INTERVIEW | Discover the portrait of Gérald Chanques, Vice Dean for General Affairs, Heritage, and Campus Life!

Every five years, a new dean's team, composed of vice deans and project managers, is appointed by the Dean to represent him or her in specific areas. This year, Professor Gérald Chanques was appointed Vice Dean for General Affairs, Heritage, and Campus Life. Read his interview here to find out more about his career and the projects he hopes to implement as part of his role!

 

You were appointed by Dean Isabelle Laffont. Can you tell us about your background and your area of expertise?

I completed my high school diploma and my studies in Montpellier, so you could say that I am one-quarter Parisian and three-quarters Montpellier native. I loved my studies so much that it was difficult for me to choose a "specialty." I chose anesthesia and intensive care for several reasons, primarily because of the cross-disciplinary nature of the medical knowledge involved, but also because of the human and material resources available to our teams to provide safe care, including pain management and treatment of the most critical situations.

 

How do you plan to balance your duties as vice dean with your other professional obligations?

This is a project that has been developed within my hospital department with my colleagues and my head of department, who has always supported and encouraged me in my professional career. My involvement in the faculty has grown gradually since my appointment eight years ago. I continue to work clinically, which constantly enriches my teaching and research. Conversely, my understanding of academic institutions shapes all my duties as a university hospital professor. The faculty and its unique history, as well as the university (I am an elected member of the training and university life committee and the academic council's disciplinary sections), make me reflect on all aspects of my work, from healthcare to teaching and innovation. The societal change that is taking place in our relationships with others (the fight against inequality, sexual and sexist violence, etc.) is a major and long-awaited turning point for our institutions.

 

What will your contributions and objectives be? What projects do you want to carry out in your role?

I gradually discovered the importance of teaching and passing on knowledge to younger generations, as well as the importance of having a faculty spread across several campuses (Nîmes and Montpellier, modernity and heritage) and a university spirit with a capital U that is meaningful to our patients, our students, and society. The faculty has an urban history. It is at the interface with the general public.

Today, our faculty faces multiple challenges in terms of the organization of the institution, its campuses, and the promotion of its heritage: the university community (students, faculty, and administrators) must embrace this past and future history by sharing it with others, our colleagues in other parts of the university, our healthcare colleagues, and the general public. Among the general public are potential patients. The image we project of the faculty through our history and heritage must be in line with today's requirements, innovation, excellence in care, but also consideration for precariousness and access to care. This is what makes our faculty what it is, and we cannot rest easy if we do not strive to address all these issues. The unity of the management team around our dean will be the strength of the institution, involving all its teachers and administrators, those from previous teams, and those preparing future generations.

 

What motivated you to accept this appointment?

My desire to help with a deanery project focused on community and kindness, listening, with ambitious goals for the institution. I was very grateful for this appointment because it allows me to continue the work I have been doing for several years with Dean Mondain and Vice Dean Lavabre-Bertrand on complex projects (preparation of regional state plan contracts for long-term work on the historic building, studies for the learning center, liaison with the general affairs departments of the Faculty and the University for the development of a large number of projects involving institutions, local authorities, and businesses in the context of the 800th anniversary, etc.).

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#ProudOfOurStudents | Discover TASM3, the tutoring association for upperclassmen!

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Did you know? There is a tutoring association for senior health students at the Montpellier-Nîmes Faculty of Medicine! Named TASM3 and easily identifiable thanks to its mascot turtle THOR, the association is chaired this year by Siham BELMIR. Read her interview below!

 

In a nutshell, what is the TASM3 association?

This is a non-profit mentoring association that offers guidance and educational support to medical and midwifery students from their second to sixth year.

By the way, should we call you TASM3 or Thor Tutosup'?

TASM3 is the official name of the association, but we are more commonly known as Tutosup'. Thor is just our mascot, like Oscar for ACM or Freddie for Med'ley.

What activities do you carry out throughout the year? Can you tell us about them?

