Older adults account for more than 20% of the French population (Source: INSEE 2020), yet the aging process remains poorly understood. Thanks to the simulation tools offered in this innovative workshop, participants will be able to “jump forward” several years in time. This will allow them to hone, through experience, their skills in supporting older adults.
Why this workshop?
This workshop, offered by the School of Geriatrics and Gerontology, was created to allow participants to experience the major impairments associated with aging.
It is led by its administrative director, Myriam Taroudjit, and Marie-Laure Portalez, a design engineer.
Special equipment allows participants to experience firsthand the main age-related sensory impairments. This helps them recognize the challenges faced by older adults and better understand their behaviors and specific needs.
“True experiential learning aimed at improving the quality of life for older adults”
The effectiveness of this simulation-based method was the subject of a study conducted by medical students at Julius-Maximilians University in Würzburg (Dr. med. Filz S.A., Dr. med. Swoboda W., et al.).
The research, conducted in the form of hands-on training sessions that involved wearing a simulation suit, yielded the following results:
- Ability to empathize with the living conditions of an older adult after the practicum: 83% of participants.
- Ability to put oneself in the shoes of an older adult after the practicum: 90% of participants.
- Understanding of an older adult’s physical condition after the practicum: 95% of participants
How?
Using simulation scenarios composed of several elements, participants put themselves in the shoes of an older adult by experiencing the physical and emotional challenges associated with aging.
Here are a few examples:
Feedback from Our Students
Every year, this innovative workshop is offered to students at the School to supplement their curriculum and deepen their understanding of older adults. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive:
Stéphanie: “This workshop was very interesting, and everyone who works with older adults should be able to participate in this simulation workshop. Losing one’s senses is very unsettling.”
Mariam: “This afternoon, I experienced firsthand what the older adults I care for go through every day: muscle pain, hearing and vision problems, and slowed movements—all caused by an environment that is no longer safe for them to navigate.”
Maïlys: “In a professional setting, I’ll pay even closer attention to these ‘pains’ and how people experience and cope with them in their daily lives, so I can best tailor my responses to their needs.”
More photos:
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 went on to win the Educational Innovation Award! 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 stemmed from a co-creation initiative led by Dr. Herrero, with support from Dr. Ferrandis. A multidisciplinary, multi-professional team was assembled, comprising:
- The teaching staff at the CHU’s IBODE school,
- Assistant Chief Residents at the CHU and ICM hospitals,
- the LIRMM teams,
- Physical therapist in the Emergency Department at the University Hospital.
Training Agenda
Organized and coordinated by the Innovation Accelerator, this is an innovation marathon in the form of a team competition involving teams of about ten people. Creativity sessions 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, making operating room careers more appealing, and designing an “Escape Game.”
The future IBODEs—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 IBODE school administrators focused their presentations on hygiene and instrumentation. The Assistant Chief Residents from the hospitals of the University Hospital and theICM led theoretical classes, 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, led by Christophe, the lead cast technician in the CHU’s emergency department.
The Objectives of This Course
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 ” call for proposals, which we 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 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 Enrollment Unit was a success among students. Indeed, founded by a multidisciplinary and multi-professional team, this project attracted particular interest from an engaged audience consisting 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 under review in an effort to ensure its future. The teaching teams in Nîmes, who are already well-versed in these concepts, are actively involved in adapting the project, 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.
For the second year , the Agnes McLaren Association is organizing a medical award worth €4,000! Applications are open to students at the Montpellier-Nîmes School of Medicine who will defend their clinical thesis between September 2021 and March 2023. See below for registration details and the eligibility criteria for your thesis.
This award recognizes a doctoral dissertation in medicine that focuses on the health of women and/or children in precarious or vulnerable situations and provides funding for research based on that dissertation.
TheAgnes McLaren Association, founded in 2018, works to preserve the memory ofAgnes McLaren, a Scottish woman and the first female physician to graduate from the Montpellier School of Medicine in 1878. In honor of this physician, who dedicated her life to caring for the most disadvantaged women and those excluded from society, the association wishes to present a medical award for the first time.
Thus, to mark the Faculty’s 8th centennial in 2020, the association established the Agnès McLaren Prize in Medicine. Every two years, this award recognizes a thesis and a post-thesis project, focusing on the health of women in precarious or vulnerable situations or the health of children exposed to precariousness and/or vulnerable situations. It also funds a research project based on this thesis. The prize, in the amount of €4,000, will be awarded in June 2023 following a preliminary selection by a committee and review by a jury composed of healthcare professionals.
In the first edition, Justine Allouche won an award for her knowledge and expertise in cervical cancer screening.
In 2021, the award was won by Justine Allouche for her work focused on assessing knowledge and practices regarding cervical cancer screening among women engaged in prostitution in the Gard and Hérault departments. Justine was featured in an article in Midi Libre on that occasion!
Eligibility Criteria
To be considered for this medical award, candidates must meet several eligibility criteria:
What are the steps to enter the contest?
The second edition of the McLaren Medical Award will take place in five phases, as follows:
We hope many of you will enter this new contest! So get writing, and good luck on your theses!
