#ProudOfOurStudents | The Med’Trotters, off to Togo!

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Did you know? This year, the ACM’s Exchange Division is organizing an international solidarity mission to Togo! Thirteen students will have the opportunity to fly there in July to join an organization working on the renovation of a school. Interview.

Who are you?

We are Anouk Evrard and Claire Boin. We are currently third-year students in the DFGSM program at the Faculty, and we also hold elected positions within the ACM. As Vice Presidents for Exchange, our role is to facilitate international exchanges (for both incoming and outgoing students) and inter-university hospital exchanges (exchanges between university hospitals during the summer internship). 

New this year is an international solidarity project we’ve named “Med’Trotter”! 

Can you tell us more about the Med’Trotter project?

Med’Trotter is a project that was conceived by Camille Borne, our former exchange program vice president, in 2019. Unfortunately, due to the health crisis, the project couldn’t come to fruition, which is why we decided to revive it this year!

Specifically, this project is linked to“Espace Hotsi.” It is a Togolese nonprofit organization that carries out renovation projects to improve residents’ quality of life.

This year, the goal is to spend a month helping this organization with the renovation of a school in Wli, near Tsévié.

How will you help Espace Hotsi? 

Roll up your sleeves! We’ll be helping the association’s members spend a month renovating four classrooms and the restrooms. This is very important because the school serves students from preschool through elementary school, so it will benefit many children.

Since it gets very hot in Togo, we’ll only be able to work on the construction site in the mornings. So we’ve planned to lead workshops with the children and villagers in the afternoons. We’ve come up with several themes centered on art, drawing, sculpture, sports, singing, dancing, and even gardening! Of course, we’ll also help by providing academic support and conducting awareness-raising activities. For this, we’ve drawn inspiration from the initiatives we carry out during our medical outreach work. We’ve also reached out to Médecins du Monde to get their guidance on the most effective ways to raise awareness. We’re really committed to doing things right.

And then in the evening, it’ll be time for gatherings. We want to spend time with the locals, sharing stories and talking about our cultures and traditions.

 

How can we help you bring this wonderful project to life?

This project requires €24,000 in funding. These expenses cover not only the construction work itself and the school and gardening supplies we need for the workshops, but also, of course, all costs related to transportation, lodging, and medical expenses for the 13 medical students who are about to depart!

To raise these funds, we have already applied for and received a grant from the FSDIE. This grant will cover the travel expenses for 5 of the 13 students who are going. We have also applied for grants from the CROUS, the JSI (Jeunesse Solidarité Internationale, funded by the Fonjep), and the department. We are currently awaiting the results.

Our final strategy is self-funding. To that end, we’ve set up the “TOGO Stand,” which we set up once a month at the university. Our goal is to sell snacks and, above all, secondhand clothing to fund our trip.

 

So you can help us by donating clothes you no longer want at the student union office and/or by buying clothes you like when the booth is set up! Nothing goes to waste: clothes that aren’t too worn are donated during outreach events organized by the ACM’s ISS division! 

We have also set up a fundraising page for anyone who would like to make a donation.

 

Make a donation

 

Finally, we’re holding a raffle in April! All you have to do is buy a ticket at the student union. The drawing will take place at our Togo booth on April 21! Pins will also be on sale for the occasion, so don’t forget to stop by and follow us on Instagram: @med_trotter !

 

In brief

  • The International Solidarity Project

    • Help restore a school 
    • Enjoy a unique international experience based on cultural exchange
    • 13 medical students are taking part in this adventure
    • A project requiring €24,000 in funding

  • How can I help?

    • Donate clothes you no longer want to the student union office
    • Buy secondhand clothes at the stalls
    • Enter the raffle
    • Please donate to the fundraiser
    • Follow and share @med_trotter ! 

 

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PREPABLOC: An innovation recognized by the Academy of Surgery!

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After winning MUSE’s Take-Off 3 competition, Drs. Herrero and Bonnel presented the PREPABLOC training program during the “Surgical Research and Innovation 2021” session at the National Academy of Surgery. The program was then awarded the prize for educational innovation! Here’s a look back at this unique training program.

 

 

 

PRÉPABLOC: a training program for the operating room professionals of tomorrow

Construction of the project

The launch of PREPABLOC stems from a co-creation initiative led by Dr. Herrero, with support from Dr. Ferrandis. A multidisciplinary team was assembled, comprising:

  • The teaching staff at the CHU’s IBODE School,
  •  the Assistant Chief Residents at the CHU and ICM hospitals,
  •   the LIRMM teams,
  • Physical therapist in the Emergency Department at the University Hospital. 

 

Course outline

Organized and coordinated by the Innovation Accelerator, this is an innovation marathon in the form of a team competition involving groups of about ten people. Creative workshops enable participants to develop useful projects in record time and learn how to pitch them by the end of the week. The five themes were stress, communication, the future of surgical education, the appeal of operating room professions, and creating an “Escape Game.”

