of a private organization. The availability of the tutors, the quality of the sessions, and above all the support in all aspects of PACES life (revision, lifestyle, morale, etc.) really helped me get through this difficult period. It was obvious to me that I would apply to be a tutor after being admitted to my second year of medical school, so I was delighted to join the UE7 (Health, Humanities, Society) team. My year as a trainee tutor was so fulfilling that I wanted to continue the adventure by joining the Tutoring Office to help it revamp itself during the year of reform: we changed our name from Association du Tutorat Médecine de Montpellier (ATM²) to Association du Tutorat Santé de Montpellier (ATSM) to better reflect our desire to diversify the profiles of students entering all health programs! 

What does the association offer students?

Beyond simple educational support, our goal is to provide genuine assistance to all young adults who are discovering both university studies and life away from home, and who we ask to take on a very heavy workload. Our core value is equal opportunity, so that selection for this first year is based on work capacity rather than financial situation. This ties in more broadly with our duty of camaraderie, which is dear to us in the health professions, and our training, which is largely based on peer training. We are, above all, students who have gone through this process ourselves and who are trying to help PACES students as we needed help when we were in their shoes!

Why do you think people should join your association? 

In the first year, students can register for free tutoring throughout the year: attendance is not compulsory, but according to faculty surveys, attending 80% of tutoring sessions is the best way to pass the exam! 

If you want to join ATSM as a tutor, you will have the opportunity to be selected based on your application and interview after your second semester results. You will then have the status of Trainee Tutor during your second year, and can continue as a Qualified Tutor when you move into your third year. 

A few words about the 2020-2021 board?

The General Assembly for the handover to our new board took place on June 9: we are all very enthusiastic about renewing our offer to support students repeating PACES, PASS, and LAS. We know that this year can be intimidating for new high school graduates, and we are ready to support them through this change. 

We are in the process of changing our name, so for the time being, our old name appears on social media:

Facebook: Medicine Tutoring Montpellier 

Instagram: 

• medmtp tutoring
• tuto_peps (our shared wellness account for the three tutoring sites)

Email contacts: 

• General questions about the association, PACES, and PASS: asso.atsm@gmail.com
• Questions about LAS: vicepresident.las.atsm@gmail.com
• Questions about possible accommodations within the framework of the Disability Tutoring Program: vptutohandicap@gmail.com

Networks of other associations: 

Health Tutoring in Nîmes: 

• Facebook: Health Tutoring Nîmes
• Instagram: health_tutoring_nimes

Association of Pharmacy Tutors: 

• Facebook: Montpellier Pharmacy Tutors Association
• Instagram: atp_um

We have also prepared a presentation video for you, in collaboration with the three Tutorates!