ATSM

Montpellier Health Tutoring Association

Overview

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Spotlight on LAS Tutoring

The ATSM, whose full name is the Montpellier Health Tutoring Association, is an organization founded in 2006 with the mission of ensuring equal opportunities for students taking placement exams. This commitment is reflected in tutoring services that are completely free, accessible, inclusive, and consistent across the three tutoring locations in Montpellier and Nîmes.

The association is made up of 116 second- and third-year students in the medical, midwifery, and dental programs who are committed to supporting and preparing students in the PASS and LAS programs. The tutors are carefully selected, trained, and evaluated by the faculty advisors of each academic unit, thereby ensuring high-quality guidance.

Beyond academic support, the ATSM places a high priority on non-academic support. Students’ well-being and mental health are at the heart of our priorities. Events such as “midis partage,” mentoring, Pep’s Days, and Tut’Renseignes are offered throughout the year to best address these needs.

In the spirit of inclusivity, we offer disability tutoring to ensure that health studies are accessible to everyone. This service is tailored to the needs of students with disabilities. It is provided in collaboration with the Department of Preventive Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine. A Health, Social, and Support (SSA) unit is also part of the tutoring program to address more specific issues related to international students, housing, financial hardship, and health.

The ATSM has116 tutors—second- and third-year students in medicine, midwifery, and dentistry. Both the training programs and the recruitment process, led by faculty advisors, contribute to the representativeness of our work. In fact, since its creation, the ATSM has received the Gold Accreditation six times (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018) and the Silver Accreditation once (2013), thanks to the tutors’ dedication.

Since 2019, a single accreditation has been awarded to deserving tutoring programs; the ATSM receives this accreditation annually from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation in recognition of the quality of its teaching and initiatives. In addition to the ministerial accreditation, this year the three tutoring programs in Montpellier-Nîmes were recognized for their innovative “Pep’s Days” project.

In collaboration with our sites in Nîmes (TSN) and Montpellier Pharmacy (ATP), we are implementing various initiatives, such as:

  • a pre-semester orientation program (SPR) held two weeks before the official start of the semester to help students best prepare for the first semester,
  • weekly sessions for reviewing multiple-choice questions, with the questions prepared by our tutors in collaboration with the teaching staff,
  • weekly practice sessions and end-of-semester exams to prepare students for the actual exam,
  • A Disability Tutoring Program (TH) tailored to the needs of students with disabilities, providing comprehensive and personalized support for each student. Sessions are held in small groups and adapted to each student’s needs. In addition, the tutoring sessions take into account any necessary exam accommodations. This service is in line with the association’s values of promoting equal opportunities among students,
  • Tutoring sessions every day at lunchtime in the Tutoring Room to answer students' questions about the courses,
  • a mentoring program that provides support and guidance throughout the year from a student in a higher grade,
  • Wellness activities organized regularly throughout the year: snack times, Pep’s Days, Midi Détente, Tuto’ Parents…,
  • Events focused on career guidance to help students refine their personal plans: Tut’Renseignes, career guidance forum, High School Students’ Week…

Tutoring Office Hours: 

  • Monday 12:15 p.m.–1:45 p.m. (in the tutorial room)
  • Tuesday 12:15 p.m.–1:45 p.m. (in the tutorial room)
  • Thursday 2:00–4:00 p.m. (in the tutorial room)
  • Saturday 2:00–3:00 p.m. (via Zoom)

641 Avenue du Doyen Giraud, 34090 Montpellier – School of Medicine – Student Club Room

Association News and Events

The ATSM has the answers to all your questions about tutoring!

Enrollment in one of the UM’s three health tutoring programs depends on the student’s campus.
The ATSM brings together PASS students from the Arnaud de Villeneuve campus as well as LAS students studying at Paul Valéry University, the Montpellier Faculty of Sciences, and the CUFR in Mayotte.

The TSN brings together PASS students from the Carémeau campus as well as LAS students studying at the University of Nîmes (Bachelor’s degrees in Law, Psychology, and Earth and Life Sciences—Biology—Environment) and at the University of Perpignan (Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Management, Mathematics, and the DARWIN Program).

The ATP brings together PASS students at the Flahault campus as well as LAS students studying at the University of Montpellier (Bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Law, STAPS) and Perpignan (Bachelor’s degrees in Law in Perpignan or at the Narbonne branch campus, and STAPS at the Font-Romeu branch campus).