 The future surgical nurses, who will serve as mentors to tomorrow’s surgeons, had the opportunity to participate in various theoretical and practical workshops throughout a week-long “conference.” The directors of the surgical nursing school focused their presentations on hygiene and instrumentation. The Assistant Chief Residents from the hospitals of the University Hospital and theICM , meanwhile, led theoretical courses, sharing insights into their work as hospital surgeons, conducting workshops on suturing and surgical knots, and allowing students to test their skills on a laparoscopy simulator.  The LIRMM teams also collaborated at the high-tech university hospital simulation facility on the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus, which Dr. Debien and his teams operate on a daily basis. A workshop was also dedicated to casting techniques with Christophe, the lead cast technician in the CHU’s emergency department. 

 

The objectives of this course  

  • Train students before they begin their internship

    To provide all medical students with a structured training program that is standardized before they begin their clinical rotations in surgical or emergency departments.

  • Reduce stress among these students

    As well as that of the supervisors who welcome them into the operating rooms and who, in addition to the time required to train them on top of their regular workload, were always anxious that they might make mistakes due to a lack of familiarity in this highly controlled environment.

  • Raise awareness that effective teamwork is a key factor in success

    This will benefit not only the patient but also foster a sense of calm in a demanding workplace.

  • Encourage people to pursue careers in these fields

    With objective information.

  • Introduce students to the methodology of innovation through project-based learning at an early stage

    Pso that students know how to create, structure, and present projects that align with the ambitions they may have for both their professional and academic futures.

A project supported by MUSE

This project was made possible thanks to financial support from MUSE (Montpellier University of Excellence) through a call for proposals titled “ Take OFF 3 ” won in June 2020 with the active assistance of the innovation facilitator (Dr. Christophe BONNEL and Anaïs CAUSSE). The team at MUSE’s Center for Educational Innovation (CSIP) also contributed to the project by creating an interactive, fun card game and designing an “Escape Game” that will be offered next year.

 

PREPABLOC: A Highly Successful Training Program

The success of the project

The creation of this Open Course Unit was a success among students. Indeed, founded by a multi-professional and multidisciplinary team, this project was particularly well-received by an interested audience composed of students in their thirdyear year of medical school, engineering students from LIRMM (robotics engineers), and IBODE students (Operating Room Nurses).

 

The Future of PREPABLOC

The students particularly appreciated the experience and the winning project on the future of surgical education is currently being evaluated to determine how to move forward with it. The teaching teams in Nîmes, already well-versed in these concepts, are already involved in adapting it, and the PREPABLOC team will share its experience with anyone nationwide who wishes to draw inspiration from it, in accordance with the academy’s wishes. 

 

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EU Soft Skills: An Ethical and Educational Innovation for Our Students

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As discussions about student mental health have resurfaced in the wake of the health crisis and amid reforms to graduate-level education, our faculty teams have developed, in collaboration with students and stakeholders, a one-of-a-kind educational concept. Temporarily named “Interpersonal Skills and Therapeutic Communication,” this empathy-focused curriculum represents a true ethical and educational innovation. To learn more, we spoke with the project leaders: Dr. Amandine Luquiens and Prof. Céline Bourgier, as well as Théo Lacoste, a student member of the steering committee.

 

The Origins of a Project Centered on Empathy

A need for evaluation arising from the R2C evaluation procedures

In 2018, the proposed reform of the second cycle of medical studies (R2C) was presented to the various academic leaders of the Faculty, prompting a response from Prof. Céline Bourgier. She noted that, following the R2C, student assessment methods would include evaluating students’ interpersonal skills and empathy through the Certificate of Clinical Competence (C3). However, at that time, no course entirely dedicated to developing this skill existed in our curriculum. 

Joined in 2019 by Dr. Amandine Luquiens, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist at Nîmes University Hospital, the two doctors will now team up to lead a project aimed at developing an innovative teaching unit capable of meeting the requirements of the R2C. Their first step is to assess the current level of empathy among medical students.

 

A striking finding: medical students’ empathy declines as they progress through their studies

Their initial findings are surprising. In fact, through their literature review, the two researchers discovered that medical students tend to experience a decline in empathy throughout their studies. “This decline begins concurrently with hospital rotations. It appears that the gap between the ‘idealization of the healthcare profession’ and the ‘reality of the healthcare profession’ is a triggering factor,” – explains Amandine Luquiens

Another observation: this decline is strongly correlated with the burnout and depression that healthcare students may experience.

 

A structured educational program to reverse this decline and ensure higher-quality care in the future

These findings have motivated the project leaders to create a new, innovative course unit (CU) with a twofold objective: 

  • To equip students with the tools and skills needed to improve the quality of careby instilling in them a person-centered approach rather than focusing solely on symptoms or medical conditions
  • Preventing psychosocial risks, not only for patients but also for students, future healthcare professionals.