On Thursday, January 27, 2022, Dr. Catherine Alix-Panabières received the prestigious Savchuk Prize at the 15th Oncology Biennial for her work on “liquid biopsies.” A look back at 23 years of research in the field of oncology.
A career focused on the development of liquid biopsy
Dr. Alix-Panabières, director of the Rare Human Circulating Cells (CCRH) laboratory at Montpellier University Hospital, has been dedicated to her research for 23 years. Coined by her in 2010 in collaboration with her German colleague, Professor Klaus Pantel of Hamburg, the term “liquid biopsy”—used in conjunction with tissue biopsy—refers to a blood test that is performed repeatedly throughout a patient’s treatment.
A noninvasive procedure
A liquid biopsy provides access to circulating cells or particles released by the primary tumor or metastases. The advantage? It offers the ability to repeatedly study tumors located in inaccessible areas, all while being noninvasive. After the blood sample is collected, it provides information on the tumor’s progression and, consequently, the effectiveness of the treatment.
His research focuses on three fundamental areas:
- Understanding the biology of the tumor and its prognosis.
- Technology: Dr. Alix-Panabières is working on a patent related to this new technique for detecting circulating tumor cells.
- A translational clinical study. Liquid biopsy makes it possible to tailor treatment to each patient’s stage, particularly when initiating treatment.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Catherine Alix-Pananières on winning this award!
In 2020, Dr. Favier and Dr. Debourdeau once again submitted a proposal to MUSE’s call for projects. They were named winners of the Take Off 4 award, which recognizes innovations in education.
An Educational Innovation for Safety
Physicians and surgeons are required to perform invasive procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. These procedures require extensive and rigorous training, which takes place primarily during residency (beginning in the 7th year of medical school, upon entering a specialty).
The quality of medical-technical and surgical procedures must be at the heart of training, as it impacts the health and safety of patients. The technical training of medical and surgical residents must therefore include preliminary instruction designed to ensure the safety of patients, trainees, and supervisors alike.
Factors Driving Change
The use of anatomical specimens for training has been widely adopted, but this training method is limited by the availability of specimens. Another limiting factor is the difficulty in maintaining the realistic appearance of the digestive and respiratory tracts on these biological models.
The Simulator as a Solution
Simulator-based training helps meet safety requirements, since students do not come into direct contact with patients during their initial simulations, mistakes are permitted, and instructors can give students greater freedom to practice while providing educational feedback during dedicated training sessions—which are more frequent because they are easier to implement. This learning method also eliminates the biological risks associated with the use of anatomical specimens.
The specific areas involved
Since simulation is a very expensive tool that takes a long time to set up, Drs. Favier and Debourdeau conducted preliminary studies to determine in which areas this simulation could be most useful.
According to their research, simulation-based training is necessary for the following procedures:
- Diagnostic and Interventional Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (Gastroenterology)
- Diagnostic and Interventional Colonoscopy (Gastroenterology)
- Endoscopic Nasal, Sinus, and Anterior Skull Base Surgery (ENT, Neurosurgery, Maxillofacial Surgery)
- Diagnostic Flexible Fibroscopy of the Upper Aerodigestive Tract (ENT, Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Oncology)
- Rigid bronchoscopy (ENT specialists, pediatricians, pulmonologists)
Proven effectiveness
These procedural simulators have been scientifically validated for initial training and have proven their effectiveness. In total, these programs involve 220 residents in the Montpellier-Nîmes area (20 gastroenterologists, 18 ENT specialists, 6 neurosurgeons, 6 maxillofacial surgeons, 15 pulmonologists, 125 anesthesiologists and intensivists, and 20 oncologists).
A project that builds on the previous one
Remember, we had already mentioned, in one of our articles, Drs. Favier and Debourdeau, who were winners of a previous MUSE Take Off competition. That project involved the development of an app called SPART APP, designed to assess the technical skills of residents.
This project builds on the Spart-APP initiative. In fact, this application—which can track residents’ technical progress—may be integrated with a simulation platform in the future. This platform will enhance real-time learning for students who are struggling, as part of an active and dynamic teaching approach.
In 2020, Dr. Valentin FAVIER, in collaboration with Dr. Antoine Debourdeau, once again participated in the MUSE call for proposals, which aims to support the pedagogical transformation of educational programs. He was selected as a winner for his project titled “Application for Monitoring Learning and the Performance of Technical Procedures in Medicine.”
The Project's Origins
The quality of medical education is a public health issue that is essential to provide the population as effectively as possible for years to come. Medical competence takes a long time to acquire, during which students must master both theoretical and technical skills. Medical residents must learn the skills and procedures that will form the foundation of their medical practice over the course of their 4- to 6-year residency. Their theoretical knowledge is frequently assessed through written exams.
Currently, medical residents complete their clinical rotations according to a predefined educational program, divided into semesters, and earn their specialty degree upon completion of their program by defending a thesis.
Nevertheless, during their residency, medical students work full-time at the hospital, and their on-campus training at the university is reduced to just a few days a year.