To register, students must fill out the GGform registration form below:

PASS and LAS: Registration Form

Registration is FREE and OPEN YEAR-ROUND. It allows all PASS and LAS students to take advantage of the tutoring services offered (which can be found under the “ACADEMIC SUPPORT” and “COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT” tabs).

No, the three organizations work hand in hand and in collaboration with the teachers on the instructional teams. What changes are the tutors:

  • At the ATSM, the instructors are graduates of the Medicine, Midwifery, and Dentistry programs in Montpellier.
  • At TSN, the tutors are from the Medicine and Midwifery programs at Nîmes.
  • At the ATP, the students are enrolled in the Pharmacy program.

For each association, the proctors are selected and trained by the same professors who will be responsible for setting the exam questions on the day of the exam.

All classes and review sessions are prepared and reviewed across campuses to ensure that students receive the same content, thereby guaranteeing equal opportunities for everyone.

No, registration is required to access the various tutoring services. However, students are free to manage their own schedules and are not required to attend all sessions or review sessions.
We still recommend that PASS and LAS students maintain a regular study routine, for example, by aligning their course review sessions with the various tutoring sessions.

For each semester, lectures (CM) begin in week S. The tutorials (ED) for these courses take place in week S+1. Finally, the tutoring session rounds out these review sessions in week S+2.
Thus, for each course, one or more tutoring sessions will need to be prepared for week S+2. The schedules will be released the previous weekend, as will the multiple-choice quizzes to be prepared, which will be available online or in print (to be picked up in the tutoring room).

Throughout the year, various events take place, such as the Pre-Semester Workshop, make-up exams and practice exams, Tutoring Day, and Pep’s Week. Signing up for tutoring allows students to attend these events and take advantage of these opportunities for hands-on experience and well-being.

Finally, weekly office hours will be held to address first-year students’ questions or concerns on a more individualized basis. During these 2-hour sessions, first-year students will have the opportunity to interact more easily with the tutors for the various subjects.

In addition to the sessions and office hours during which you can interact directly with your tutors, there are several options available for asking questions.
In addition to the lectures and multiple-choice quizzes for the guided study sessions, which you can find on Moodle, a “Tutoring” tab and a forum have been set up to provide you with as much support as possible.
In the Tutoring tab, you’ll have access to this year’s sessions, which will be posted online as they become available, as well as past tutoring materials and handouts prepared by the tutors and reviewed by the professors.
On the Moodle forum, you can ask your questions, and a tutor will respond as quickly as possible.
In addition, virtual office hours will be held every two weeks.
Several tutors from different subjects will be assigned to a Zoom session during which you can log in to ask your questions. Finally, if you have a question for a specific tutor, feel free to contact them directly.

Each year, the tutoring program offers students a mentoring system that provides them with a direct point of contact in a higher year of the health sciences program.
A matching process is set up on the registration form to meet the needs of the mentees. Mentors and mentees are paired based on lifestyle, how they handled their first year, and other factors.

Mentoring is free, just like all the services offered by the tutoring program, and it's in high demand!

You can certainly succeed in your PASS or LAS year and be admitted to the MMOPK program even if you’re only enrolled in the tutoring program. In fact, we’re fortunate to work closely with the professors, who review and correct each session before it’s published.

In addition, numerous meetings with the teaching staff are held to focus review efforts on the most important course topics. All of this gives students a comprehensive overview and practical experience that closely mirrors what will be expected of them on exam day.

We have held the Ministerial Accreditation—which recognizes the work of our tutoring programs—for several years, and according to university surveys, we are the best support program for students entering their second year in the MMOPK program.

For tutoring sessions, you are not divided into groups. A schedule is posted on our social media channels every Friday at noon for the following week, and each session is held during two time slots (noon and evening).

For all time slots, you'll have a choice of several rooms (lecture hall or lab).

So, it's up to you to plan around your personal schedule and choose the time slot and location that work best for you.

The same applies to “choosing a tutor,” since you choose which session you want to attend.

All LAS students who completed their health minor the previous year and no longer have any health-related coursework (since all earned ECTS credits are final and cannot be retaken) have access to the services offered by the tutoring program.

Since you no longer have any health-related courses, you no longer have tutoring sessions dedicated to those courses. However, you can participate in all events organized by the tutoring program, such as mentoring, lunch-and-learn sessions, and Pep’s Week.

In addition, the tutoring program also offers preparation for the oral exams in June for students who have qualified for the second round of exams. Thus, even if you have earned your Health ECTS credits, if you are admitted to the oral exams, you will have the opportunity and the option to receive support from the tutoring program to prepare as thoroughly as possible for this exam.