  • For DFGSM2:
    • An SPR P2 with refresher courses in biophysics and cell biology/histology
    • Wooclap review sessions on all course units covered in the midterm exams
    • Anatomy teaching assistant
    • Small group internship debriefing sessions

 

  • For DFGSM3:
    • Semiology sessions
    • A conference on methodology and information about R2C and how to work with middle schools
    • Small group internship debriefing sessions

 

  • For DFASM:
    • ECG/medical imaging reading sessions
    • Suturing and sterile dressing workshops
    • A lecture on outpatient care and how to admit a patient to the hospital
    • Preparatory sessions for ECOS

 

  • For midwives:
    • Review sessions

 

  • For everyone:
    • Raffles to win reference guides and medical equipment
    • Discounts at partner stores or chains

Why did you join the association on a personal basis?

I joined the association after two years of tutoring first-year students. I am passionate about teaching, so it was quite natural for me to take over the association. With the R2C reform, I think it is important to have a TAS worthy of the name to provide the best possible support and guidance to students. I really wanted to develop the association's activities to broaden our scope of action on the Montpellier and Nîmes campuses.

What does your association offer students? Why do you think they should join your association?

It allows students to consolidate their knowledge and provides a sense of calm before upcoming exams and internships. We provide educational and psychological support to students in their studies, which are known to be demanding and difficult. Our association is based on mentoring and peer learning, which are essential values in health studies. We have a different educational approach because these sessions are run by students for students. Tutors are much more accessible and available and act as intermediaries between students and educational managers.

How do I join TASM3?

Membership in our association is free and automatic upon entering the second year of medical or midwifery studies. It gives you access to our sessions and the information shared on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We publish our partners' offers as well as multiple-choice questions and clinical training cases on our social media accounts.

A few words about the 2022-2023 executive committee?

Our office is made up of third- and fourth-year medical and midwifery students from the Montpellier and Nîmes campuses. We are very involved in the development of the association, and we would like to expand the content offered within our tutoring program and implement new initiatives to better meet the needs of students. We are proud that many of our projects have come to fruition this year, including the suturing/sterile dressing workshops and the SPR P2, and we hope to continue this momentum.

 

TASM3 page
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#Proudofourstudents | Our students from Nîmes on a mission in Dakar

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Our students have talent and ideas to spare! While our students in Montpellier are rallying behind a solidarity project in Togo, our students in Nîmes have chosen Senegal and the city of Dakar for the annual humanitarian project led by the Crocos du Monde association. It's a wonderful initiative that we didn't want to miss sharing. Report and interview.

 

 
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Les Crocos du Monde: a Nîmes-based association working on humanitarian issues

Founded in 2007, Les Crocos du Monde is an association of health students from the Faculty of Medicine on its campus in Nîmes. Its goal is to enable students to engage in humanitarian activities and raise awareness of global disparities. The association participates in international solidarity projects focused on health and education, made possible by fundraising efforts throughout the academic year. Several initiatives have already been carried out in countries such as Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Morocco, and Togo.

What is the DAKAR Project?

This year, the Crocos du Monde are taking action in Senegal. For the 2021-2022 project, the association is focusing on collecting donations and medical and paramedical equipment to be sent to Fatick. During the school year, students had the opportunity to meet with several associations—AAD, MRCCR, and OSD—to exchange equipment and knowledge. The Nîmes University Hospital contributed to this cause by providing equipment as part of a partnership and international hospital cooperation established between the Nîmes University Hospital and sites in Senegal.

A project brought to fruition!

With the help of the administration and CDM members, the container was loaded at the Faculty of Medicine in Nîmes. It was taken to Fos-sur-Mer, from where it departed on June 22 and arrived at the port of Dakar on June 30, 2022.

In order to confirm the safe arrival of the equipment and verify that it was in good working order, three DFGSM2 students visited the site from July 15 to 20, 2022, accompanied by the association's president. This visit was an opportunity to meet with local contacts and visit the Fann University Hospital and the Fatick Hospital for next year.

 

To find out more about the ins and outs of this project, we met with Joffrey Buland, President of Crocos du Monde for 2021-22! Read his interview below!

 

Hello Joffrey, can you introduce yourself and tell us what your role is in this project?

Hello, my name is Joffrey Buland and I am currently in my second year of medical school in Nîmes. During the Crocos du Monde "Dakar 2022" project, in my first year, I was president of the association. The role of the president, in collaboration with the executive committee, is to organize the international project. We were responsible for communicating with local contacts, requesting quotes for the end-of-year container, and organizing its delivery and the trip to the destination.