These two complementary elements will therefore be developed jointly by a dedicated committee composed of faculty, students, and users.

 

An EU designed to foster the development of skills centered on empathy toward oneself and toward patients

Stages in the Development of the EU

Such an EU requires a period of development followed by a pilot phase, which will be implemented within the Faculty in five major stages: 

  • STEP 1

    Establishment of a cross-functional steering committee

    Since this was a course developed collaboratively, the instructors were committed to establishing a steering committee that included students to ensure the course was tailored to their needs as effectively as possible. The committee is also supported by the Faculty’s Academic Council (then chaired by Prof. Denis Morin) and is composed of instructors from diverse backgrounds and specialties to ensure a comprehensive view of the project.

  • Inventory of current resources and expansion of the steering committee

    With the help of the academic administration staff, Amandine Luquiens and Céline Bourgier are identifying the existing course units and courses within the curriculum, focusing on the patient-physician relationship, the development of the care relationship, and interpersonal skills. This allows them to reach out to the instructors responsible for the existing courses and bring them onto the steering committee for the new course unit.

    STEP 2

  • STEP 3

    Revision of existing courses, development of the EU

    The steering committee proposes a new structure for the existing courses over a five-year period. This involves reorganizing them into a more logical sequence, with a more gradual implementation that aligns with students’ entry into hospital internships. In parallel with the reorganization of existing courses, new courses are proposed to complement the curriculum, such as the therapeutic communication module, divided into three progressive levels, into which the pre-existing theater workshop will be integrated.

  • Inclusion of the EU in the curriculum of a pilot cohort

    The DFGSM2 class of 2021–22 is the pilot class and marks the launch of all EU courses over the five-year program. In addition, a few modules are offered to DFGSM3 students to test the courses (Step 6) 

    STEP 4

  • STEP 5

    A longitudinal study of a cohort of students to evaluate teaching

    To measure the impact of teaching on students, three cohorts are regularly assessed based on criteria related to empathy, as well as well-being and the concept of the therapeutic relationship. The DFGSM2 21-22 cohort will be compared to the DFGSM3 21-22 cohort, which will have benefited from a reduced course load, and to the DFASM1 21-22 cohort, which will not have been able to take advantage of the various EU modules.

 

An EU program designed to help students learn about emotional management

As Théo Lacoste, Student Vice Dean for the 2021–2022 academic year, points out, medical students are “perfectionists”: “They are selected because they are the best. And this selection process continues over the years. The need to be—or at least to appear—‘flawless’ at every level—whether professionally or emotionally—persists until it becomes almost a cultural component of our way of thinking.” 

But this is precisely a change in cultural attitudes on this subject that this course unit aims to foster: Amandine Luquiens explains: “We are seeking to foster a cultural shift among students, and indeed, within the Faculty as a whole. The Faculty cares for its students, and students must care for one another. We will thus help them acquire tools that go hand in hand with both protecting themselves and curbing ‘emotional suppression’—a management strategy used for many years by doctors to address the patient-caregiver relationship.”

 PTo achieve this goal, the EU is structured around four main modules, all of which are mandatory: 

  • Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation Mindfulness
  • Sharing Best Practices among peers: this module encourages open communication and helps participants better understand professional communication within a healthcare team
  • Therapeutic Communication : a multi-year module featuring theoretical instruction on announcements, the integration of theater workshops, and simulation workshops.
  • Stigmatization in Healthcare : a module featuring user testimonials in which individuals share their experiences with students regarding situations they have encountered during their care journey

 

In short: an innovative initiative in more ways than one

Humanism is a core value of the Faculty. It is an integral part of its history, but it also serves as a guiding principle for its future, as evidenced by this innovative program in more ways than one. Indeed, this is an ethical and pedagogical innovation : 

  • co-created with students, faculty, users, and administrative staff: a true example of cross-functional collaboration among the women and men of our community 
  • who is interested in a genuine social and societal issues facing health students and who intervenes early enough in their academic program to anticipate it and long enough to address it in depth
  • which includes theoretical modules but also, and above all, highly practical modules, centered on a human-centered approach to the patient-caregiver relationship, particularly through simulation workshops
  • Skills developer developer of key skills centered on empathy and interpersonal skills: essential tools for a more humane approach to medicine
  • carrying a message for both students and their future patients

 

Opportunities for other degree programs

The introduction of this course unit into the medical curriculum inevitably raises questions about the other programs offered by the faculty (midwifery, paramedicine). “Medicine is relatively behind compared to other programs,” admits Dr. Luquiens. “Indeed, there are already course units in the other programs, but not in such a structured, phased manner. The idea is therefore, once this course unit has been refined, to ‘spread’ it to the other programs, with the aim of taking a transdisciplinary approach to these skills.”

 

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