However, the medical curriculum does not take into account the technical skills of medical residents, and there are few tools available to track their acquisition and monitor the learner’s progress throughout their rotations.
It was in this context that Drs. Favier and Debourdeau decided to develop an app to track the progress of health science students in terms of their technical skills.
The Birth of SPART APP
SPART-App is a project that aims to provide medical residents, their supervisors, and the educational coordinator with a mobile app to track every procedure performed throughout their residency (e-logbook). This pilot project covers the specialties of anesthesiology and critical care, gastroenterology, otolaryngology, and oral and maxillofacial surgery. Its objectives are as follows:
The App: A Strategic Choice
The digital, via an app that can operate offline, eliminates the need for procedure logs that aren’t updated regularly. The resident can evaluate their procedure immediately after performing it, right on their smartphone.
Each resident will have access to a student account specific to their specialty. In this account, the resident can record every procedure performed over time, providing details on the procedure itself, whether it was successful or unsuccessful, and any difficulties encountered. Using the data entered into the application, residents can track their learning curve.
The supervisor of the procedure performed may, if they wish, approve the intern’s evaluation of the procedure and use it as a basis for a technical debriefing . The instructor will have access to the data for each of the residents they supervise. This will allow the head of education (department head) to ensure that each resident performs a sufficient number of procedures and to identify residents who are struggling so they can receive additional support.
The Impact of START APP
Through this project, Dr. Favier hopes to advance the teaching of technical skills and generate short-, medium-, and long-term impacts.
Currently, the project led by Drs. Favier and Debourdeau is moving forward and is expected to be launched soon.
In 2018, Dr. Valentin FAVIER participated in the MUSE call for proposals, which aimed to support the pedagogical transformation of educational programs. He was selected as a winner for his project titled “Learning Anatomy and Surgery Through Simulation and 3D Printing.”
MUSE “Take-Off”—what is it?
The MUSE project “ Montpellier University of Excellence ” brings together 16 institutions toward a shared goal: to establish in Montpellier a thematically focused, research-intensive university that is internationally recognized for its impact in fields related to agriculture, the environment, and health—one that will serve as a close academic partner for all consortium members, one with which they will have strong ties and of which they can be proud.
Through these “Take Off” calls for proposals, it supports the educational transformation strategy of the institutions and components of the MUSE consortium. Over the past three years, I-SITE MUSE has raised 6 M€ to support educational innovations through this program. The project “Learning Anatomy and Surgery Through Simulation and 3D Printing” is one of the projects selected for Take-Off #1. Learn more about it in this article!
Improving Learning Through Simulation: Dr. Favier’s Challenge
Healthcare simulation is a key focus of medical education in the 21st century. To improve the safety of clinical practice and education, the French National Authority for Health (HAS) released a report in 2012 outlining the prospects for the development of healthcare simulation in France.
But then, what exactly are surgical simulators?
Surgical simulators are educational tools that are an integral part of this concept. They enable the training of young surgeons, helping them become familiar with surgical equipment, anatomy, and surgical techniques, but are also useful throughout continuing medical education for refresher training. Another major benefit lies in the ability to develop new surgical techniques, allowing more experienced surgeons to perform innovative surgical approaches or test new instruments.
Project Objectives
The project is intended for surgical residents, who will have the opportunity to practice on these simulators. The work currently underway is now focused on several objectives:
A project made possible by MUSE
As the winner of the project, Dr. FAVIER received a €10,000 grant from MUSE. This grant was used to advance his surgical simulator project. In particular, it was used to:
- Compensation for a Master's 2 intern in computer science for research and algorithm development to implement the simulation.
- Perform mechanical testing on the simulation platform.
- The purchase of materials needed to conduct the simulation and produce 3D prints.
"The Avicenne Multidisciplinary University Health Center (MSPU) was inaugurated in Cabestany, near Perpignan, in 2018. In June 2021, two additional MSPUs were added to this regional network. To mark this opening, a formal ceremony was held on Thursday, May 27 to review the Cabestany MSPU and present the plans for the two new MSPUs.”
MSPU: What Is It?
A Multidisciplinary Health Center is a multiprofessional health center that has entered into an agreement with the Regional Health Agency (ARS) and a university with a medical program to promote training and research in primary care.
Avicenne's MSPU: A Successful Outcome
This MSPU, led by Dr. Mark OUDE ENGBERIK and comprising some 30 healthcare professionals from various fields, has carried out several projects over the past five years. Two major projects were discussed at this conference:
- The TSAPPproject, which aims to train healthcare professionals on access to care for people with disabilities.
- The SPES (Primary Care, Environment, and Health) project, which aims to promote health and environmental awareness among professionals and the general public.
In terms of academic programs, this MSPU has 16 clinical instructors in various fields of health care and accepts 6 to 10 interns each year.
Two new MSPUs in the region
Following the success of the projects carried out by the Avicenne MSPU, two additional centers were opened in the region to meet local needs in this area.
A joint project is taking shape around these three MSPUs: to build a research network and make the service accessible to local residents.
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