 

Can you tell us more about this project? What did it involve?

This project was a new venture for Les Crocos du Monde. Our ambition was to set up a more sustainable international initiative, a long-term partnership that could be renewed each year. It was with this goal of sustainability in mind that we came up with the idea of the container, to give a second life to the equipment we had collected throughout the year. As Crocos du Monde is primarily focused on sharing and sustainable development, the idea seemed relevant to us. The goal was to collect medical and paramedical equipment throughout the year via various partners and ship it to Senegal, specifically to the Fatick Hospital, 150 km south of Dakar.

 

Why did you choose Senegal? What motivated your choice?

We turned to Senegal thanks to a doctor at Nîmes University Hospital, Dr. Christophe Boisson, who helped us enormously in setting up our project. Dr. Boisson has been sending containers of medical equipment to Dakar for several years now, and it was with him and our trusted contacts on the ground that we decided to focus on Fatick University Hospital. This led to an official partnership between Carémeau University Hospital and Dakar University Hospital, of which Crocos du Monde and Fatick are a branch. This partnership has three main areas of focus: the delivery of equipment, in which we have been involved; medical and paramedical training via the simulation center; and training for biomedical engineers and technicians.

 

How did you organize the collection of materials?

The collection of equipment began with the hospital expressing its needs and providing us with a list. We selected from this list the equipment that we were able to recover and that was within our reach. The "Dakar 2022" project therefore focused primarily on the nephrology department, which is undergoing rapid development in Fatick. Once we had identified our target, we turned to our partners, including individuals, other associations, and, most importantly, the Nîmes University Hospital and Dr. Boisson, and we began our search and collection efforts.

 

In the end, what kind of material did you manage to collect? How much was it?

By the end of the year, we had collected enough to fill a 33 m³ container, or 2.5 tons of equipment. Most of it was urology and nephrology equipment, including catheters and urinary ostomy kits, but there was also some surgical equipment such as ventilation circuits and laparoscopy kits. We were also lucky enough to find some large electronic equipment, seven emergency stretchers, and a delivery table. The aim was to give a second life to what we sent, so all expiry dates were checked and all electronic equipment was tested and refurbished if necessary by Apelem, an association of biomedical engineers and technicians working in partnership with Nîmes University Hospital.

 

You took part in the trip in July. How did it go? What did you and your colleagues get out of it?

Four of us set off with three second-year medical students from Nîmes, two of whom are now part of the executive committee. The aim was to show them places such as Fatick Hospital, for which they will be collecting equipment, so that they could get a clear idea of their future project for 2023. At the same time, we wanted them to meet our trusted local contacts, which will improve communication over the coming year and help them visualize the why, how, and for whom. The trip was very enriching on a human level, allowing us to see and understand different hospital and cultural practices, with resources that also vary depending on the facility.

 

Does this motivate you to get involved in humanitarian medicine?

Humanitarian medicine has always been my big project, even when I started PACES. My goal has always been to join Doctors Without Borders or other organizations to go on missions. When I discovered the Crocos du Monde association and had the opportunity, along with my friends, to get involved at my own level from the first year of medical school, I didn't hesitate. This year has allowed me to further develop and strengthen this dream once I graduate.

 

What are Crocos du Monde's upcoming projects?

To answer this question, I will hand over to Chloé Messines, the new president of Crocos du Monde for the 2022/2023 term.

Chloé: Les Crocos du Monde continues to focus on the partnership between the Nîmes and Dakar university hospitals, specifically on filling the container with medical equipment. Most of our internal investment and the events we organize are aimed at financing the project. In addition, it is important for us and our Senegalese partners to meet and witness the successful delivery of the container. As in the previous year, Les Crocos du Monde is keen to visit Dakar and Fatick to talk to the people who made this project possible. Now, our goal for this year is to also create a real community life for members by offering a wider variety of events (clean walks, school visits, outreach programs, etc.), with an inter-community aspect (collaboration within the Nîmes en rose project led by the midwifery corporation, pep week with Tutorat Santé Nîmes). We are therefore relying on the motivation of second-year medical and midwifery students to ensure the successful development of the association.

 

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